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Busby, Sian "The
True Story of Sarah Jacob, theWelsh
Fasting Girl"
The
story of Sarah Jacob of Llanfihangel-ar-Arth in Carmarthenshire, whose apparent
ability to live without food ended with her slowly starving to death in 1869,
aged 12, in front of nurses and doctors and her own family members, is one that
has been told several times. She had earlier suffered an indeterminate illness
— possibly viral encephalitis — which had nearly claimed her life, leaving
her with some form of brain disease and eating disorder. She came to an
agreement with her parents that they would not feed her, except when she asked,
as it was obviously causing her so much distress. Having made the agreement, she
then staged a “miraculous” recovery apparently being able to sustain herself
without any manifest source of nutrition. Word of the fasting girl slowly
percolated out during 1868 and the early months of 1869.
It
was Sarah’s misfortune to have been born when medical science was becoming
rigorously empirical and ideas of the “miraculous” were on the wane. At the
time, there was a renaissance in Welsh identity politics, a massive increase
in newspaper circulation and the expansion of the railway network, which reached
Pencader in 1864. A formal watch of Sarah by local people started in March 1869
and lasted for two weeks, but this was not very rigorous and she managed to
survive without incident. As her fame (or notoriety) increased so did the volume
of visitors. There is some dispute as to how far the family itself profited —
it being a tradition that poorly children were given a small cash gift in these
parts. Whatever the amount, it was a welcome addition to the income derived in
this depressed rural economy, although there was never any proof that it was the
incentive for the initial publicity.
The
reports of the watch were published in the national press and medical journals,
some suspecting trickery while others saw the hand of God sustaining a pious
child. After much debate, a second watch was assembled on 8 December 1869, this
time around the clock for as long as it took to prove the case one way or
another. Trained nurses were employed and doctors oversaw the whole event.
However Sarah had managed to fool the previous watch and had kept herself alive
without too much trouble, this time she was up against the professionals. Under
their careful gaze, she was unable to get her food and so slowly faded away. Her
parents reiterated their willingness to feed her, provided she asked for the
food, but she maintained her “fast” until the end and died on 17 December.
An
inquest was convened and an autopsy performed, which proved that Sarah had
recently been eating food — as did various stains she made on the bed linen
whilst the second watch was performed. As should be no surprise, Sarah was
found out, but only after she died. The question remained as to how complicit
the rest of the family were in supporting her claims, and how far she believed
them herself - Her parents were tried, convicted of manslaughter and served time
in prison. The stigma attached to the case continued long afterwards, and even
when I was proposing to publish a pamphlet on the case locally a few years ago
(I live in Pencader, a couple of miles from the Jacobs’ farmstead, which is
still standing) there was still a marked reluctance to discuss the case.
Sian
Busby’s book is a patchwork telling of the tale, and does a fair job of
assembling the pieces, including a floor plan of the Jacobs’ farmstead lifted
from Dr John Cule’s Wreath on the Crown and an illustration apparently from Steve
Dube’s recent history of Pencader, both unattributed (although both are
credited in general terms at the end of the book), but I don’t feel she adds
much to our knowledge of the events. Her attempts at local colour and personal
background might be seen as useful background information. Cule’s book tells
the story in more detail and is still available from Gomer Press in Llandysul,
just a couple of miles from where Sarah died, and at a cheaper price. However,
if you can’t find it, Busby’s book is better than nothing. I look forward
to a proper Foucauldian reading of the story.
5/10
Richard Alexander