The Curse of Thomas Busby’s Chair of Death

Jan 28

There is a museum in North Yorkshire, England filled with items telling stories of the local area, items stemming from generations past. They offer tours and an inviting staff that is more than happy to give you the history of their artifacts.

A room showcasing farming life in the 1930s and 40s, a replica of a 19th-century kitchen, and a Victorian bedroom are among many that tell the stories of another century. But in a room on the first floor, there is a peculiar chair hanging from the wall. It’s too high to be used but there is a very good reason for that.

And that reason is solely that it was the favorite chair of one man, Thomas Busby, a man who placed a curse on it as he was hanged for murder.

The reason for the murder? Well, someone sat in his favorite chair.

Today we look at Thomas Busby’s Chair of Death, currently located in the Thirsk Museum in the United Kingdom. We’ll look at the history and the victims. And then you decide; would you sit on Busby’s chair?

Thomas Busby’s Chair

The year is 1702, Thomas Busby is not known to be an upstanding gentleman, in fact, he is known to be a drunk and a man with a very short temper. Never a good combination.

While preparing for his latest crime with Daniel Auty, his father-in-law, an argument ensued. Both men separated to cool off, only to find each other again at a local pub later that evening.

Unfortunately for Daniel Auty, he had chosen to sit in his son-in-law’s favorite chair. The details are vague on whether there was another argument regarding a different topic but, in the end, Busby forcibly removed Auty from his chair and tossed him out of the pub.

But for a man with a temper such as Busby’s, this wasn’t enough.

Later that night, Busby planned an act of final revenge. Grabbing a hammer he made his way to Auty’s home and bludgeoned him to death. Knowing full well he would be looked at for the murder, Busby attempted to hide the body in the woods.

It didn’t take long for authorities to find the body of Auty or to realize Busby was the cause of the gruesome murder. Busby was tried and convicted. His punishment was to be hanged and then displayed from the gallows to deter others from heinous acts.

Prior to his hanging, Busby was heard shouting, cursing, and promising all those who would dare sit in his chair a violent death.

And to many, he fulfilled that promise.

The Cursed Chair of Death

The first reported death linked to the chair didn’t come for almost 200 years but of course, that was only the first reported case.

In 1894 a man visit the pub with his friend, drinking too much, and he took the last seat of his life on Busby’s chair. After leaving the pub and being too drunk to continue his journey home he laid down on the road to sleep.

The next morning he was found hanging from a post next to the very same gallows where Busby was once hanged.

Many airmen during the Second World War would dare each other to sit on the chair knowing full well of the curse. Those that did, legend has it, never returned home.

In 1968 two other airmen sat in the chair, some say for only a second but in that second they sealed their fates. On their way back to the airfield they crashed into a tree dying on their way to the hospital.

Other stories such as a cleaning lady diagnosed with a brain tumor, cyclists and motorcyclists crashing and dying after sitting on the chair, exhausted hitch-hikers, a man in his thirties dying from a massive heart attack, and from a group of builders; one took the dare to sit on the chair, later falling through the roof of a building and dying soon after.

Some accounts attribute up to 60 kills to the chair, after this the owner of the pub locked it in the cellar hoping to put an end to the curse. But this isn’t the end of the story.

A delivery man in 1978 saw the chair in the cellar and decided to take a seat saying the chair was too comfortable to be locked up. Shortly after leaving the pub he too crashed and died. The owner of the pub considered this the last straw and immediately donated the chair to the Thirsk Museum on the condition it is hung on the wall and never taken down.

Wrong Chair?

But the chair did come down at least one time… to be examined by a furniture historian. Dr. Adam Bowett found the chair spindles were machine-made as opposed to hand-made with a pole lathe as was the custom in the 17th. He dated the chair to post-1840 meaning the chair hanging at the Thirsk Museum could not be Thomas Busby’s cursed chair.

Regardless to this day, the Thirsk Museum has fulfilled its promise to keep it hanging… just in case.