She was born Mary Denyer at Godalming, Surrey, and
baptised on February 21st 1703. In 1720, she married Joshua Toft, a
journeyman clothier (a journeyman was someone who had completed his
apprenticeship but was not yet a master of his craft. They were often
itinerants, who worked for day wages – hence the term ‘journeyman’, from
the French journée – ‘day’). Mary was an unprepossessing girl;
she was short of stature and bad tempered, stupid and illiterate, wilful,
wooden and stolid.
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| N St Andre's opinion of Mary Toft |
Joshua and Mary had three children and, in spring 1726, she
was pregnant again. In the first few weeks, whilst working in the fields, Mary was shocked by a rabbit that sprang unseen at her feet. She and her companion
then saw another rabbit, and from then Mary developed an obsession with
rabbits, she dreamed about them and had an overwhelming urge to eat them, a
luxury an eighteenth century English peasant could ill afford.
 |
| Mary Toft |
In early August,
Mary began to suffer from severe abdominal pains and egested a mass of unformed
tissue, followed three weeks later by a similar event. During the night of
September 27th, she was again taken ill during the night and her
mother-in-law, Ann Toft, who was a midwife was sent for. Mary delivered what
was said to resemble the lights and innards of a pig. Joshua Toft took these to
Mr John Howard, a surgeon and man-midwife with thirty years experience, at
Guilford, and Mr Howard went to Godalming some days later, where he delivered
what seemed to be further parts of a pig.
It seemed that the affair was over,
but early in November, Mary Toft went into labour once more and Howard returned
to Godalming. News began to reach the London medical establishment that a woman
in Surrey was giving birth to rabbits, and these rumours were confirmed when Mr
Howard wrote to the capital, saying he had removed Mrs Toft to Guilford after
she had borne nine rabbits and inviting any interested parties to come and see
the wonders for themselves.
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| Nathaniel St Andre |
This invitation was taken up by Dr Nathaniel St
André, surgeon to the Royal Household of King George I, who travelled to
Guilford on November 15th, in the company of the Honourable Mr
Samuel Molyneux, Secretary to H R H the Prince of Wales. They arrived in the
afternoon and were met by Howard, who informed them that Mrs Toft was in the process
of delivering her fifteenth rabbit. St André and Howard attended her, finding
her in great pain, and soon after she delivered the torso of a rabbit, stripped
of its skin but containing lungs, heart and diaphragm. The doctors examined Mrs
Toft and St André found irregularities in the right fallopian tube, suspecting
that the rabbits were developing there before passing into the uterus.
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| A Bunny Baby? |
They
repaired to the mayor’s house, and two hours later news reached them that Mrs
Toft had borne the hind parts of a rabbit that fitted with the torso delivered
earlier. They returned to the doctor’s house, where Toft was once more in
immense pain, and soon after the rolled-up skin of a rabbit appeared together
with a rabbit’s head, complete with skin, and with a torn ear. All the parts so
far delivered were preserved in alcohol, and St André began his examination of
them.
In the guts of one, normal rabbit dung was found, containing plant
material, although another contained a thick, viscous mucus resembling
meconium. The first creature was found not to be a perfect rabbit, having three
of its four paws more like those of a cat, the various sections formed complete
bodies although some lacked viscera, and the majority were female.
 | |
| St Andre - Narrative - 1726 |
St André
wrote a short but medically detailed report, which he forwarded to London and
which was presented before the King and court on November 26th 1726.
It caused an immediate sensation.
Tomorrow - Just how the immediate sensation went ...
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