• "Smallest. The lowest birth weight on record for a surviving infant is 10 oz. in the case of Marion Chapman, born in South Shields, England, on June 5th, 1938."

Marian Chapman - England		Daily Mirror pictures - June 1938
She had to be wrapped in cotton wool to keep her warm. The 'miracle baby' soon became international news and Marian remained a celebrity throughout her life.		The two women, both wearing face masks, are weighing little Marian on the scales to measure her growth. Despite being so small, tiny fragile Marian Chapman survived.
		Discovery Museum - Tyne & Wear, UK In the first days of her life, Marian was fed with brandy and glucose from a fountain pen filler. When she had grown a little, she was fed with this feeding bottle. Among items not normally on display are a set of clothes made for the Tyneside baby, who for a long time had the lowest birth weight on record for a surviving infant. Her first clothes were made out of silk, because her skin was too sensitive for other fabrics, and for a long time she was dressed in doll's clothing. Her first official visitor was Nancy Bradley, the Mayoress of South Shields. She gave Marian this gift of a silver napkin ring, which has been engraved with the letter 'M'.

• She weighed 10 ounces (283 grams) at birth; Marian at 3 weeks weighed 1 lb 13 oz (825 g);
  By her first birthday she had reached the weight of 13 lbs 14 oz (6.3 kg)
  at 2 years old, she weighed 19 lb 3oz (8.7 kg) and at 2 and half, was 22 lb (10 kg)

		[Left] This is an article about Marian from June 1941, she was now a fine, healthy, intelligent 3 year old child. Marian Chapman (Tay Street) South Shields, was well known around the local Tyneside area. Locals could be heard to say in the local accent -   "she was, Nee bigger than half a pund o' butter".

• She grew up to be of normal size, often seen walking her little terrier in Pine and Oak Avenues.
• She worked for many years as a typist at Reyrolles, in Hebburn, weighed seven and a half stones (106 lbs) (48 kg) on her 21st birthday and later married Bob Taggart at Harton church.
• They moved to Bristol where Marian died, aged 44 years, in 1983.

For more information, photos and updates, click on the name links in the table below.