Figure 1.--Martin Hodgkinson, the 11-year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Lemuel Hodgkinson. A photograph shows him with his parents wearing short pants and knee socks (the standard dress for an Australian schoolboy). He already towers overs his parents at the abnormal height of 7 feet.

Martin Hodgkinson, the 11-year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Lemuel Hodgkinson. A photograph shows him with his parents wearing short pants and knee socks (the standard dress for an Australian schoolboy). He already towers overs his parents at the abnormal height of 7 feet. There appears to have some glandular abnormality in the case of this boy's extraordinary height. Nevertheless, his parents dress him just like other 11-year old schoolboys, in short pants and knee socks. He wears a knit jumper with long sleeves and a colar. His parents have taught him good manners, and he holds his tea cup properly as would an adult. This photograph apparently appeared in an Australian magazine, although we don't know the source--probably a news story calling attention to the boy's abnormal tallness. I haven't been able to find out anything additional about the Hodgkinson family. The source tentatively dates the photo 1951. It is said to be Australian, but we don't know where in that large country. This photo is relevant to HBC's discussion of age-grading, because even though Martin is only 11 years old, his height makes him look more like 17 or 18, an age at which he would undoubtedly have graduated to long trousers. A reader writes, "I read this story with much interest and in particular the glandular abnormality Martin had, which gave rise to his extraordinary height. As you say he looks more like a 17-year-old youth rather than a boy of 11. In a kind of role reversal, there was a British entertainer named Jimmy Clitheroe (1921-73) who also suffered a kind of glandular abmormality. However, in Jimmy's case no matter how old he got he still looked like a 12-year-old boy."

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Created: 9:49 PM 7/12/2006
Last updated: 4:43 PM 8/23/2006