He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "The Elephant Man", and then went to live at the London Hospital, in Whitechapel, after meeting the surgeon Sir Frederick Treves.

After touring the East Midlands, Merrick travelled to London to be exhibited in a penny gaff shop rented by showman Tom Norman.

In a 2003 study, DNA tests on his hair and bones were inconclusive because his skeleton had been bleached numerous times before going on display at the Royal London Hospital.

[16] A pamphlet titled "The Autobiography of Joseph Carey Merrick", produced c. 1884 to accompany his exhibition, states that he began to display anatomical signs at approximately five years of age, with "thick lumpy skin ... like that of an elephant, and almost the same colour".

[17] According to a 1930 article in the Illustrated Leicester Chronicle, he began to develop swellings on his lips at the age of 21 months, followed by a bony lump on his forehead and a loosening and roughening of the skin.

[17] At 13, he found work rolling cigars in a factory, but after three years, the deformity of his right hand had worsened to the extent that he no longer had the dexterity required for the job.

[25] This endeavour was unsuccessful because Merrick's facial deformities rendered his speech increasingly unintelligible, and prospective customers reacted with horror to his physical appearance.

[33] To this end, Torr organised a group of managers for his new charge: music hall proprietor J. Ellis, travelling showman George Hitchcock, and fair owner Sam Roper.

Hitchcock contacted an acquaintance, showman Tom Norman, who ran penny gaff shops in the East End of London exhibiting human curiosities.

[39] Pulling the curtain to one side, he allowed the onlookers—often visibly horrified—to observe Merrick up close, while describing the circumstances that had led to his present condition, including his mother's alleged incident with a fairground elephant.

[42] The shop on Whitechapel Road was directly opposite the London Hospital, ideally situated for medical students and doctors to visit, curious to see Merrick.

[45] To allow him to travel the short distance without drawing undue attention, Merrick wore a disguise consisting of an oversized black cloak and a brown cap with a hessian sack covering his face, and he rode in a cab hired by Treves.

Merrick remained a horrifying spectacle for his viewers, but Roper grew nervous about the negative attention he was drawing from local authorities.

Francis Carr Gomm, the chairman of the hospital committee, had supported Treves in his decision to admit Merrick, but it was clear by November that long-term care plans were needed.

On one occasion, he expressed a desire to see inside what he considered a "real" house and Treves obliged, taking him to visit his Wimpole Street townhouse and meet his wife.

[81] A young man, Charles Taylor, the son of the engineer responsible for modifying Merrick's rooms, spent time with him, sometimes playing the violin.

[87] By means of elaborate arrangements that allowed him to board a train unseen and have an entire carriage to himself, Merrick travelled to Northamptonshire to stay at Fawsley Hall, the estate of Lady Knightley.

[102] His appearance at the meeting of the Pathological Society of London in 1884 drew interest from the doctors present, but gained neither the answers nor the wider attention that Treves had hoped for.

[107] This conjecture has since been proved wrong; in fact, symptoms that are always present in this genetic disorder include tumours of the nervous tissue and bones, small warty growths on the skin,[108] and the presence of light brown pigmentation on the skin called café au lait spots, which are of particular importance in diagnosing von Recklinghausen Disease,[109] but which were never observed on Merrick's body.

[110] For this reason, although the diagnosis was quite popular through most of the 20th century, other conjectural diagnoses were advanced, such as Maffucci syndrome and polyostotic fibrous dysplasia (Albright's disease).

[114] The possibility that Merrick may have had both conditions formed the basis for a 2003 documentary film entitled The Curse of The Elephant Man, which was produced for the Discovery Health Channel by Natural History New Zealand.

Treves depicted Tom Norman, the showman who had exhibited Merrick on Whitechapel Road, as a cruel drunk who ruthlessly exploited his charge.

[121][122] In a letter to the World's Fair newspaper, and later in his own memoirs, Norman denied this characterisation and said he provided his show attractions with a means to earn a living, adding that Merrick was still on display while residing at the London Hospital, but with no way of controlling how or when he was viewed.

[123] Durbach cautions that the memoirs of both Treves and Norman must be understood as "narrative reconstructions ... that reflect personal and professional prejudices and cater to the demands and expectations of their very different audiences".

[124] In November 2016, Joanne Vigor-Mungovin published a book called Joseph: The Life, Times and Places of the Elephant Man, which included a foreword written by a member of Merrick's family.

[126] Montagu reprinted Treves's account alongside various others, such as Carr Gomm's letter to The Times in December 1886 and the report on Merrick's inquest.

[127] In 1980, Michael Howell and Peter Ford presented the findings of their detailed archival research in The True History of the Elephant Man, which revealed a large amount of new information about Merrick.

[133] A biographical film, also titled The Elephant Man, was released in 1980; directed by David Lynch, it received eight Academy Award nominations.

Merrick is portrayed by actor Joseph Drake in two episodes of the second series of the BBC historical crime drama Ripper Street, first broadcast in 2013.

[138] It was announced in August 2018 that Charlie Heaton would be playing Merrick in a new two-part BBC drama,[139] a decision that drew criticism from some quarters;[140] instead of re-casting a disabled actor, the production was subsequently cancelled.