The tale of Oakham legend and "England's smallest man" fact-checked by Rutland historian
The man who inspired the tale of Tom Thumb was born in Oakham
The man who inspired Tom Thumb was probably 'the most famous person from Oakham', according to a local historian - but how much do you actually know about his tale?
Sir Jeffrey Hudson was born in Oakham in 1619 with "dwarfism", says Sara Cave - who's been researching the legendary Rutland figure:
'Many people in Oakham would've walked past the little house near the railway station that's got a little blue plaque on it saying, 'Jeffrey Hudson's house', without really knowing much about him. But he's probably one of Oakham's most famous residents.'
Sir Jeffrey was only 18 inches tall - or the size of four fizzy pop cans on top of each other - until he reached the age of 30. A pair of his trousers recently sold at auction for almost £10,000.
Pirates and pie-jumping
Born to an Oakham butcher, Sir Jeffrey apparently jumped out of pies at royal feasts, was abducted by pirates, fought in a civil war, and even duelled and killed a man for mocking his height - but how much of that is true? All of it, says Mrs Cave:
'Jeffrey probably first met King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria in London in 1626, when they were presented a feast at which Jeffrey apparently burst out of a pie wearing a suit of armour.'
'It's quite hard to imagine how someone can burst out of a pie, but these pies were no ordinary pies, they would've been prebaked and could've been raised tall - about the size of a top hat.'
It was at that feast where Queen Henrietta Maria first took a liking to Sir Jeffrey, 'whom she later trusted to send to France and collect her midwife after becoming pregnant.'
'Coming back from there he was captured by Dunkirkers, who were the pirates that patrolled the waters around Calais', said Mrs Cave.
It's true that he also fought in a civil war - 'he was undoubtedly an accomplished horseman and marksman as well, so he would've been quite an antagonist to come across. It's unlikely that he actually commanded groups of soldiers, but it's more likely that he was involved in skirmishes and lightning raids', she added.
'In 1644 he even got involved in a duel with the brother of William Crofts who was one of the King's courtiers. He had obviously been mocking Jeffrey, but Mr Crofts underestimated him and turned up to the duel with a water gun that he squirted Jeffrey with...
'...Jeffrey mounted his horse and shot Mr Crofts squarely between the eyes and killed him, so there is a lesson to be learned there.'
'He was sentenced to death in France as punishment and would've been killed if it wasn't for Queen Henrietta Maria writing to save him.'