I did not see Merrick again for two years. Then, one day, the
police found him. He had my card in his hand, so they brought
him to the London Hospital. He was very tired, hungry, and
dirty, so I put him to bed in a quiet little room. But he could not
stay at the hospital. He was not ill, and of course the beds in
the hospital are for ill people. We have no beds for hungry
people, or ugly people.
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I told the Hospital Chairman, Mr Carr Gomm, about Merrick. He
listened carefully, and then he wrote a letter to the editor of
The Times newspaper.
From The Times, December 4th, 1886
A Letter to the Editor Dear Sir,
I am writing to you about a man in our hospital. He needs
your help. His name is Joseph Merrick, and he is 27 years old.
He is not ill, but he cannot go out of the hospital because he is
very, very ugly. Nobody likes to look at him, and some people
are afraid of him. We call him the 'Elephant Man'.
Two years ago, Merrick lived in a shop near the London
Hospital. For two pence, people could see him and laugh at
him. One day Dr Frederick Treves - a hospital doctor - saw
Merrick, brought him to this hospital, and looked at him
carefully. Dr Treves could not help Merrick, but he gave him
his card.
Then the shopkeeper, Silcock, took Merrick to Belgium. A lot of
people in Belgium wanted to see him, and so after a year
Merrick had £50. But then Silcock took Merrick's £50, left
Merrick in Belgium, and went back to London. Merrick came back to London by himself. Everyone on the
train and the ship looked at him, and laughed at him. In
London, the police put him in prison. But then they saw Dr
Treves's card, and brought Merrick to the London Hospital.
This man has no money, and he cannot work. His face and
body are very, very ugly, so of course many people are afraid
of him. But he is a very interesting man. He can read and
write, and he thinks a lot. He is a good, quiet man. Sometimes
he makes things with his hands and gives them to the nurses,
because they are kind to him.
He remembers his mother, and he has a picture of her. She
was beautiful and kind, he says. But he never sees her now.
She gave him to Silcock a long time ago.
Can the readers of The Times help us? This man is not ill, but
he needs a home. We can give him a room at the hospital, but
we need some money. Please write to me at the London
Hospital.
Yours faithfully,
F.C. Carr Gomm
Chairman of the London Hospital The readers of The Times are very kind people. They gave us a
lot of money. After one week, we had £50,000, so Merrick
could live in the hospital for all his life. We could give him a
home.
