Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst
Mary Chulkhurst and Eliza Chulkhurst (* 1100 in Biddenden , Kent , England ; † 1134 ibid) were two siblings who, according to a local legend , were born as Siamese twins and were known under the name of Biddenden Maids .
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In pictures the two sisters are shown in a double portrait fused at the hips and shoulders. This makes the siblings one of the oldest documented cases of a symmetrical double malformation.
The traditional representation of the siblings with only two visible arms, which suggests additional adhesions in the shoulder area, may not be correct. Eliza and Mary likely had two arms each. The impression of overgrown shoulders may have been created incorrectly because they had one arm over the other's shoulder for convenience.
Twins Mary and Eliza died at the age of 34. When one of the two sisters died, the sister who was still alive is said to have said:
"As we came together, we will also go together"
"We came together, we will go together too"
She died a few hours later.
The village parish inherited 20 acres of land (approximately 81,000 square meters) from the wealthy Chulkhurst family after the death of the sisters . Linked to the inheritance was the condition that the income from the land was given as support to the poor and old.
This so-called “bread and cheese charity” was first mentioned in court records in 1665. To commemorate this charitable foundation - which still exists today - two pieces of biscuits, embossed with a picture of the twin sisters, are distributed to visitors to the city every Easter Monday; the poor also receive bread, cheese and tea.
The image of the two twin sisters is a symbol of the community of Biddenden.
literature
- Jan Bondeson : The Biddenden Maids: a curious chapter in the history of conjoined twins. In: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Volume 85, Number 4, April 1992, pp. 217-221, ISSN 0141-0768 . PMID 1433064 . PMC 1294728 (free full text).
