His age does not rest upon tradition or repute. He was
the son of a successful and esteemed practicing physician of
Market Wickham, Suffolk, England, and there is in the possession
of his two surviving relatives, who cared for his household for
many years, his mother's diary, in which is inscribed in the
handwriting of a lady of the eighteenth century, under the date,
Tuesday, March 16, 1790, a prayer of thankfulness to God that she
had passed her 'tryall,' and that a son was born, who she hoped
'would prosper, be a support to his parents, and make virtue his
chief pursuit.' The Royal College of Surgeons verified this
record many years ago, and it was subsequently again
authenticated by the authorities of the Freemasons, who thereupon
enshrined his portrait in their gallery as the oldest living
Freemason. The Salmon family moved to Cowbridge in 1796, so that
the doctor had lived exactly a century in the lovely and poetic
Vale of Glamorgan, in the very heart of which Penllyn Court is
situated. Here on his one hundred and sixth birthday--a man of
over middle height, with still long, flowing hair, Druidical
beard and mustache, and bushy eyebrows--Dr. Salmon was visited by
one who writes:--
" 'Seen a few days ago, the Patriarch of Penllyn Court was hale
and hearty.
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