Daniel Dancer

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Daniel Dancer (1716-1794) was a notorious 18th century miser.

His entire life was devoted to miserly pursuits. He inherited a some land north of London, England, and with it a considerable yearly income. However, he ate only one meal a day: a scrap of meat and a single cold dumpling. He once found a dead sheep in a field and, despite the fact that it was starting to docompose, Dancer took it home and had it made into mutton pies-which he kept locked in a trunk.

Dancer slept in a sack, and wore rags filled with bundles of straw. He would buy a second hand shirt annually and wear it until it fell to pieces. If offered a pinch of snuff, he would take it and place it in a box. When the box was full, he traded it for candles. If he had insufficient snuff for candles, he sat in the dark.

in 1766 Dancer's sister was dying. However he refused to call a doctor "Why should i waste my money in wickedly endeavouring to counteract the will of the Providence? If the old girl's time is come.. she may as well die now as at any any future period."

Two portraits of Daniel Dancer - one by Richard Cooper, the other by an unknown artist - hang in the National Portrait Gallery.

Daniel Dancer was the great-grandfather of John Benjamin Dancer, inventor of microphotography.