Thomas Spooner

by Mike Smith

It is reputed that Thomas Spooner is buried in Shuttington church yard. I say ‘reputed’ because I cannot find his actual gravestone.
There is an Ann Spooner who died in 1841.  She was the wife of John Spooner who completed his life in 1857.  Almost covered by the present hedge is a head stone to Elizabeth Spooner who died near Braintree in 1879 but proudly  proclaims herself to be “of Shuttington”.
 
Significantly, next to Ann and John’s grave, there is a particularly large stone where the lettering has been obliterated by weathering.
 
This might well be the sought after gravestone, because Thomas Spooner was a big man.  He measured four feet three inches (130 cm) across his shoulders and weighed 40 stones and 9 pounds. (260 Kg.)
 
Thomas was famous because at the time he was considered the fattest man in England.  He lived in Shuttington and died around the late 1700s or early 1800s.
 
It seems on one occasion he got into an argument and was stabbed. The wound would have killed an ordinary man but it did not seriously affect the big man, his layer of fat was such that the invading weapon could not reach any of his vital organs.  Thomas managed to get about with the aid of a reinforced trap which was hauled by a very sturdy pony.
 
Thomas Spooner does not appear in ‘The Guinness Book of Records’.  That book restricts itself to naming two gentlemen who topped 50 stone in weight.  Neither of those lived in Shuttington!