A Weighty Issue

George, the Prince Regent, is often held up as the exception of the age - a man with a huge girth (a waist of some 50 inches by the time of his death) but the Leicestershire gentleman, Daniel Lambert (1770-1809), at over 52 stone at his death in 1809 far exceeded George.  Lambert, like his father, was a keeper of a Bridewell or House of Correction in Leicester - he was not the usual type of gaoler and was generally well liked by the prisoners.  Like many men of his age he enjoyed his sport being a keen swimmer and excellent rider but seems to have also enjoyed his food.

The Lancaster Gazette and General Advertiser, for Lancashire, Westmorland, &c. (Lancaster, England), Saturday, July 01, 1809; Issue 420. 19th Century British Library Newspapers: Part II.

The "Mr Bright" mentioned in the above obituary was Edward Bright, a candle-maker and grocer, who was known as "the fat man of Maldon".  At his death in 1750, at the age of only 29,  he left a wife, five children and a memorable weight of over 42 stone.  It was said that seven men could fit into his waistcoat - a 'fact' which a month after his death resulted in a wager at the Black Bull pub.  This wager stated that "you could fit seven hundred men inside one of Bright's buttoned-up waistcoats.

Whilst this may sound unlikely, it was managed when seven men from the Dengie Hundred (the equivalent to the modern day council) squeezed quite easily into the garment - hence the seven 'hundred' men!"  (http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/articles/2008/05/15/fat_man_maldon_feature.shtml)

Lambert and Bright may have been celebrities for their unusual sizes, others were more interested in loosing weight.  It is famously reported that Lord Byron followed a variety of 'faddish' diets such as potato and vinegar diet or biscuits and soda water.  In the five years between 1806 and 1811 he lost five stone.  Beau Brummell reportedly weighed himself on the scales at Berry Bros & Rudd 40 times and lost two stone between 1815 and 1822.

Others had an even more unusual 'diet':

"Each night the Prince's table was a symposium of the usual habitues, a sprinkling of political orators and a posse of little arrogant scribblers, and eccentric men of the world such as the Duke of Norfolk, who was all his life a great friend of Fox. One could meet him at night in the most ambiguous places, sometimes dressed as a clergyman, sometimes as a jockey. He was also a great bibber, and in The Times of February 1794 one reads : "The Duke of Norfolk has had an attack of rabies; he cannot stand the sight of water. His doctors have prescribed him to look only at wine. The Marquis of Bath and Lord Thurlow, who were present at the consultation, have decided to follow the same diet." (Beau Brummell, His Life and Times http://archive.org/stream/beaubrummellhisl012964mbp/beaubrummellhisl012964mbp_djvu.txt)

I'm not sure if there is much consolation in realizing that our ancestors were as equally good at abusing their bodies as we are today!