Elephant Man's home town starts campaign to erect statue of him

Joseph Cary Merrick, Victorian England's famous "Elephant Man"
Joseph Cary Merrick, Victorian England's famous "Elephant Man" Credit: AP

An Elephant Man statue should be erected in his home city, residents have said, as the local council was told it should be "ashamed" of ignoring him.

Campaigners based in Leicester have begun raising money via a crowdfunder to make a memorial to Joseph Merrick, who lived there for most of his life.

They hope to raise £110,000 after being given a price estimate by sculptor Sean Hedges-Quinn, who has agreed to take on the project.

Joanne Vigor-Mungovin, a verger at Leicester Cathedral, who is promoting the appeal and has written a book about the famous resident, said the town council should be ashamed of not acknowledging Merrick.

He was labelled the "Elephant Man" because of his contorted features, and his life story was told in a Hollywood movie starring John Hurt.

Merrick, whose condition did not develop until he was five, has inspired a number of books, alongside an award-winning play.

His head eventually measured 36 inches, with researchers claiming the deformities were the cause of Proteus syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.

Mrs Vigor-Mungovin said "There is a blue information board near Lee Street NCP multi-storey car park which informs the visitor that Joseph Merrick was born there.

"The information board tells you more about Sid James opening the Tesco superstore then our own local resident.

"The only memorial to Joseph is a small plaque at Moat College in Leicester which is not accessible to the general public and a conference room."

She added that she hopes the statue will "call attention to inclusion, equality, independence, choice, empowerment, respect and dignity to people with a range of disabilities."

"And it will challenge the prejudice, discrimination and social isolation that many disabled people face throughout their lives at home and at work."

Mrs Vigor-Mungovin thinks it should be sited outside the Highcross, close to the Clock Tower, not far from where he was born in some slums.

"This is where we know that Joseph Merrick sold ribbons, stockings and gloves before deciding to go to London to be in a freak show.

"It would be fitting to place him right there in the heart of Leicester.” 

She worked with the City of London Corporation to produce a plaque, which is now in place at a recently discovered but un-named grave in Newham for Merrick.

A Leicester city council spokesman said that, although the council is not responsible for erecting statues, planning permission would have to be given according to the site chosen.

They added:  "Joseph Merrick's story is a significant part of Leicester's history, and his story addresses important issues about society's changing attitudes towards disability.

"The city council is not responsible for erecting statues, but if other groups or organisations want to raise the money, we are happy to help facilitate the process."

Merrick had a skeletal and soft tissue deformity which made him a medical curiosity, with his skeleton preserved at the Royal London Hospital.

But Mrs Vigor-Mungovin, who has written a book about him, said she had discovered his soft tissue was buried in the City of London Cemetery in Newham after he died in 1890 aged 27.

Following a miserable adolescence in Leicester and some time as a travelling "freak" exhibit, Merrick ended up at the former London Hospital in Whitechapel, East London.

Mrs Vigor-Mungovin said his soft tissue was buried but its existence had been forgotten due to the number of graveyards in use at the time.

She said the detailed Victorian records make her "99 per cent certain" she has found the Elephant Man's graveyard, with the burial dated April 24 1890, 13 days after Merrick's death.

She added "It gives his residence as London Hospital, his age as 28 - Joseph was actually 27 but his date of birth was often given wrong - and the coroner as Wynne Baxter, who we know conducted Joseph's inquest."

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