Thomas Parr ( (reputedly) – 13 November 1635), popularly known as "Old Parr", was an Englishman who was said to have lived for 152 years. A portrait of Parr hangs at Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery, with an inscription which reads "Thomas Parr died at the age of 152 years 19 days" "The old very old man or Thomas Parr, son of John Parr of Winnington in the Parish of Alberbury who was born in the year 1483 in the reign of King Edward IV being 152 years old in the year 1635." The portrait was once in the collection of the Leighton family of Loton Park, which is in Alberbury.
Biography
Early life
220px|thumbnail|Old Parr's Cottage at [[Winnington, Shropshire|Winnington, Shropshire]]
Records vary, but Parr was allegedly born around October 1482 or 1483, although he may have been born as recently as ,
Later life
Thomas Parr purportedly had an affair when he was more than 100 years old, and fathered a child born out of wedlock, for which he had to do public penance in the church porch. After the death of his first known wife when he was at the alleged age of 110, he married Jane Lloyd, a widow, at the alleged age of 122. They lived together for 12 years, with Jane commenting that he never showed any signs of age or infirmity. The Earl arranged for Parr's daughter-in-law to accompany him on the southward trip, as well as an entertainer known as Jack the Fool, to amuse Parr on the journey. The carriage and escort attracted large crowds as it travelled towards London, with people stifling the old man in an attempt to touch him and hear him speak. By the time he finally arrived in the capital, Parr was reportedly blind and feeble. King Charles I was reported to have asked Parr: "Master Parr, you have lived longer than other men. What have you done more than other men?" He replied that he had performed penance for an affair with Catherine Milton, a village maiden. The King was stern, stating: "Fie, fie old man. Can you remember nothing but your vices?"
Parr was treated as a spectacle in London, but the food and environment caused him to die within only a few weeks, on 13 November 1635. The King arranged for him to be buried in Westminster Abbey on . performed an autopsy on Parr's body. The results were published in the book De ortu et natura sanguinis by John Betts as an attachment. Harvey examined Parr's body and found all his internal organs to be in a perfect state. No apparent cause of death could be determined, and it was assumed that Parr had simply died of overexposure because he had been too well fed.
It is possible that Parr's birth records were confused with those of his namesake grandfather. Parr did not claim to be able to remember specific events from the 15th century.
- A portrait of Parr hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
- Parr is mentioned in two books by Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop and Dombey and Son.
- Parr's old age is mentioned in the 1854 book Walden by Henry David Thoreau.
- In 1871, Mark Twain considered writing An Autobiography of Old Parr where he would debunk the longevity claim.
- In Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, Abraham Van Helsing cites Parr's age as an example of "inexplicable" phenomena that are nevertheless real.
- A Scotch whisky brand, Grand Old Parr, launched 1909, is named after Parr.
- Parr is mentioned at the beginning of James Joyce's 1939 novel Finnegans Wake.
- Parr has been used as an example of the supposed health benefits of some natural medicines, including herbal colon cleansing.
- Edith Sitwell mentions Parr in 1958's English Eccentrics: A Gallery of Weird And Wonderful Men And Women.
- Vishnudevananda Saraswati cites Parr as proof of the benefits of a vegetarian diet in the 1960 book The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga.
- Parr is named in the 1973 novel Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein.
- In the 1979 film The Champ, a small statue of Parr instigates a conversation between a boy and his stepfather.
- Parr is mentioned in Robert Graves's poem A Country Mansion.
- In Patrick O'Brian's 1980 book The Surgeon's Mate, lead character Stephen Maturin uses Parr as an example to encourage an aged friend contemplating marriage.
- Margaret George's novel Elizabeth I imagines a meeting between Parr and the Queen.