Thomas Busby is said to have cursed a oak chair before swinging from the gallows in 1702. Centuries later, tales of mysterious deaths, wartime tragedy and a pub landlord spooked into giving it away have kept the legend of the Dead Man’s Chair alive — but how much of the story stands up to scrutiny?
What is the Busby's stoop chair?
The Busby’s stoop chair – also known as the Dead Man’s Chair – is the oak chair that was supposedly cursed by the murderer Thomas Busby before his exhibition by hanging in 1702.
He was condemned to the death penalty after he murdered his father-in-law, after a row over their shared coin counterfeiting business. He was sent to the gallows at Sandhutton crossroads, near Thirsk. The crossroads had an inn beside it, which later changed its name to the Busby Stoop Inn.
After Busby died, the chair was kept at the Busby Stoop Inn. As the story goes, many people who had sat in the chair went on to die. During the Second World War, Canadian airmen from the nearby base at Skipton-on-Swale sat in the chair at the pub and then never returned from missions to Europe.
So, where’s the chair now?
The landlord of the Busby Stoop Inn donated the chair to the Thirsk Museum in Yorkshire in 1978. Sounds like he got a bit spooked after he’d lost a few too many patrons to the cursed chair.
The chair is hung from the ceiling of the museum, to prevent people from sitting in it – and falling victim to the curse.
Do we believe the story?
Although it’s an entertaining tale, the origins of the chair are dubious. A furniture expert found it to have machine-turned spindles, whereas chairs in the 18th century were made using a pole lathe.
