Doubts of His Age
William Harvey (1578–1657), the physician who discovered the circulation of the blood, performed a post-mortem on Parr's body. The results were published in the book De ortu et natura sanguinis by John Betts as an attachment. He examined his body and found all his internal organs to be in a perfect state. No apparent cause of death could be determined, and it was assumed that Old Parr had simply died of overexposure. A modern interpretation of the results of the autopsy suggest that Thomas Parr was probably under 70 years of age. A monument to him was erected at Westminster Abbey.
It is possible that Parr's records were confused with those of his grandfather. Parr did not claim to remember specific events from the 15th century.
Moreover Parr's reputed year of birth (1483) was that of Sir Thomas Parr, the father of Catherine Parr, wife of Henry VIII, which may have led to the stories of his great age.
Read more about this topic: Old Tom Parr
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