After Dad was gone, I discovered that as an only child I inherited his house in this valley of South Carolina, in which I now lived, and all his earthly belongings, including our beloved dog, Murphy.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Between the Tides'

Born in Leeds in 1918, Herbert Richard Hoggart was orphaned at the age of eight and subsequently raised as an only child by five adult relatives (his grandmother, two aunts, an uncle, and an older cousin) in a terraced back-to-back in Hunslet.

UNESCO: The Uses of Richard Hoggart

Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey, an only child who went on to have nine children of his own with his wife, Maureen McCarthy.

CNN: Even in dissent, Scalia stirs controversy

Mr Rana, an only child from Lahore in Pakistan, has had no contact with his parents since he left.

BBC: Carmarthen man facing deportation in fresh legal bid

Ahmer, an only child from Lahore, left Pakistan when he was 14 after his parents feared the family's lives were in danger.

BBC: Petition handed over in Ahmer Rana deportation campaign