Editing Joseph Merrick (section)

== Early life and family ==
[[File:ElephantMan2.JPG|thumb|upright=0.85|Merrick photographed in 1888]]
Joseph Carey Merrick was born on 5&nbsp;August 1862, at 50 Lee Street in [[Leicester]], to Joseph Rockley Merrick and his wife Mary Jane (née Potterton).<ref name=odnb /> Joseph Rockley Merrick ({{circa|1838}}–1897) was the son of London-born weaver Barnabas Merrick (1791–1856) who moved to Leicester during the 1820s or 1830s, and his third wife Sarah Rockley.<ref name=Howell33 /> Mary Jane Potterton ({{circa|1837}}–1873), born at [[Evington]] in Leicestershire, was the daughter of William Potterton, who was described as an agricultural labourer in the 1851 census of Thurmaston, Leicestershire.<ref>The National Archives: HO107/2087, f.666, p.12</ref> As a young woman, she worked as a domestic servant in Leicester before marrying Joseph Rockley Merrick, who at the time was a warehouseman,<ref name=Vigor-Mungovin38 /> in 1861.

Merrick was apparently healthy at birth, and he had no outward anatomical signs or symptoms of any disorder for the first few years of his life. Named after his father, he was given the middle name Carey by his mother, a [[Baptist]], after the preacher [[William Carey (missionary)|William Carey]].<ref name=Howell42 /> The Merricks had two other children: William Arthur, born January 1866, who died of [[scarlet fever]] on 21&nbsp;December 1870 aged four and was buried on Christmas Day 1870; and Marion Eliza,<ref name="Marion">{{cite news |title=New research on Elephant man |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2808033.stm |access-date=13 May 2020 |website=[[BBC News]] |date=28 February 2003 |archive-date=19 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419064633/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2808033.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> born 28&nbsp;September 1867, who had physical disabilities and died of [[myelitis]] and "seizures" on 19 March 1891, aged 23. William is buried with his mother, aunts and uncles in [[Welford Road Cemetery]] in Leicester;<ref name=Vigor-Mungovin58 /> Marion is buried with her father in Belgrave Cemetery in Leicester.<ref name=Vigor-Mungovin79 />

Mary Jane's [[gravestone]] wrongly indicates that she had four children.<!-- Joseph, John, William, Marion. See https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76888156/mary-jane-merrick --> It was originally understood that John Thomas Merrick (born 21&nbsp;April 1864)—who died of [[smallpox]] on 24&nbsp;July of the same year—was the fourth child of Joseph and Mary Jane Merrick, but the [[General Register Office for England and Wales|GRO]] birth records indicate that he was in fact not related to them.<ref name=Vigor-Mungovin59 />

A pamphlet titled "The Autobiography of Joseph Carey Merrick", produced c.&nbsp;1884 to accompany his exhibition, states that he began to display anatomical signs at approximately five years of age, with "thick lumpy skin&nbsp;... like that of an elephant, and almost the same colour".<ref name=pamphlet /> According to a 1930 article in the ''Illustrated Leicester Chronicle'', he began to develop swellings on his lips at the age of 21 months, followed by a bony lump on his forehead and a loosening and roughening of the skin.<ref name=Howell43 />{{refn|An article was published anonymously in the ''Illustrated Leicester Chronicle'' on 27&nbsp;December 1930 which was, according to Howell & Ford (1992), "clearly based on a knowledge of the Merrick family circumstances". It included information about Merrick's mother's background, his early development and his attempts to gain employment.<ref>[[#Howell|Howell & Ford (1992)]], pp. 32, 42, 50</ref>|group=nb}} As he grew, a noticeable difference between the size of his left and right arms appeared, and both his feet became significantly enlarged.<ref name=Howell43 /> The Merrick family explained his symptoms as the result of Mary Jane being knocked over and frightened by a fairground elephant while she was pregnant with him.<ref name=Howell43 /> The concept of [[maternal impression]]—that the emotional experiences of pregnant women could have lasting physical effects on their unborn children—was still common in 19th-century Britain.<ref name=Howell129 /> Merrick held this belief about the cause of his disability throughout his life.<ref name=Howell128 />

In addition to his deformities, Merrick fell and damaged his left hip at some point during his childhood. The injury site became infected and left him permanently disabled.<ref name=Howell44 /> Although limited by his physical deformities, Merrick attended school and enjoyed a close relationship with his mother.<ref name=Howell44 /> She was a Sunday school teacher, and his father worked as an [[engine driver]] at a cotton factory, as well as running a [[haberdasher]]y business.<ref name=Howell44 /> Mary Jane Merrick died from [[bronchopneumonia]] on 29&nbsp;May 1873, two and a half years after the death of her youngest son William.<ref name=Vigor-Mungovin61 /> Joseph Rockley Merrick moved with his two surviving children to live with Mrs. Emma Wood Antill, a widow with children of her own. They married on 3&nbsp;December 1874.<ref name=Howell47 />