John Trunley

Who was John Trunley?

John Trunley was known during his lifetime as The Fat Boy of Peckham. As a child he gained weight rapidly and by the age of seven months he weighed 2 stone. By the age of four he weighed 12 stone and was taken to be examined by the eminent doctor, Sir Frederick Treves. When he started school at six he had a 44-inch chest and 46-inch waist. He achieved national prominence when Lord Northcliffe ran a critical story about London County Council’s decision to extend an existing tramway 400 yards because Trunley could no longer walk to Reddins School. Shortly after this he began to tour England under the management of entrepreneurs such as Fred Karno. Johnny appeared on the music halls informing the audience "I want to be a jockey". After the First World War he negotiated a film contract playing small character parts. He married and had children, before dying of pulmonary TB shortly after leaving a bomb shelter during an air raid in 1944. He is buried in Camberwell New Cemetery.