Mary Toft
Mary Toft | |
---|---|
Born | Mary Denyer c. 1701 |
Died | 1763 (aged 62) |
Nationality | English/British |
Known for | Medical hoax |
Mary Toft (née Denyer; c. 1701–1763), also spelled Tofts, was an English woman from Godalming, Surrey, who in 1726 became the subject of considerable controversy when she tricked doctors into believing that she had given birth to rabbits.
In 1726, Toft became
St. André concluded that Toft's case was genuine but the king also sent surgeon Cyriacus Ahlers, who remained skeptical. By then quite famous, Toft was brought to London where she was studied in detail; under intense scrutiny and producing no more rabbits she confessed to the hoax, and was subsequently imprisoned as a fraud.
The resultant public mockery created panic within the medical profession and ruined the careers of several prominent surgeons. The affair was satirised on many occasions, not least by the pictorial satirist and social critic William Hogarth, who was notably critical of the medical profession's gullibility. Toft was eventually released without charge and returned home.
Account
The story first came to the public's attention in late October 1726, when reports began to reach London.
From Guildford comes a strange but well-attested Piece of News. That a poor Woman who lives at Godalmin [sic], near that Town, was about a Month past delivered by Mr John Howard, an Eminent Surgeon and Man-Midwife, of a creature resembling a Rabbit but whose Heart and Lungs grew without [outside] its Belly, about 14 Days since she was delivered by the same Person, of a perfect Rabbit: and in a few Days after of 4 more; and on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, the 4th, 5th, and 6th instant, of one in each day: in all nine, they died all in bringing into the World. The woman hath made Oath, that two Months ago, being working in a Field with other Women, they put up a Rabbit, who running from them, they pursued it, but to no Purpose: This created in her such a Longing to it, that she (being with Child) was taken ill and miscarried, and from that Time she hath not been able to avoid thinking of Rabbits. People after all, differ much in their Opinion about this Matter, some looking upon them as great Curiosities, fit to be presented to the Royal Society, etc. others are angry at the Account, and say, that if it be a Fact, a Veil should be drawn over it, as an Imperfection in human Nature.
— Weekly Journal, 19 November 1726[2]
The 'poor Woman', Mary Toft, was twenty-four or twenty-five years old. She was baptised Mary Denyer on 21 February 1703, the daughter of John and Jane Denyer. In 1720 she married Joshua Toft, a journeyman clothier and together the couple had three children, Mary, Anne and James.[3][4] As an 18th-century English peasant, circumstances dictated that when in 1726 Toft again became pregnant, she continued working in the fields.[5] She complained of painful complications early in the pregnancy and in early August egested several pieces of flesh, one "as big as my arm". This may have been the result of an abnormality of the developing placenta, which would have caused the embryo to stop developing and blood clots and flesh to be ejected.[6][7][8] Toft went into labour on 27 September. Her neighbour was called and watched as she produced several animal parts. This neighbour then showed the pieces to her mother and to her mother-in-law, Ann Toft, who by chance was a midwife. Ann Toft sent the flesh to John Howard, a Guildford-based man-midwife of thirty years' experience.[6][9]
Initially, Howard dismissed the notion that Toft had given birth to animal parts, but the next day, despite his reservations, he went to see her. Ann Toft showed him more pieces of the previous night's exertions, but on examining Mary, he found nothing. When Mary again went into labour, appearing to give birth to several more animal parts, Howard returned to continue his investigations. According to a contemporary account of 9 November, over the next few days he delivered "three legs of a Cat of a Tabby Colour, and one leg of a Rabbet: the guts were as a Cat's and in them were three pieces of the Back-Bone of an Eel ... The cat's feet supposed were formed in her imagination from a cat she was fond of that slept on the bed at night." Toft seemingly became ill once more and over the next few days delivered more pieces of rabbit.[6][8]
As the story became more widely known, on 4 November Henry Davenant, a member of the court of King
SIR,
Since I wrote to you, I have taken or deliver'd the poor Woman of three more Rabbets, all three half grown, one of them a dunn Rabbet; the last leap'd twenty three Hours in the Uterus before it dy'd. As soon as the eleventh Rabbet was taken away, up leap'd the twelfth Rabbet, which is now leaping. If you have any curious Person that is pleased to come Post, may see another leap in her Uterus, and shall take it from her if he pleases; which will be a great Satisfaction to the Curious: If she had been with Child, she has but ten Days more to go, so I do not know how many Rabbets may be behind; I have brought the Woman to Guildford for better Convenience.
