The Manx Giant: The Amazing Story of Arthur Caley

John Quirk

Manx Heritage Foundation, November 2009

978-0-9562064-4-2

The Manx Giant is John’s second non-fiction book, following The Manx Connection, published in 2007. John was approached to write the book by a descendant of the Giant, who had gathered research about Caley over a period of several years. A former journalist, John now works in advertising and PR. He has also recently established a small publishing house, with the first two titles due for release soon

Born in Sulby, Isle of Man in 1824, Arthur Caley was a phenomenon, a force of nature the likes of which the Island will probably never see again. At 7ft 11ins and weighing in at more than 400lbs, he was the tallest Manxman who ever walked, but he left to find his fame and fortune in freak shows around the UK and in Europe.

Reported dead in Paris aged 28, just weeks after his life was insured for a small fortune, Caley reappeared several years later on the streets of New York, where circus legend P.T. Barnum renamed him Colonel Routh Goshen and turned him into one of the stars of The Greatest Show on Earth. Mystery surrounds much of Caley’s life, particularly the events in Paris, and for the first time this book brings together all the facts to create a fascinating and fitting tribute to one of the most colourful characters in Manx history.

available from: www.manxheritage.org/books

RELATION!!

Submitted by shadow1996 on 28th April 2010 - 11:31am.

this is going to sound unbelieveable but it is true, i am actually related to the manx giant i own a family tree that goes back through my mother's side of the family (caley)and leads to arthur caley the manx giant (and it is him, not just a coincidense, it says under his name in bold THE MANX GIANT)he is my
great-great-great grandfather's cousin
Arthur Caley 1819-1889

Small world...!

Submitted by Quacker on 20th May 2010 - 11:01pm.

Hi Shadow - only just spotted this, so apologies for not replying sooner. Interesting story - he had 12 brothers and sisters, so it was a pretty big (forgive the pun...) family. They seem to have spread far and wide.

I gave a talk in a library last year, and the descendant who passed on most of the research was there; at the end of the talk, some people approached and it turned out they were distant cousins of his who he'd never met, but only lived half hour or so away from.

Chap's name is Carlton, and he's got his family tree traced back to before the Giant's days - if you're interested, PM me with an email address and I can put you in touch with him.

Cheers

Way cool, Shadow

Submitted by Raconteur on 13th May 2010 - 5:57am.

I find it so interesting when these kind of links happen.

It's a Bridge of San Luis Rey thing.

Are you tall? LOL

Lyn

Interesting RL...

Submitted by Quacker on 17th January 2010 - 10:34pm.

You know, I'm not sure - that element never came out in my research, so I'd think (hope!) that it's another of Barnum's giants - he did exhibit a few during his career.

But I'll do some digging - if it was Caley, might mean a second print run...

Cheers

Manx Giant

Submitted by RL Sutton on 15th January 2010 - 8:47pm.

Congrats! Was this the Barnum Giant that the Edinborough Medical School trolled the funeral parlor after his death and took his bones for public display?

Cheers!

Submitted by Quacker on 13th January 2010 - 12:04am.

Thanks for the kind words, Jeanie, appreciated

Congratualtions

Submitted by weejeanie on 12th January 2010 - 9:59am.

Only just found the hall of fame - duh! so chuffed for you after all your hard work - hope the sales keep piling up. WJ

Thanks, Lynn :-) But nope,

Submitted by Quacker on 7th January 2010 - 10:48pm.

Thanks, Lynn But nope, none of his relatives were or are tall - he was one of a kind. Even though I'd spent best part of two years researching and writing about Caley, it wasn't until we had the life-size cut out of him made for the book signings, and then had my picture taken next to him, that I realised just how damn big he really was...

Cheers
JQ

Congrats!

Submitted by Raconteur on 20th December 2009 - 6:22am.

This sounds so interesting. Are his descendants also tall?

When I was 15 years old, my family was visiting London. We were walking near Harrods when we spotted a man who was head and shoulders above the crowd, literally. There wasn't a single man whose head reached his shoulders. (My brother in law was 6 foot 3 inches.) He was ahead of us and my sister and I hurried to try to catch a better look. When we came up behind him, we discovered he was walking in the gutter. He was head and shoulders plus the gutter depth above the crowd.
We never saw him straight on, only from behind. We were going into Harrods and had to wait for the family to catch up.
I never forgot it--he made such an impression. I'd never seen anyone that tall.
Your story made me think he could have been related,
Again, congrats.

Lyn

Thanks, Peter - I'll check re

Submitted by Quacker on 1st December 2009 - 12:27am.

Thanks, Peter - I'll check re that - I picked up my little goody bag of free copies from the publisher, but the main delivery hasn't arrived here yet, so it might be that they are holding off putting it on website until they do, although as it's only a day or two away, I can't see why that would affect things. Will let you know.