Thomas Parr
Thomas Parr was an
English man who supposedly lived for 152 years, often referred to simply as "Old Parr", or "Old Tom Parr".
He was said to have been born in
1483 near
Shrewsbury, possibly at
Wollaston, and joined the army around
1500. He did not marry until he was 80 years old. He attributed his long life to his
vegetarian diet and moral temperance, although when he was around 100 years old he had an affair and an illegitimate child.
In
1635 Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, visited Parr and brought him to
London to meet
Charles I. Charles asked what Parr had done that was greater than any other man, and Parr replied that he was the oldest man to have performed
penance (for his affair). In London he was treated as a spectacle, but the change in food and environment apparently caused his death. Charles I arranged for him to be buried in
Westminster Abbey on
November 15,
1635. The inscription of his gravestone reads:
THO: PARR OF YE COUNTY OF SALLOP. BORNE / IN AD: 1483. HE LIVED IN YE REIGNES OF TEN / PRINCES VIZ: K.ED.4. K.ED.5.K.RICH.3. / K.HEN.7.K.HEN.8.K.EDW.6.Q.MA.Q.ELIZ / K.JA. & K. CHARLES. AGED 152 YEARES. / & WAS BURYED HERE NOVEMB. 15. 1635.William Harvey, the physician who discovered the circulation of the blood, performed an
autopsy on Parr's body.
The poet
John Taylor wrote about Parr in his
1635 poem
The Old, Old, Very Old Man or the Age and Long Life of Thomas Parr.
It is likely that his records were confused with those of his grandfather. However, he did not claim to remember specific events from the
15th century, and he was blind and feeble when the Earl of Arundel met him, so it seems that he was very old, possibly a
centenarian.The
Scotch whisky brand
Old Parr is named for him and recounts his claimed birth and death years on its label.
Another
Thomas Parr was also the father of
Catherine Parr, a wife of
Henry VIII.
*
Information from Westminster Abbey on Parr's life, including the inscription on his gravestone
