# Did Jeremiah Carlton really exist? (at 19 inherited fortune,went to bed and stayed there for 70 yrs) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624 "2014-11-14T16:31:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![agzem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@agzem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agzem)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/1 "2014-11-14T16:31:43Z")
I keep seeing references to this man on the Internet but can’t find any original sourcing: “Jeremiah Carlton, laziest man in history, heir to a large fortune at 19 went to bed and stayed there for next 70 yrs” > **[Jeremiah Carlton, laziest man in history, heir... May 27 in History at...](https://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1790/may_27_1790_44390.html)** > > Today in History and Famous Birthdays. Find out what happened and who was born on this day in history. Events and birthdays for each day of the year. Is this an urban legend? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/2 "2014-11-14T17:29:27Z")
[Snopes.com](http://Snopes.com) doesn’t have anything about it, and I suppose it’s possible, assuming someone was bringing them food and water, and you have a reasonably hygienic way of eliminating waste, but unless you were exercising regularly (in bed) you would develop bed soars and your muscles would atrophy. My guess is that it’s not true, or at least it’s not true as you have described it. Someone may have locked themselves in their mansion for 70 years, but even that sounds far fetched… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/3 "2014-11-14T18:50:13Z")
I believe that Factoid Books’ **Big Book of Weirdos** has a couple of pages on him, with a bibliography at the end. I can’t check now, though. My copy’s at home. > **[The Big Book of Weirdos: Posey, Carl A., Wilson, Gahan: 9781563891809:...](https://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Weirdos-Factoid-Books/dp/1563891808)** > > The Big Book of Weirdos \[Posey, Carl A., Wilson, Gahan\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Big Book of Weirdos ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/4 "2014-11-16T03:29:53Z")
Like, literally lay in bed 70 years, or just mostly lay there, but also spending some time doing laundry, bathing, using the restroom, checking mail, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/5 "2014-11-16T03:59:10Z")
Was he alone? 😉 If he wasn’t, I can understand. I can. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/6 "2014-11-16T04:08:51Z")
Florence Nightingale came home from the war, took to her bed, and more or less stayed there for the rest of her life while working to improve the lot of nurses. Around 40-50 years, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![agzem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@agzem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agzem)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/7 "2014-11-16T12:58:24Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Like, literally lay in bed 70 years, or just mostly lay there, but also spending some time doing laundry, bathing, using the restroom, checking mail, etc.? Don’t know. Every reference to him on the Internet just repeats that single sentence and nothing else. But the book mentioned further up may have more details. ---
**Author:** ![agzem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@agzem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agzem)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/8 "2014-11-17T21:05:49Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I believe that Factoid Books’ **Big Book of Weirdos** has a couple of pages on him, with a bibliography at the end. I can’t check now, though. My copy’s at home. > [The Big Book of Weirdos: Posey, Carl A., Wilson, Gahan: 9781563891809: Amazon.com: Books](http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Weirdos-Factoid-Books/dp/1563891808) I found this book at the library but unfortunately there wasn’t anything in there about Jeremiah Carlton. But otherwise it is a pretty interesting book. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/9 "2014-11-17T22:29:15Z")
In the context of the time does “Went to bed” mean stayed in a bed without ever leaving, or could it just mean staying in one’s bedroom in bedclothes? ---
**Author:** ![agzem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@agzem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agzem)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/10 "2014-11-17T23:28:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > In the context of the time does “Went to bed” mean stayed in a bed without ever leaving, or could it just mean staying in one’s bedroom in bedclothes? Not sure. There’s really no additional information that I’ve been able to find. