Peter the Wild Boy

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Peter the Wild Boy

went from feral child to ‘human pet’

Peter the Wild Boy was born around 1725. He was a mentally handicapped boy from Hanover in Northern Germany who was found in 1725 living wild in the woods near Hamelin, the town of Pied Piper legend. The boy, of unknown parentage, had been living an entirely feral existence, surviving by eating forest flora; he walked on all fours, exhibited uncivilized behavior, and could not be taught to speak a language. Once found, he was brought to Great Britain by order of George I, whose interest in the unfortunate youth had been aroused during a visit to his Hanover homeland.

Painting of Peter hangs in Kensington Palace

There was much fanciful speculation that he had been raised by wolves – or perhaps bears – and this was why he ate with his hands, disliked wearing clothes and could not be taught to speak.

The king invited him to dine, but was horrified by his lack of table manners. The court doctor tried and failed to teach him language. Each day courtiers would wrestle him into a green velvet suit and each evening would try to persuade him into bed. Peter preferred to curl up on the floor in a corner of his room.

A biting satire was circulated, attributed to Jonathan Swift, entitled The Most Wonderful Wonder that ever appeared to the Wonder of the British Nation.

People assumed Peter acted the way he did because he was a wild child. They didn’t suspect that something else could have been afflicting him.

Peter the Wild Boy had Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome

Peter was of short stature; he had a lustrous mop of thick curly hair; hooded eyelids, cupid’s bow mouth, with a pronounced curve to the upper lip. Professor Phillip Beales, of the Institute of Child Health, plugged these characteristics into his database of conditions caused by chromosome abnormalities.

The closest match is Pitt-Hopkins, a genetic condition only identified in 1978, which has severe neurological effects, says Professor Beales. “It’s severe learning difficulties, developmental difficulties and the inability to develop speech.”

Tales of feral children always fascinated British society, but Peter caused a sensation. It was the Age of Enlightenment, and he became a symbol in the debate about what it meant to be human.

His novelty eventually waned, and the court paid for him to retire to a Hertfordshire farm.

He lived with several tenant farmers for the rest of his life. Peter lived to an estimated 70 years of age. He was visited in 1782 by the Scottish philosopher and judge James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, who provided the last description of Peter, who was said to have a healthy complexion with a full beard, and apparently understood what was said to him but was himself only capable of saying the words “Peter” and “King George” and singing a few songs. There is a portrait of the “Wild Boy”, depicting a handsome old man with a white beard, in Caulfield’s Portraits of Remarkable Persons.

Peter died February 22, 1785 and was buried in Northchurch. His grave can still be seen in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church, Northchurch, directly outside the main door to the church.