A SINGULAR FAMILY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1166, 4 July 1884, Page 3

A SINGULAR FAMILY.

In the reign of Kmg William the Third ■* there lived at Ipswich, in Suffolk, a family which fiom a number of peculiarities belonging to it, was distinguished by the name of the odd family. Every event, remarkably good or bad, happened to this family in an odd year, or an odd day of the month—and every one of them had something odd in his nr her person, manner, and behavonr. The very letters of their Christians names always happened to be an . odd number. The husband’s name was Peter, and his wife was Bahatv; they had sevenphildren, all ( boys—viz., Solomon, Roger, _ James, Matthew, Jonas, Dayid, and Ezekiel- The husband ■ had but one leg, and his wife but one arm. Solomon was born with only three fingers on his right hand, Jonas bad a stump foot, and David was humpbacked : all these except David Were remarkably short, and Ezekiel was six feet two inches high at the age of nineteen. The stumpfooted Jonas and the humpbacked David got wives of fortune, but no girl would listen to tbe addresses of the rest. The husband's hair was as black as jet, and the wife’s was remarkably white, yet every one . of the children were red haired. The bus- .• band had the peculiar misfortune of falling : iuto a deep sawpit, where he was starved to death in the year 1701, and the wi f e refusing all kind of sustenance.died in five days after him. In the year 1701 Ezekiel enlisted as a grenadier, and although he was afterwards wounded in twenty-three places, he recorered. Roger, James, Matthew, Jonas, and David died at different places on the same day in year 1713! And Solomon aud Ezekiel were drowned to "ether in crossing the Thames in the year 1723.