'Elephant Man' should be given Christian burial, campaigners say

It has been more than a century since the death of Joseph Merrick, aka the Elephant Man, and there are now calls for his remains to be buried in his hometown in Leicester, England. However, the university in London where his skeleton is being kept does not agree.

"It is understood that Joseph Merrick expected to be preserved after his death, with his remains available for medical education and research," a spokesperson for the Queen Mary University of London said, as quoted by the BBC. "As custodians of his remains, the university regularly consults with his descendants over their care."

Merrick, who suffered from a condition in which his skin became lumpy and thick, his feet became significantly enlarged, and a bony lump grew on his forehead, died in April 1890 at the age 27. His skeleton was mounted and is now placed inside a glass case. It is not for public display, however; it is kept in a private room and can only be viewed by medical professionals and students, and this is only by appointment. This is to "allow medical students to view and understand the physical deformities resulting from Joseph Merrick's condition."

However, there are those who believe that while Merrick agreed to have himself put on display while he was alive -- he was called the Elephant Man as part of a traveling show -- he did not necessarily agree to have his remains put on display after his passed away. 

"As Joseph Merrick was a devout Christian we know for a fact he would have wanted to be laid to rest," Jeanette Sitton, founder of the Friends of Joseph Carey Merrick, told the BBC. "It's an almost certainty. We know he was a devout Christian and we know he did have a strong faith."

Sitton's group was the one that previously discovered the unmarked graves of Merrick's mother and siblings at Leicester's Welford Road Cemetery. She, however, noted that the lack of security in the cemetery makes it inappropriate as Merrick's final resting place.

Likewise, Valerie Howkins, the granddaughter of Tom Norman, one of Merrick's former managers, said that Merrick ought to be returned to Leicester.

"There was just no question when he died that he would go back to Leicester to be buried," Howkins said. "It's just so sad that he had his flesh stripped from his bones and has been mounted in a glass cabinet for 120 years against his will. He was Christian and would have expected a Christian burial."

While the council in Leicester acknowledges Merrick's connections with the area, they said that it is not for them to make the decision as to where his skeleton would be buried, should the concerned parties decide to do so.

"We are proud to acknowledge Merrick's connections to Leicester in this way, but the question of where his bones should be buried is a matter for the relevant parties," a spokesperson said.