Biography
Parr was said to have been born in 1483 near Shropshire. He had two children, both of whom died in infancy. He existed and even thrived on a diet of “subrancid cheese and milk in every form, coarse and hard bread and small drink, generally sour whey”, as William Harvey wrote. … “On this sorry fare, but living in his home, free from care, did this poor man attain to such length of days."
Parr purportedly had an affair when he was about 100 years old and fathered a child born out of wedlock. After the death of his first wife, he married a second time at the alleged age of 122.
As news of his purported age spread, 'Old Parr' became a national celebrity and was painted by Rubens and Van Dyck. 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 the latter replied that he had performed penance (for his affair) at the age of 100.
Parr was treated as a spectacle in London, but the change in food and environment apparently led to his death. The king arranged for him to be buried in Westminster Abbey on 15 November 1635. The inscription of his gravestone reads:
T P C S
H T
K.E K.E K.R
K.H K.H K.E Q.M Q.E
K.J K. C A
Read more about this topic: Old Tom Parr
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