File this one under “Science or Myth?” because I don’t know
what to make of this guy or his purported story. He cannot be disproven, obviously. But, common sense tells me that Old Man Parr
was not siring children at age 100. But,
since he is interred at Westminster Abbey in London and was heavily
celebrated during a short period of King Charles I’s reign, let’s learn about
this man.
Thomas
Parr was born at Winnington, Shropshire, which is close to Shrewsbury and about
160 miles northwest of London. He was an
ordinary, lower class man; the son of a farmer and would grow to be one
himself. Nothing much is noted of his “childhood,”
aside from a stint of military service that ended in 1518 when his father
died. He returned to Winnington and, for
all intents and purposes, lived a bachelor lifestyle.
At age
80, Old Tom Parr married Jane Taylor.
He had
two children with his first wife, but both died as infants.
At age
100, Parr sired an illegimate child with Katherin Milton and was forced to
stand in the parish church wearing nothing but a white sheet.
At 122,
Old Man Parr married Jane Lloyd. Jane
Taylor had died ten years previous.
His diet is reported to have been
typical: cheese, bread, buttermilk. He
did not smoke. He did not imbibe heavily
in drink. When asked how he was able to
live so long, he subscribed to a calm life with plenty of exercise and
sleep.
Things changed for Tom in 1635 when
Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel heard mention of him. Intrigued by a man who could possibly be over fifteen decades old, the Earl invited Tom to court.
Blindness, age, and lack of teeth did not dissuade the old man to
go. In London, he met King Charles I,
had his portrait painted, and enjoyed life at court.
Unfortunately, six weeks after
arriving, Old Tom Parr died on November 14th, 1635. Charles insisted he be buried in Westminster
Abbey. His small marble gravestone lists
his birth year and all the monarchs he saw rule England.
An autopsy was performed by Charles’s
own physician, undoubtedly to discover the secret to long life. The report still exists and is quite detailed
about Parr’s penis and scrotum. The
doctor even notes that the man could indeed have fathered a child at 100 years
old and should put an end to that question. (Apparently
his virility and faltering marriage vows were hotly debated in 17th
century England?) Ultimately, it
was decided that the change in air quality, climate and diet brought the Old,
Old, Very Old Man’s life to a close.
Thomas Parr was said to have been
born in 1483, which would have made him 152 years and 9 months at the time of
his death. Do you believe it? Some scholars believe his birthday is
commonly confused with his grandfather’s, who shared the same name. But, as I said earlier, the beginning of his
life cannot be proven I suppose we’ll never know.
However, Thomas Parr did do something not
many commoners of the age could not say they had done: be remembered. His portrait (shown below!) is still visible
and Winnington boasts a cottage said to belong to Old Man Parr.
Modern life has seen its fair share
of centenarians. There is some debate
over who is the oldest person and will Guinness recognize the oldest people
ever, etc. I’m going to avoid all that and
say, in general, the oldest people that can be verified are living into their
120s. That’s rather amazing. And a perfect segue into my next
two posts or so where I will focus on ageing research… I've touched on it in my The Great Sirtuin Debate post on Dr. Amedeo, but there's more to be said!
REFERENCES
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