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Edward Bright died on 10, November, 1750, aged 29-years-old, leaving a wife and five children -Μύ and weighing in at an incredible 42 stone.

As a child Bright worked as a post boy, riding daily from Maldon to Chelmsford. However, he was forced to give this up at the age of 12 because of his weight - an incredible 12 stone.

The staircase in Bright's house had to be removed

He later became an important and popular figure in the town as a candle merchant and grocer, but it was his size for which he is most remembered.

Bright lived in a house adjacent to St. Peter's Church in the High Street and even his death created quite a stir.

A special coffin had to be build to accommodate his body and the staircase and part of the wall of his house had to be removed to get him out.

From there, the coffin had to pulled by a carriage to All Saint's Church before being dragged along rollers into it's final resting place just inside the church.

Sculpture of the 'seven hundred' men

Seven hundred men in his waistcoat

Barely one month after his death, a wager was made in the Black Bull pub which has since gone down in local folklore.

It was waged that you could fit seven hundred men inside one of Bright's buttoned-up waistcoats.

Whilst this may sound unlikely, it was managed when seven men from the Dengie Hundred (the equivalent to the modern day council) squeezed quite easily into the garment - hence the seven 'hundred' men!

Bright is remembered fondly in the town

Remembering Bright

His life may have been short, but Edward Bright is still fondly remembered in the town to this day.

A blue plaque awarded by the Maldon Society adorns the house that he lived and died in, an engraving of the infamous wager re-tells the story behind the town's King's Head pub and Edward Bright Close sits just off of the High Street.

A replica of his waistcoat and a sculpture of the wager can also be found at the Maldon Museum in Promenade Park.