Edward Dando

{{Use shortened footnotes|date=August 2023}}

{{Use shortened footnotes|date=August 2023}}

[[File:"The man wot eats oysters - But can't pay for 'em".png|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=Cartoon showing Dando overeating oysters and asking for another loaf. The oyster seller is shown realising his customer is Dando.|Cartoon of Dando, 1830]]

[[File:"The man wot eats oysters - But can't pay for 'em".png|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=Cartoon showing Dando overeating oysters and asking for another loaf. The oyster seller is shown realising his customer is Dando.|Cartoon of Dando, 1830]]

'''Edward Dando''' ({{circa|1803}} – 28 August 1832) was a thief who came to public notice in Britain because of his unusual habit of overeating at food stalls and inns, and then revealing that he had no money to pay. Although the fare he consumed was varied, he was particularly fond of [[oyster]]s, having once eaten hundreds of them with 5 and a half of loafs bread with butter.

'''Edward Dando''' ({{circa|1803}} – 28 August 1832) was a thief who came to public notice in Britain because of his unusual habit of overeating at food stalls and inns, and then revealing that he had no money to pay. Although the fare he consumed was varied, he was particularly fond of [[oyster]]s, having once eaten 25 dozen of them with a loaf and a half of bread with butter.

Dando began his thefts in about 1826 and was arrested at least as early as 1828. He would often leave a [[house of correction]] and go on an eating spree the same day, being arrested straight away and appearing in court within a few days, only to be put back in prison; his normal defense was that he was peckish and refused to go hungry in a land of plenty. On at least one occasion he was placed in [[solitary confinement]] after he stole the rations of his fellow prisoners. Most of his activity was in London, although he also spent time in [[Kent]], much of it in the county's prisons. While in [[Coldbath Fields Prison]] in August 1832, Dando caught [[cholera]]—part of a [[1826–1837 cholera pandemic|long-running pandemic]]—and died.

Dando began his thefts in about 1826 and was arrested at least as early as 1828. He would often leave a [[house of correction]] and go on an eating spree the same day, being arrested straight away and appearing in court within a few days, only to be put back in prison; his normal defence was that he was hungry. On at least one occasion he was placed in [[solitary confinement]] after he stole the rations of his fellow prisoners. Most of his activity was in London, although he also spent time in [[Kent]], much of it in the county's prisons. While in [[Coldbath Fields Prison]] in August 1832, Dando caught [[cholera]]—part of a [[1826–1837 cholera pandemic|long-running pandemic]]—and died.

His death, like his many exploits, was widely and sympathetically reported both in the London daily press and in local newspapers. His name entered into the public [[argot]] as a term for someone who eats excessively and does not pay. He was the subject of numerous poems and [[ballad]]s. In 1837 [[William Makepeace Thackeray]] wrote a short story loosely based on Dando; this was made into a play by [[Edward Stirling (playwright)|Edward Stirling]]. [[Charles Dickens]] wrote about Dando and compared him to [[Alexander the Great]].

His death, like his many exploits, was widely and sympathetically reported both in the London daily press and in local newspapers. His name entered into the public [[argot]] as a term for someone who eats excessively and does not pay. He was the subject of numerous poems and [[ballad]]s. In 1837 [[William Makepeace Thackeray]] wrote a short story loosely based on Dando; this was made into a play by [[Edward Stirling (playwright)|Edward Stirling]]. [[Charles Dickens]] wrote about Dando and compared him to [[Alexander the Great]].