I am, SIR, Your humble Servant,
JOHN HOWARD.[13]
Investigation
By the middle of November the
In the doctors' absence, Toft later that day reportedly delivered the torso of another rabbit, which the two also examined.
Fascinated, the king then sent surgeon Cyriacus Ahlers to Guildford. Ahlers arrived on 20 November and found Toft exhibiting no signs of pregnancy. He may have already suspected the affair was a hoax and observed that Toft seemed to press her knees and thighs together, as if to prevent something from "dropping down". He thought Howard's behaviour just as suspicious, as the man-midwife would not let him help deliver the rabbits—although Ahlers was not a man-midwife and in an earlier attempt had apparently put Toft through considerable pain.[16] Convinced the affair was a hoax, he lied, telling those involved that he believed Toft's story, before making his excuses and returning to London, taking specimens of the rabbits with him. Upon closer study, he reportedly found evidence of them having been cut with a man-made instrument, and noted pieces of straw and grain in their droppings.[1][17]
On 21 November Ahlers reported his findings to the king and later to "several Persons of Note and Distinction".[18] Howard wrote to Ahlers the next day, asking for the return of his specimens.[17] Ahlers' suspicions began to worry both Howard and St. André, and apparently the king, as two days later St. André and a colleague were ordered back to Guildford.[16][19] Upon their arrival they met Howard, who told St. André that Toft had given birth to two more rabbits. She delivered several portions of what was presumed to be a placenta but she was by then quite ill, and suffering from a constant pain in the right side of her abdomen.[16][20]
In a pre-emptive move against Ahlers, St. André collected affidavits from several witnesses, which in effect cast doubt on Ahlers' honesty, and on 26 November gave an anatomical demonstration before the king to support Toft's story.[19][21] According to his pamphlet, neither St. André nor Molyneux suspected any fraudulent activity.[22]
St. André was ordered by the king to travel back to Guildford and to bring Toft to London, so that further investigations could be carried out. He was accompanied by
Examination
Printed in the early days of newspapers, the story became a national sensation, although some publications were skeptical, the Norwich Gazette viewing the affair simply as female gossip.[27] Rabbit stew and jugged hare disappeared from the dinner table, while as unlikely as the story sounded, many physicians felt compelled to see Toft for themselves. The political writer John Hervey later told his friend Henry Fox that:
Every creature in town, both men and women, have been to see and feel her: the perpetual emotions, noises and rumblings in her Belly are something prodigious; all the eminent physicians, surgeons and man-midwives in London are there Day and Night to watch her next production.
Under St. André's strict control, Toft was studied by a number of eminent physicians and surgeons, including John Maubray. In The Female Physician Maubray had proposed women could give birth to a creature he named a sooterkin. He was a proponent of maternal impression, a widely held belief that conception and pregnancy could be influenced by what the mother dreamt, or saw,[29] and warned pregnant women that over-familiarity with household pets could cause their children to resemble those pets. He was reportedly happy to attend Toft, pleased that her case appeared to vindicate his theories,[30] but man-midwife James Douglas, like Manningham, presumed that the affair was a hoax and despite St. André's repeated invitations, kept his distance.
Douglas was one of the country's most respected anatomists and a well-known man-midwife, whereas St. André was often considered to be a member of the court only because of his ability to speak the king's native German.
