Thomas Bell, The Cambridge Giant, 1813. Thomas Bell grew to 7 feet 2 inches height, while serving as a blacksmith's apprentice to his father. Like his father and his father's father before him, he only wanted to be a good blacksmith. But as word of his great height spread, many curious people came by to see him. When this became disruptive to his father's business, young Bell decided to leave blacksmithing and cash in on his tallness. He thereafter toured England, exhibiting himself in the principal towns and at fairs. Billed as the "Cambridge Giant," he appeared in May, 1813, at the age of 36, at the Hog in the Pound on Oxford Street. That same year his portrait was included in Kirby's Wonderful Museum, showing him dressed in a collegiate gown and knee-breeches. Gigantism, also known as giantism is a condition characterized by excessive growth and height significantly above average. In humans, this condition is caused by over-production of growth hormone in childhood resulting in persons between 7 feet and 9 feet in height.