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Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890) was an English man known for his severe physical deformities.

He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "The Elephant Man", and then went to live at the London Hospital, in Whitechapel, after meeting the surgeon Sir Frederick Treves. Despite his challenges, Merrick created detailed artistic works, such as intricate models of buildings, and became well known in London society. Merrick was born in Leicester and began to develop abnormally before the age of five. Rejected by his father and stepmother, he left home and went to live with his uncle, Charles Merrick. In 1879, 17-year-old Merrick entered the Leicester Union Workhouse. In 1884, he contacted a showman named Sam Torr and proposed that he might be exhibited. Torr arranged for a group of men to manage Merrick, whom they named "the Elephant Man". After touring the East Midlands, Merrick travelled to London to be exhibited in a penny gaff shop rented by showman Tom Norman. The shop was visited by surgeon Frederick Treves, who invited Merrick to be physically examined. Merrick was displayed by Treves at a meeting of the Pathological Society of London in 1884, after which Norman's shop was closed by the police. Merrick then joined Sam Roper's circus and then toured in Europe by an unknown manager. In Belgium, Merrick was robbed by his road manager and abandoned in Brussels. He eventually made his way back to the London Hospital, where he was allowed to stay for the rest of his life. Merrick also received visits from some of the wealthy ladies and gentlemen of London society, including Alexandra, Princess of Wales. Merrick died in the hospital on 11 April 1890. Although the official cause of his death was asphyxia, Treves, who performed the postmortem, concluded that Merrick had died of a dislocated neck. Merrick's life was depicted in a 1977 play by Bernard Pomerance and in a 1980 film by David Lynch, both titled The Elephant Man.

Joseph Carey Merrick was born on 5 August 1862, at 50 Lee Street in Leicester, to Joseph Rockley Merrick and his wife Mary Jane (née Potterton). It was originally understood that John Thomas Merrick (born 21 April 1864)—who died of smallpox on 24 July of the same year—was the fourth child of Joseph and Mary Jane Merrick, but the GRO birth records indicate that he was in fact not related to them. Joseph Rockley Merrick moved with his two surviving children to live with Mrs.

Norman later recalled that Merrick had visited the hospital "two or three" times, and that Treves had given Merrick his calling card during one of those visits.

Treves and Merrick built a friendly relationship, although Merrick never completely confided in him.

By then, Tom Norman's shop on Whitechapel Road had been closed and Merrick had moved on, so in Merrick's absence, Treves made do with the photographs he had taken during his examinations.

Treves depicted Tom Norman, the showman who had exhibited Merrick on Whitechapel Road, as a cruel drunk who ruthlessly exploited his charge. He pointed out inconsistencies between the accounts and disputed some of Treves's version of events; he noted, for example, that while Treves claimed Merrick knew nothing of his mother's appearance, Carr Gomm mentions that Merrick carried a painting of his mother with him, and he criticised Treves's assumption that Merrick's mother was "worthless and inhuman". American metal band Mastodon has three songs dedicated to Joseph Merrick—all of them are instrumental album closers: "Elephant Man" (from Remission, 2002), "Joseph Merrick" (from Leviathan, 2004), and "Pendulous Skin" (from Blood Mountain, 2006). Merrick's life is the subject of Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man, an opera by composer Laurent Petitgirard.

Quick Facts

• Joseph Carey Merrick was born on 5 August 1862, at 50 Lee Street in Leicester, to Joseph Rockley Merrick and his wife Mary Jane (née Potterton).
• Merrick was displayed by Treves at a meeting of the Pathological Society of London in 1884, after which Norman's shop was closed by the police.
• American metal band Mastodon has three songs dedicated to Joseph Merrick—all of them are instrumental album closers: "Elephant Man" (from Remission, 2002), "Joseph Merrick" (from Leviathan, 2004), and "Pendulous Skin" (from Blood Mountain, 2006).
• Merrick died in the hospital on 11 April 1890.
• After touring the East Midlands, Merrick travelled to London to be exhibited in a penny gaff shop rented by showman Tom Norman.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Joseph Merrick". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.