John Middleton (1578–1623), often known as The Childe of Hale, was a giant who lived in the English village of Hale near Liverpool in the early modern period. He was born a healthy baby of peasant origins. Middleton is believed to have suffered from gigantism. The inscription on his tombstone reads, “Here lyeth the bodie of John Middleton the Childe of Hale. Nine feet three. Borne 1578 Dyede 1623.” His burial site is still accessible via the graveyard.
John Middleton’s height would have been around 9 feet 3 inches (2.81 meters) if his tombstone is to be believed. But this height measurement, which is bigger than Robert Wadlow‘s—the tallest person in recorded history at 8 ft 11.1 in (2.72 m)—can always be treated with skepticism.
Testimonials on John Middleton, the Giant
Oral history and urban legend provide the bulk of our information about John Middleton, the giant Childe of Hale. Among them is the fact that while he slept, his feet protruded beyond the window of his modest home, attesting to his extraordinary physical size. Proving that he was as tall as the Potsdam Giants.
However, a number of pieces of evidence attest to his existence and enormous stature. For instance, John Middleton’s portrait hangs at the Brasenose College library in Oxford to this day.
The student Samuel Pepys mentioned in his diary on June 9, 1930, that he had seen the contours of John Middleton’s huge hand drawn on the back of a basement door in the cellar of the college. The drawing has been there since at least the 1880s.
“After coming home from the schools, I went with the landlord to Brazen-nose College; to the butteries, and in the cellar find the hand of the Child of Hales [sic] . . . long.”
The student Samuel Pepys’ diary on 9 June 1930.
Robert Plot (d. 1696), an English naturalist, discovered the hand’s measurements in the Brasenose College Library’s archives. He worked on the archives for some time and published the following in his Natural History of Staffordshire, at page 295, under the subject of giants:
“… John Middleton, commonly call’d the Child of Hale in the County of Lane : whose hand from the carpus to the end of his middle finger was 17 inches long, his palm 8 inches and 1/2 broad, and his whole height 9 foot 3 inches, wanting but six inches of the height of Goliah, if that in Brasen-Nose College Library, (drawn at length, as ’tis said, in his just proportion) be a true piece of him.”
Sir Gilbert, the future Lord of the Manor of Hale, was a graduate and senior member at Brasenose College, and upon their return from the king’s court, he had two portraits drawn of Middleton by the college in his magnificent “London costume” of red, purple, and gold.
There are three Middleton portraits in existence today, and the portraits not only demonstrate the man’s existence but also how famous he was to merit such attention.
John Middleton’s Biography
John Middleton’s tombstone gives his year of birth as 1578. However, the parish registry of baptisms places the Childe of Hale’s birth year closer to 1572.
Lord and Sheriff Gilbert Ireland, Lord of Hale and grandfather of English politician Gilbert Ireland (d. 1675), recruited him as a bodyguard due to his stature and strength.
In 1617, on his visit to Hale to knight Gilbert Ireland, King James I (d. 1625) learned about the giant John Middleton and invited him and Ireland to his court.
In 1620, Gilbert Ireland and John Middleton went to the king’s court. Given that John Middleton’s employer, Gilbert Ireland, had just been made a knight by the king, this is probably when Middleton first became known as “Childe of Hale” or “Squire of Hale” (the word childe signifies a squire and not a child).
The word “childe” implies that John Middleton not only acted as a bodyguard for his master, but also accompanied him on his travels by carrying his weapons.
The Wrestling Match of the End
John Middleton is seen in the painting of Brasenose College greeting King James I of England while dressed in a purple, crimson, and gold robe. The king’s wrestling champion challenges John Middleton to a match.
The giant man defeats his opponent and breaks his thumb in the process. After the king’s courtiers lost a large bet to John Middleton, the king still wanted to express his gratitude to Middleton. King George I gave John Middleton £20 (a huge sum at the time, somewhere between £6,000 and £16,000) and sent him packing.
On the trip back, however, John Middleton would have his money stolen by other travelers who took advantage of his mental frailty; they called him “slow wits.” The giant Childe of Hale would have died a poor plowman in 1623.
According to the oral tradition, this giant man “had no choice but to plough till he died.”
In 1623, at an age between 45 and 51 years old, he passed away. The cemetery at St. Mary’s Church in Hale is where this extremely tall man’s body was laid to rest.
Is John Middleton the Tallest Man in History?
It is often speculated that John Middleton the Giant may have been even taller than Robert Wadlow (d. 1940), who was 8 feet 11 inches (2.72 m) tall. Incontrovertible evidence often points to this American man, who went by the names Alton Giant and Giant of Illinois, as the tallest person in history.
However, if the measurements on Middleton’s grave and the other accounts are to be believed, Childe of Hale would surpass Robert Wadlow and become the tallest man in recorded history.
- Two paintings and a picture of his hands that are both life-size may be seen at Brasenose College, Oxford.
- Speke Hall in Liverpool is a National Trust site where you may view another of his life-size image.
- Some experts disputed his reported height of 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m), claiming that Middleton was really just 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) because of inaccuracies in the measurement of his hands.
- His bones were said to have been unearthed in the Victorian period and in fact measured around 9 feet, 3 inches.
The Legacy of John Middleton Today
A Boat Club
When this 17th-century giant, who was over 9 feet tall, was accompanied by Sir Gilbert Ireland to the court of James I, he reportedly wrestled and defeated the king’s champion. Upon their return from court, Gilbert had two portraits drawn of Middleton in his magnificent “London costume” of red, purple, and gold.
This legend and custom provided the impetus for the founding of the Boat Club by the Brasenose students in 1815. A picture of the Childe of Hale, who became an inspiration to future generations of rowers, can still be found at the institution to this day.
The Brasenose Boat Club’s VIII racing boat has traditionally been referred to as “The Childe of Hale” in honor of John Middleton. Eight of the rowers make up the First VIII and they wear the red, purple, and gold of Childe’s London outfit.
Only four years after the formal start of the College races at Oxford, the Brasenose Ale Verses for 1841 make a witty reference to the name of the boat:
Yes, Childe of Ale, well named, you too can tell
The virtues of that beer you love so well;
While with nice skill, and mixture true, you float,
Beer for the crew, the water for the boat’.
A Pub
In honor of John Middleton, a pub in Hale is called The Child of Hale. The sign outside The Childe of Hale is a reproduction of the painting that hangs at Brasenose College, Oxford.
A Bronze Statue
In addition to that, along the way to the cemetery of St. Mary’s Church, where this tall man is buried, there was a tree etched in the shape of his statue. Halton Borough Council decided to cut down the tree in 2013 due to disease and concerns for safety. Sculptor Diane Gorvin replaced the original wooden sculpture with a bronze one standing 9.8 feet (3 meters) tall in the same year.
A Recreational Hall
Speke Hall, located close to Hale, has a trail covered with trees with sculptures of his house, feet, and hands. The area also features a life-size image of the man.
References
- Featured Image: National Trust Collections
- (PDF) THE “CHILD OF HALE” (JOHN MIDDLETON); SOME PORTRAITS. By R. Stewart-Brown, M.A., F.S.A. Hslc.org.uk
- Villages of Britain – The Five Hundred Villages that Made the Countryside by Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011