To be able to determine, to the Satisfaction and Conviction of all sorts of Persons, other Arguments were necessary, than Anatomy, or any other Branch of Physick [sic], could furnish. Of these the greatest Number are not Judges. It was therefore undoubtedly very natural for me to desire that People would suspend any farther Judgement for a little Time, till such Proofs could be brought of the Imposture as they requir'd.
— James Douglas[33]
Under constant supervision, Toft went into labour several times, to no avail.[34]
Confession
The hoax was uncovered less than a week later on 4 December.
I told my sister of my having sent for a rabbit and I desire[d] her to give it to the porter to be carryed away which my sister did saying she would not have it known for 1000 p[oun]d[s].
— Mary Toft[7]
Manningham examined Toft and thought something remained in the cavity of her uterus, and so he successfully persuaded Clarges to allow her to remain at the bagnio.
Pressured again by Manningham and Douglas (it was the latter who took her confession), she made a further admission on 8 December and another on 9 December, before being sent to
Aftermath
Mary Toft's later life
On 7 January 1727 John Howard and Mary Toft appeared before the bench, where Howard was fined £800 (£126,593 today).[43] He returned to Surrey and continued his practice, and died in 1755.[41][44][45]
Crowds reportedly mobbed Tothill Fields Bridewell for months, hoping to catch a glimpse of the now infamous Toft. By this time she had become quite ill, and while incarcerated had her portrait drawn by John Laguerre. She was ultimately discharged on 8 April 1727, as it was unclear as to what charge should have been made against her.
Impact on the medical profession
Following the hoax, the medical profession's gullibility became the target of a great deal of public mockery. William Hogarth published Cunicularii, or The Wise Men of Godliman in Consultation (1726), which portrays Toft in the throes of labour, surrounded by the tale's chief participants. Figure "F" is Toft, "E" is her husband. "A" is St. André, and "D" is Howard.[25][50][51] In Dennis Todd's Three Characters in Hogarth's Cunicularii and Some Implications the author concludes that figure "G" is Mary Toft's sister-in-law, Margaret Toft. Toft's confession of 7 December demonstrates her insistence that her sister-in-law played no part in the hoax, but Manningham's 1726 An Exact Diary of what was observ'd during a Close Attendance upon Mary Toft, the pretended Rabbet-Breeder of Godalming in Surrey offers eyewitness testimony of her complicity.[52] Hogarth's print was not the only image that ridiculed the affair—George Vertue published The Surrey-Wonder, and The Doctors in Labour, or a New Wim-Wam in Guildford (12 plates), a broadsheet published in 1727 which satirises St. André, was also popular at the time.[53]
The timing of Toft's confession proved awkward (and unfortunate) for St. André, who on 3 December had published his forty-page pamphlet A Short Narrative of an Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbets.[51] On this document the surgeon had staked his reputation, and although it offers a more empirical account of the Toft case than earlier more fanciful publications about reproduction in general, ultimately it was derided.[54] Ahlers, his scepticism justified, published Some observations concerning the woman of Godlyman in Surrey, which details his account of events and his suspicion of the complicity of both St. André and Howard.[55]
St. André recanted his views on 9 December 1726. In 1729, following the death of Samuel Molyneux, he married Molyneux's widow, Elizabeth. This did little to impress his peers.[56][44] Molyneux's cousin accused him of the poisoning, a charge that St. André defended by suing for defamation, but the careers of St. André and his wife were permanently damaged. Elizabeth lost her attendance on Queen Caroline, and St. André was publicly humiliated at court. Living on Elizabeth's considerable wealth, they retired to the country, where St. André died in 1776, aged 96.[57][58] Manningham, desperate to exculpate himself, published a diary of his observations of Mary Toft, together with an account of her confession of the fraud, on 12 December. In it he suggested that Douglas had been fooled by Toft, and concerned with his image Douglas replied by publishing his own account.[40][59] Using the pseudonym 'Lover of Truth and Learning', in 1727 Douglas also published The Sooterkin Dissected. A letter to Maubray, Douglas was scathingly critical of his sooterkin theory, calling it "a mere fiction of your [Maubray's] brain".[60] The damage done to the medical profession was such that several doctors not connected with the tale felt compelled to print statements that they had not believed Toft's story.[51]
The case was cited by
Satirical publications
Toft did not escape the ire of the satirists, who concentrated mainly on
Most true it is, I dare to say,
E'er since the Days of Eve,
The weakest Woman sometimes may
The wisest Man deceive.
