The “Love Giants” Queen Victoria Was Obsessed with After Albert Died
They lived extraordinary lives together.
Anytime there’s a wedding people come out of the woodwork to help celebrate. Whether it’s the food, the joyful, mood, or the sense of community, you’ll get well wishes from strangers far and wide on your wedding day. But, for one couple in North America in the 1870s their wedding caught the attention of Queen Victoria herself. The bride and groom drew focus wherever they went, however, since they were of uncommonly monumental stature.
Martin Van Buren Bates was born in 1837 in Letcher County, Kentucky. By the time he was a tween his growth has advanced beyond normal ranges. By his early teens was over 6 ft tall and when he joined up to fight in the Civil War for the Confederate Army he was approaching his tallest height. This made him a formidable opponent in battle, but by other accounts he had a pleasing disposition off the field.
After the war he joined a sideshow, as tall figures such as he were quite popular attractions back then. He became known as “The Kentucky Giant” or “The Kentucky River Giant”. He went on to meet Anna Haining Swan, a woman of equal stature to himself (some say she was even a little bit taller than he was and photos seem to back this up).
She hailed from Nova Scotia and was on tour to the US with Barnum and Bailey’s when the 2 were introduced by a mutual friend- though some stories have it that he was the one on tour with a sideshow when they met.
The two hit it off and were to be wed, leading to their new moniker of “The Love Giants”. They set off on a world tour which was highly publicized owing to both of them being labeled as giants. While in England Queen Victoria herself demanded an audience with the couple.
A gold watch she presented them was said to be Martin’s prized possession for the rest of his life. The timepiece was said to weigh 4 pounds and was set with diamonds.
So great was the fascination with the tall couple that exhibitions where the 2 simply walked arm-in-arm around a room while a band played and a troop danced was enough to dazzle audiences who had never seen anyone so tall. At the time they were the tallest man and tallest woman in the world. Robert Pershing Wadlow (1918-1940) beat Martin at a height of 8 ft 11 inches, a record still held to this day.
The queen was highly invested in the wedding and by some accounts even paid for the bridal fabric and lace for the bride. In the 1880s Anna was said to have been “charmingly proportioned” despite weighing more than 400 pounds. This same account noted that it took 65 yards of fabric to make her wedding gown and veil. While the two were of similar height, Martin outweighed his lovely wife by 96 pounds. He had a size 15 shoe and a 26-inch collar.
The wedding took place in 1871 at St-Martin-in-the-Fields church in London to a throng of eager wedding guests. Canada had only recently gained her independence and it no doubt felt as if one of the UK’s own was getting hitched in a whirlwind ceremony championed by Queen Victoria.
The couple settled in Seville, Ohio, where they had 10-foot doors built into their home. Inside Martin had made a special couch 10-feet across for the pair to sleep on, as well as a custom dressing table for his wife, and a pair of outsized rocking chairs too large for average-height people to sit in.
In addition to custom furniture, they also had to have their clothing custom made at all times. A pair of boots for the man of the house cost $30 in 1889. By comparison even in 1900, a pair of decent shoes could be had in standard sizes for around $3.00. It certainly was expensive to be so large, but all those public appearances certainly helped to pay for the many custom goods the pair required.
Anna died suddenly in her sleep in 1889. Before her death the Bates had 2 children, both of whom died soon after birth. Martin died in 1919 at the age of 82 after having remarried an average-sized woman with whom he had one surviving child. The cause of Martin and Anna’s great heights was never discovered.
SKM: below-content placeholderWhizzco for DOT