Sarah Jacob

[2] Sarah Jacob was born at Lletherneaudd, near Pencader, Carmarthenshire, the daughter of a farmer.

Her parents began to receive visitors and to display the child to them, claiming that she had not eaten for many months; by the time she died, she was said to have gone without food for a total of 113 weeks.

When the news of her supposed fasting reached the national press, an article on the subject was published in The Lancet, and eventually a team of four nurses was sent to the house to observe her and see whether she was secretly eating and drinking.

[3] An autopsy performed after her death found generally healthy anatomy and fat tissue, as well as feces low in her intestines, indicating that she had been consuming food up until the start of the observation period.

[4] In July 1870, Sarah's parents, Evan and Hannah Jacob, were brought to trial at Carmarthenshire Assizes, accused of manslaughter.