References
Notes
- ^ a b c Todd 1982, p. 27
- ^ Haslam 1996, pp. 30–31
- ^ a b c d Uglow 1997, pp. 118–119, 121
- required.)
- ^ Cody 2005, p. 124
- ^ a b c Todd 1995, p. 6
- ^ a b c Three confessions of Mary Toft, Hunterian Collection of the Library of the University of Glasgow, Bundle 20, Blackburn Cabinet, shelf listings R.1.d., R.1.f., R.1.g.
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) "Mary Toft's Three Confessions," https://tofts3confessions.wordpress.com/ - ^ a b Haslam 1996, p. 30
- ^ Cody 2005, p. 125
- ^ Seligman 1961, p. 350
- ^ a b Haslam 1996, p. 31
- ^ Todd 1995, p. 9
- ^ St. André & Howard 1727, pp. 5–6
- ^ St. André & Howard 1727, pp. 7–12
- ^ St. André & Howard 1727, pp. 12–14
- ^ a b c d Seligman 1961, p. 352
- ^ a b Todd 1995, pp. 18–19
- ^ Todd 1995, p. 19
- ^ a b c Todd 1982, p. 28
- ^ St. André & Howard 1727, pp. 28–30
- ^ St. André & Howard 1727, pp. 20–21
- ^ St. André & Howard 1727, p. 32
- ^ Seligman 1961, p. 354
- ^ a b Cody 2005, p. 126
- ^ a b Paulson 1993, p. 168
- ^ St. André & Howard 1727, p. 23
- ^ Cody 2005, p. 135
- ^ Cody 2005, pp. 127–128
- ^ Bondeson 1997, pp. 129–131
- ^ Todd 1995, p. 26
- ^ Bondeson 1997, p. 132
- ^ Todd 1995, pp. 27–28
- ^ a b Todd 1982, p. 29
- ^ Caulfield & Collection 1819, pp. 199–200
- ^ a b Seligman 1961, p. 355
- ^ a b Seligman 1961, p. 356
- ^ Todd 1995, p. 7
- ^ Haslam 1996, p. 34
- ^ a b Brock 1974, p. 168
- ^ a b "Report on Margaret Toft", British Journal, 14 January 1727
- ^ "Report on Margaret Toft", Mist's Weekly Journal, 24 December 1726
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ a b Cody 2005, p. 132
- ^ a b Haslam 1996, p. 43
- ^ Cody 2005, p. 130
- ^ a b Bondeson 1997, p. 141
- ^ Cody 2005, pp. 131–132
- ODNB
- ^ Haslam 1996, pp. 28–29
- ^ a b c Todd 1982, p. 30
- ^ Todd 1982, p. 32
- ^ Haslam 1996, p. 45
- ^ Cody 2005, pp. 126–127
- ^ Ahlers 1726, pp. 1–23
- ^ "Daily Journal", Daily Journal, 9 December 1726
- ^ Bondeson 1997, pp. 142–143
- ^ Todd 1995, p. 11
- required.)
