James Toller - The Eynesbury Giant
Me and relative James Toller - The Eynesbury Giant (wall hanging of James in the St Neots Museum).
My maternal grandad was a Toller and within our family we had long known about our famous tall ancestor James Toller, The Eynesbury Giant. Within the family it was a ‘thing’ to look at any of the new born babies toes and ask question “do they have the Toller toes?” because it was common for many of us to have long toes, capable of picking up and holding things - ha! that makes it sound like we all have abnormally long toes, which I might add that we don’t but we can all certainly manage the trick of holding things in them! I’m not sure why the toes and from when this funny family tradition began - obviously after James but how long after!?
1817 engraving of the dwarf Simon Papp next to James Toller
Below are some pictures from the James Toller plaque unveiling, which took place on 28th August 2009, in the lane where James had lived in Eynesbury. My daughter Charlotte Rose got to do the official unveiling of the plaque with Councillor Gordon Thorpe, Mayor of St Neots. The 28th August being James Toller’s birthday.
On the above family group is my aunt Val Burroughs (nee Toller), myself, my daughter Charlotte Rose, Mayor of St Neots, my mother Elizabeth Toller-Brown.