Chang and Eng the Siamese twins, as old men. Aquatint.

Chang and Eng Bunker. Oil painting by Edouard-Henri-Théophile Pingret, 1836.

The zodiac man. Watercolour painting by a Persian artist.

Chang and Eng, the Siamese twins, in evening dress. Colour wood engraving by H.S. Miller.

Conjoint twins born at Palermo in 1755. Engraving by J. Aveline.

Twins share one vision : 'incredible' sisters stun experts by seeing through each other's eyes.

The giants wedding.

Four grotesquely deformed children. Line engraving.

Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins, performing with clarinets, wearing top hats. Photograph, c. 1927.

concept

Shop

Galleries and Reading Room

Library

Café

We’re undertaking research with website visitors to find out some more about you and what you thought about your visit. This survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete. Thank you for your time!

What brought you to our website today?

On cyclopia see reprint of: 'Anomalies and curiosities of medicine', by G.M. Gould and W.L. Pyle, Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1896, p.241
For Hélène and Judith see: C.J.S. Thompson, 'The mystery and lore of monsters', London 1930, pp. 71-72; L. Fiedler, 'Freaks', New York 1978, p. 201; R.D. Altick, 'The shows of London', Cambridge (Mass.) and London 1978, p.37

A boy with a skin disease together with the conjoined twins Judith and Hélène; below them an infant with one central eye. Coloured etching by N.E. Lerouge.

Daisy and Violet Hilton (1908-1967), "The Siamese Twins of Texas", were born in Brighton, West Sussex, to a poor, unmarried barmaid called Kate Skinner. Skinner gave the twins to her employer, Mary Hilton, in exchange for money. Hilton trained them to sing, dance, and play the clarinet, violin and piano, intending to exhibit them. By the age of 5, the twins had already toured Germany and Australia. The Meyer family in Australia replaced Hilton when the twins were in their teens and had them take up the saxophone and ukulele, thus grooming them for vaudeville. The twins' career hit its peak in the 1930s (the decade in which they obtained liberty from their succession of proprietors) but their popularity was short-lived. In the 1960s they opened a hamburger stall in Miami called "The Hilton Sisters' Snack Bar", which failed, and they made their last appearance at a re-issue of Tod Browning's film, "Freaks" (in which they had played a small acting role). The twins died in Charlotte in 1962: the final years of their lives were spent in seclusion, working on checkout tills in a supermarket. They died leaving no will, no diaries and no relatives. A musical about them, "Side show", was on Broadway in 1997

1 photograph : photoprint, silver gelatin ; image 24 x 19.1 cm

Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins, dressed for golf. Photograph, c. 1927.

1 photograph : photoprint, silver gelatin ; image 23.8 x 18.5 cm

Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins, taking tea. Photograph, 1927.

An extended case study of craniopagus, twin baby girls who were born conjoined at the cranium (head). The case study observes them soon after birth and at various points until toddlerdom after they are separated at just over one year old. Thereafter only only of the twins are seen so the assumption must be that only one survived. Some developmental stages are illustrated by various developmental tests before one of the children is seen playing in a garden.

1 film reel (15 min.) : silent, colour, 16 mm

Craniopagus.

For sitter see: C.J.S. Thompson, 'The mystery and lore of monsters', London 1930; L. Fiedler, 'Freaks', New York 1978; G.M. Gould and W. Pyle, 'Anomalies and curiosities of medicine', Philadelphia 1896, pp. 151-154
These conjoined-twins are the original Siamese twins, from whom the name derives. Born at Maklong near Bankok in Siam in about May 1811, of Chinese extraction; they were taken to America and then England in 1829, where they were exhibited causing great excitement. They were placed under the medical charge of G.B. Bolton, M.R.C.S., who made extensive observations along with others at the time. After visiting the principal cities in Europe they returned to America to settle as farmers in North Carolina, adopting the name of Bunker and marrying two sisters who bore each of them many healthy children. In 1869 they made another tour through Europe and took advice from eminent surgeons of Britain and France on the feasibility of being separated, with no ultimate conclusion. After having returned to their dual families (which they kept in separate houses) Chang developed bronchitis, which led to their death in mid-January 1874.

1 print : lithograph ; image 17.4 x 15.3 cm

Wellcome uses cookies.

Conjoined twins

Images

Works

A boy with a skin disease together with the conjoined twins Judith and Hélène; below them an infant with one central eye. Coloured etching by N.E. Lerouge.

Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins, dressed for golf. Photograph, c. 1927.

Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins, taking tea. Photograph, 1927.

Craniopagus.

Chang and Eng the Siamese twins, in an oriental setting. Lithograph, 1830.

Today’s opening times

Wellcome uses cookies.

Conjoined twins

Images

Works

A boy with a skin disease together with the conjoined twins Judith and Hélène; below them an infant with one central eye. Coloured etching by N.E. Lerouge.

Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins, dressed for golf. Photograph, c. 1927.

Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins, taking tea. Photograph, 1927.

Craniopagus.

Chang and Eng the Siamese twins, in an oriental setting. Lithograph, 1830.

Wellcome Collection

Today’s opening times