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[[File:Marshall Lambert.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Daniel Lambert by [[Benjamin Marshall]], c. 1806|alt=Smartly dressed fat man with dark hair and a red waistcoat, sitting on a chair]]
'''Daniel Lambert''' ({{Nowrap|13 March}} 1770 – {{Nowrap|21 June}} 1809) was a [[GoalkeeperPrison|gaol]] {{#tag:ref|In this period, a gaol was a building used for holding suspects awaiting trial and recently convicted criminals awaiting transfer to prison, transportation or execution.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/routcbh/gaol_delivery|title=Gaol Delivery|last=Arnold-Baker|first=Charles|year=2001|work=The Companion to British History}} (subscription required)</ref> The term was sometimes spelled "jail", but in official usage was always "gaol"; the institution of which Lambert was keeper was named the County Gaol.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://record-office-catalogue.leics.gov.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqSearch=%28RefNo==%27QS/32/3%27%29|title=County Gaol And House Of Correction|publisher=The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland|accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref>|group=n}} and animal breeder from [[Leicester]], England, famous for his unusually large size. After serving four years as an apprentice at an engraving and [[die casting]] works in [[Birmingham]], he returned to Leicester around 1788 and succeeded his father as keeper of Leicester's [[Bridewell Palace|Bridewell gaol]]. He was a keen sportsman and extremely strong, on one occasion fighting a bear in the streets of Leicester. He was an expert in [[sporting animals]], widely respected for his expertise with dogs, horses and [[cockfight|fighting cocks]].
At the time of Lambert's return to Leicester his weight began to increase steadily, even though he was a keen sportsman and, by his own account, abstained from drinking alcohol and did not eat unusual amounts of food. In 1805 Bridewell gaol closed. By this time he weighed 50 stone (700 lb; 320 kg), and had become the heaviest authenticated person in recorded history. Unemployable and sensitive about his bulk, Lambert became a recluse.
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