Elephant Man: Joseph Merrick's unmarked grave discovered in London, says author

Biographer says she is ‘99 per cent certain’ she has tracked down correct site

Scene from David Lynch's film The Elephant Man (EMI Films)

The unmarked grave of Joseph Merrick – the Victorian freak show exhibit better known as the Elephant Man – has been discovered in London, an author has claimed.

Jo Vigor-Mungovin said she tracked down the precise burial spot of his remains in an east London cemetery almost 130 years after died.

A circus attraction deemed a medical marvel due to his severe deformities, Mr Merrick’s skeleton was carefully preserved at the Royal London Hospital after his death in 1890. The final resting place of his soft tissue, however, has remained a mystery for over a century.

Mr Merrick’s life was depicted in a 1980 film by director David Lynch titled The Elephant Man. The cause of the Leicester man’s deformities is still uncertain, but some believe he had a genetic disorder known as Proteus syndrome.

Ms Vigor-Mungovin consulted cemetery records around the time of his death and found he had been interred at the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium near Epping Forest.

The author, who has written a biography of Mr Merrick, said her hunt began after she was questioned about the location of his remains.

“I was asked about this and off-hand I said, “It probably went to the same place as the [Jack the] Ripper victims”, as they died in the same locality,” she told BBC Leicester.

“Then I went home and really thought about it and started looking at the records of the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium near Epping Forest, where two ripper victims are buried.

Joseph Merrick, photographed by Radiological Society of North America (PA Archive/PA Images)

“I decided to search in an eight-week window around the time of his death and there, on page two, was Joseph Merrick.”

The burial date listed in the records is 24 April 1890, less than two weeks after Mr Merrick’s death on 11 April.

It also providers the name of a coroner and final residence which correspond with previously established details about Mr Merrick.

Ms Vigor-Mungovin said she is “99 per cent certain” she has located the right grave. “Everything fits, it is too much to be a coincidence”.

His unmarked grave was narrowed down to a memorial garden at first, but Ms Vigor-Mungovin said a more specific spot was then identified with the help of cemetery authorities.

She said Mr Merrick soon would be given a fitting memorial plaque.