When Fatness was Admired: The Story of Daniel Lambert

Posted by Alex in Medicine on October 15, 2007 at 2:42 am


There was a time that, believe it or not, fatness was an admired trait. Take, for instance, the case of Daniel Lambert, whom Charles Dickens himself wrote about in his novel.

Here’s an excerpt from The Human Marvels:

At the age of 20, as [Daniel Lambert's] mass started to grow – he consciously remained active and watched his diet. However, in the 1790’s Daniel took over his father’s position as keeper of Leicester prison – and took up a stationary lifestyle. In 1793, he weighed 448 pounds – in a time when the greatest weight ever medically recorded in England was around 616 pounds. Despite his weight, Lambert was still quite strong and showed little sign of fatigue as he gave swimming and hunting lessons. However, his weight continued and in 1801, at 560 pounds, he could no longer hunt, his horse simply could not bear his weight. In 1805, his prison closed down and, after a brief time as a recluse and ballooning to a legitimate 700 pounds, he took to exhibiting himself for profit.

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7 comments to "When Fatness was Admired: The Story of Daniel Lambert"

  1. Me3
    October 15th, 2007 at 11:11 am

    I didn't really get that Dickens admired his weight out of that, though. Was I supposed to?

  2. L
    October 15th, 2007 at 12:05 pm

    Fatness was admired because it meant you were rich enough to buy lots of food. I don't know if people knew about the health risks at that time. (The article does say that his weight was due to a pituitary condition, though, and not overeating.)

  3. Jimbo
    October 15th, 2007 at 12:24 pm

    I agree, it has to do with status / wealth cause no one wants to do a fat chick. (JK)

  4. Vonskippy
    October 15th, 2007 at 2:15 pm

    First time around I read that as: "When FatASS was Admired", and thought "oh no" a article about rap music.

  5. Meggymoo
    October 15th, 2007 at 4:21 pm

    whoooo some of my local history. Daniel Lambert is a bit of a hero round these parts. His chair and trousers and pictures hang in the local museum.

  6. Paul
    October 15th, 2007 at 10:38 pm

    Does anyone know what the current record is? most likely a fair bit higher than 700 pounds

  7. Ali S.
    October 16th, 2007 at 1:34 am

    I believe the largest man in the World at the moment is a heaveyset fellow from Mexico.


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