Mary Toft, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Mary Toft

English medical hoaxer

Date of Birth: 21-Feb-1703

Place of Birth: Godalming, England, United Kingdom

Date of Death: 01-Jan-1763

Profession: adventurer

Nationality: United Kingdom

Zodiac Sign: Pisces

Mary Toft (née Denyer; c.
1701–1763), also spelled Tofts, was an English woman from Godalming, Surrey, who in 1726 became the subject of considerable controversy when she tricked doctors into believing that she had given birth to rabbits. In 1726 Toft became pregnant, but following her reported fascination with the sighting of a rabbit, she miscarried.
Her claim to have given birth to various animal parts prompted the arrival of John Howard, a local surgeon, who investigated the matter.
He delivered several pieces of animal flesh and duly notified other prominent physicians, which brought the case to the attention of Nathaniel St.
André, surgeon to the Royal Household of King George I.
St.
André concluded that Toft's case was genuine but the king also sent surgeon Cyriacus Ahlers, who remained skeptical.
By then quite famous, Toft was brought to London where she was studied in detail, where under intense scrutiny and producing no more rabbits she confessed to the hoax, and was subsequently imprisoned as a fraud. The resultant public mockery created panic within the medical profession and ruined the careers of several prominent surgeons.
The affair was satirised on many occasions, not least by the pictorial satirist and social critic William Hogarth, who was notably critical of the medical profession's gullibility.
Toft was eventually released without charge and returned home.