The histories tell of a long list of famous men, natives of Stamford; but the mere mental capacity or personal bravery shown by these great ones is sardonically overshadowed by the physical greatness of quite another kind of person, who, although not even a native of Stamford, has, by his dying here, shed an especial lustre upon the town. [Picture: Daniel Lambert] Far transcending the fame of all other personages is that of Daniel Lambert, the Fat Man. In the computation of avoirdupois and of the tape-measure, this was the greatest figure that ever travelled the Great North Road. No king or noble can vie with him, nor are saintly shrines more zealously visited than his grave in the old churchyard of St. Martin’s. While the tomb of that great Cecil, the Lord Treasurer Burghley, within the church, remains often unvisited, photographs of Daniel Lambert and of his epitaph meet the traveller at every turn. Although destined to this undying fame, and to pothouse canonisation, Daniel’s career was short, as that epitaph tells us:— “In Remembrance of That Prodigy in Nature DANIEL LAMBERT who was possessed of An exalted and convivial mind And in personal greatness Had no Competitor He measured three feet, one inch, round the leg Nine feet, four inches, round the body And Weighed Fifty-two stone Eleven pounds He departed this life On the 21st of June 1809 Aged 39 years.”