- ^ Lover of Truth and Learning 1726, p. 13
- ^ Bondeson 1997, p. 143
- ^ Cody 2005, p. 131
- ^ Bondeson 1997, p. 134
- ^ Cody 2005, pp. 132–134
- ^ Voltaire 1785, p. 428
- ^ Lynch 2008, pp. 33–34
- ^ Tuft 1727, pp. 12–17
- ^ Todd 1995, pp. 69–72
- ^ Cox 2004, p. 195
- ^ Pope & Butt 1966, p. 478
Bibliography
- Ahlers, Cyriacus (20 November 1726), Some observations concerning the woman of Godlyman in Surrey, J. Jackson and J. Roberts
- Bondeson, Jan (1997), A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities, I. B. Tauris, pp. 122–143, ISBN 1-86064-228-4
- Brock, H. (1974), "James Douglas of the Pouch", Medical History, 18 (2): 162–72, PMID 4606702
- Caulfield, James; Collection, Thordarson (1819), Portraits, memoirs, and characters, of remarkable persons, from the revolution in 1688 to the end of the reign of George II, vol. 2 (Illustrated ed.), New York Public Library: T. H. Whitely
- Cody, Lisa Forman (2005), Birthing the nation: sex, science, and the conception of eighteenth-century Britons (Illustrated, reprint ed.), Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-926864-9
- Cox, Michael (2004), Michael Cox (ed.), The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-860634-6
- Haslam, Fiona (1996), From Hogarth to Rowlandson: medicine in art in eighteenth-century Britain, Liverpool University Press, ISBN 0-85323-630-5
- Lover of Truth and Learning (1726), James Douglas (ed.), The Sooterkin Dissected
- Lynch, Jack (2008), Deception and detection in eighteenth-century Britain, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, ISBN 978-0-7546-6528-1
- Paulson, Ronald (1993), Hogarth: Art and Politics 1750–1764 (Illustrated ed.), James Clarke & Co., ISBN 0-7188-2875-5
- Pope, Alexander; Butt, John (1966), The Poems of Alexander Pope (Reprint ed.), Routledge, ISBN 0-415-04000-0
- Seligman, S. A. (1961), "Mary Toft—The Rabbit Breeder", Medical History, 5 (4): 349–60, PMID 13910428
- St. André, Nathaniel; Howard, John (1727), A short narrative of an extraordinary delivery of rabbets, : perform'd by Mr John Howard, Surgeon at Guilford, London, Printed for John Clarke
- Todd, Dennis (1982), "Three Characters in Hogarth's Cunicularii and Some Implications", Eighteenth-Century Studies, 16 (1), The Johns Hopkins University Press: 26–46, JSTOR 2737999
- Todd, Dennis (1995), Imagining monsters: miscreations of the self in eighteenth-century England (Illustrated ed.), University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-80555-7
- Tuft, Merry (1727), Much ado about nothing: or, a plain refutation of all that has been written or said concerning the rabbit-woman of Godalming, Printed for A. Moore, near St. Paul's
- Voltaire (1785), Singularités de la nature, Paris
- Uglow, Jennifer S. (1997), Hogarth: A Life and a World, Faber & Faber, ISBN 978-0-571-19376-9
Further reading
- Boyer (1726), The Political state of Great Britain, N/A
- Braithwaite, Thomas (1726), Remarks on A Short Narrative of an Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbets
- Caulfield, James (1819), "Mary Toft, the pretended rabbit-breeder", Portraits, Memoirs, and Characters of Remarkable Persons from the Revolution in 1688 to the end of the Reign of George II, vol. 2, London: H.R. Young & T. H. Whiteley, pp. 196–203
- Pickover, Clifford (2000), The Girl Who Gave Birth to Rabbits, Prometheus Books
- Costen, Edward (1727), The several depositions of Edward Costen, Richard Stedman, John Sweetapple, Mary Peytoe, Elizabeth Mason, and Mary Costen
- Douglas, James (1727), An advertisement occasioned by some Passages in Sir R. Manningham's Diary
- Gulliver, Lemuel (pseudonym) (1727), The anatomist dissected: or the man-midwife finely brought to bed
- Manningham, Sir Richard (1726), An exact diary of what was observ'd during a close attendance upon Mary Toft, the pretended rabbet-breeder of Godalming in Surrey, J. Roberts
- Nihell, Elizabeth (1760), The Famous Imposition of the Rabbet-woman of Godalmin
- Pope, Alexander (1727), The discovery: or, The Squire turn'd Ferret, A. Campbell
- A Letter from a Male Physician, 1726
- St. André's Miscarriage, 1727
- The Wonder of Wonders, Ipswich, 1726
External links