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/11 "2014-11-18T04:24:54Z")
Okay I found what I was looking for. The story of a British Aristocrat who died at 81 in 1987, having spent the bulk of his life in bed. Only his name wasn’t Jeremiah Carlton. It was Stephen Tennant. I suspect that Brainy History got the name wrong, because otherwise that would mean that there were TWO wealthy aristocrats who spent their lives ion bed, and that would be atrocious. For all we know, maybe there were more of them. Stephen Tennant was the subject of a biography by Phillip Hoare, which was published by Penguin in 1992. You’d think that Hoare had a pretty cushy job, writing the bio of a man who spent most of his life in bed. But apparently he wasn’t quite as lethargic as rumor (and _The Big Book of WEirdos_ ) makes him out to be: > [@](#): > > It is popularly believed that he spent the last 17 years of his life in bed at his family manor at Wilsford cum Lake, Wiltshire, which he had redecorated by Syrie Maugham. Though undoubtedly idle, he was not truly lethargic: he made several visits to the United States and Italy, and struck up many new friendships, despite his later reputation as a recluse. This became increasingly true only towards the last years of his life. Yet even then, his life was not uneventful: he became landlord to V. S. Naipaul who immortalised Tennant in his novel The Enigma of Arrival. > **[Stephen Tennant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Tennant)** > > Stephen James Napier Tennant (21 April 1906 – 28 February 1987) was a British socialite known for his decadent, eccentric lifestyle. He was a central member of the socialite group referred to as "Bright Young Things" by the tabloid press of the time. Tennant was noted for his affected demeanor, appearance and behaviours. > Tennant was born into British nobility, the youngest son of a Scottish peer, Edward Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner, and the former Pamela Wyndham, one of the Wyndham sisters an... > **[Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephen Tennant: Hoare, Philip: 8601409726717:...](https://www.amazon.com/Serious-Pleasures-Life-Stephen-Tennant/dp/0241124166)** > > Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephen Tennant \[Hoare, Philip\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephen Tennant [http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/03/books/the-man-who-stayed-in-bed.html](http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/03/books/the-man-who-stayed-in-bed.html) ---
**Author:** ![agzem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@agzem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agzem)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/12 "2014-11-20T20:29:51Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Okay I found what I was looking for. The story of a British Aristocrat who died at 81 in 1987, having spent the bulk of his life in bed. Only his name wasn’t Jeremiah Carlton. It was Stephen Tennant. I suspect that Brainy History got the name wrong, because otherwise that would mean that there were TWO wealthy aristocrats who spent their lives ion bed, and that would be atrocious. For all we know, maybe there were more of them. That’s probably the guy. Makes you wonder how the story of his life came to be filled with so much myth and misinformation…even getting the name wrong! ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/13 "2014-11-20T22:08:50Z")
Carlton was supposed to have died in 1790. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/14 "2014-11-20T23:35:33Z")
People may be lazy, but THAT lazy?! I doubt it, people would still want to get and do activities. Even sick and old people get tired and want to go outdoors and do fun activities. This is no doubt a myth. He could have had an endless stream of beautiful women come to his room for sex, still I can not imagine someone staying in bed. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/15 "2014-11-21T00:17:41Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Like, literally lay in bed 70 years, or just mostly lay there, but also spending some time doing laundry, bathing, using the restroom, checking mail, etc.? > [@TriPolar](#): > > In the context of the time does “Went to bed” mean stayed in a bed without ever leaving, or could it just mean staying in one’s bedroom in bedclothes? Good points. There could be a metaphorical use for “went to bed” that isn’t as common today. After all, many people today “sleep with” someone without actually falling asleep in a medical sense. So, “went to bed” could mean someone who _literally_ stayed in his bed, or it could mean someone who didn’t like to leave home or get fully dressed and wandered the halls and grounds in a long nightgown and was thought quite peculiar. If he needed something in town, he would send a servant (after all, he’s rich)! ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/16 "2014-11-21T00:24:57Z")
Further speculation here but…it is that hard to believe a rich guy was agoraphobic? Which is what I take away “from went to bed and stayed there” rather than lazy. No matter if going to bed means literally laying down or just staying at home/in one’s bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jeremiah-carlton-really-exist-at-19-inherited-fortune-went-to-bed-and-stayed-there-for-70-yrs/704624/17 "2014-11-21T00:29:28Z")
It’s easy to believe a wealthy recluse’s story would mutate into “never left his bed.”