| Thomas Parr | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1483 (reputedly) Shrewsbury, England |
| Died | 14 November 1635 (aged 152)? London, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Soldier and Farmer |
Thomas Parr (1483 (reputedly) – 14 November 1635) was an English supercentenarian who claimed to have lived for 152 years.[1] He is often referred to simply as Old Parr or Old Tom Parr.
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Parr was said to have been born in 1483 near Shrewsbury, possibly at Wollaston. He joined the army around 1500 and did not marry until he was 80 years old. He had two children, both of whom died in infancy. He existed and even thrived on a diet of “subrancid cheese and milk in every form, coarse and hard bread and small drink, generally sour whey”, as William Harvey wrote. … “On this sorry fare, but living in his home, free from care, did this poor man attain to such length of days."
Parr purportedly had an affair when he was about 100 years old and fathered a child born out of wedlock. After the death of his first wife, he married a second time at the alleged age of 122.
As news of his purported age spread, 'Old Parr' became a national celebrity and was painted by Rubens and Van Dyck. In 1635, Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, visited Parr and brought him to London to meet Charles I. Charles asked what Parr had done that was greater than any other man, and the latter replied that he had performed penance (for his affair) at the age of 100.
Parr was treated as a spectacle in London, but the change in food and environment apparently led to his death. The king arranged for him to be buried in Westminster Abbey on 15 November 1635.[1] The inscription of his gravestone reads:
THO: PARR OF YE COUNTY OF SALLOP. BORNE
IN AD: 1483. HE LIVED IN YE REIGNES OF TEN
PRINCES VIZ: K.ED.4. K.ED.5. K.RICH.3.
K.HEN.7. K.HEN.8. K.EDW.6. Q.MA. Q.ELIZ
K.JA. & K. CHARLES. AGED 152 YEARES.
& WAS BURYED HERE NOVEMB. 15. 1635.
William Harvey (1578–1657), the physician who discovered the circulation of the blood,[2] performed a post-mortem on Parr's body.[3][4] The results were published in the book De ortu et natura sanguinis by John Betts as an attachment. He examined his body and found all his internal organs to be in a perfect state. No apparent cause of death could be determined, and it was assumed that Old Parr had simply died of overexposure. A modern interpretation of the results of the autopsy suggest that Thomas Parr was probably under 70 years of age.[5] A monument to him was erected at Westminster Abbey.
It is possible that Parr's records were confused with those of his grandfather. Parr did not claim to remember specific events from the 15th century.[4]
Moreover Parr's reputed year of birth (1483) was that of Sir Thomas Parr, the father of Catherine Parr, wife of Henry VIII, which may have led to the stories of his great age.
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