Mary & Eliza Chulkhurst
Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst (1100-1134) (also known as the Biddenden Maids) are the earliest known set of conjoined twins. They were joined at the hip, although illustrations also depict them joined at the shoulder. Mary and Eliza were born in 1100 in Biddenden, Kent, England and died in 1134. The twins are said to have left their entire estate to the church, though this has been cited as perhaps unreliable: "two maidens" left a piece of land of about 20 acres (81,000 m²) to the churchwardens of Biddenden, the rent from which was to provide a dole of bread and cheese (and sometimes beer and, today, also tea) to the poor - now the less well-off - of the village. The earliest documentary evidence of this charity comes from a court case of 1656 at which villagers gave evidence of their memories of the dole. The 'Maids' were probably sisters and may have been twins but there is no proof of this. Furthermore, 1100 is very early for such a charity to have been founded.
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