Sunday 14 March 2010

The Blackburn Giant

Frederick John Kempster was known as the British Giant and he is buried in Blackburn Cemetery in Lancashire. He caught influenza and developed pneumonia and died in 1918. At the time of his death he was said to be 7ft 11" tall. Later, the undertakers daughter claimed he was actually 8ft 4" and that her father had made a coffin nine feet long. The size of the grave is astonishing when you stand in front of it, as I did today. If you are in the area, you really ought to visit it so you can see for yourselves just how big it is. Amazing! I can remember my parents once telling me about a giant in the 1930s they had seen in the street. He would shake hands with people standing at their upstairs window, but it wasn't Kempster.



2 comments:

Gale Wall said...

Very long indeed.

Anonymous said...

Miss the guy...used to go see his grave quite often

Welcome to the Graveyard Detective

An illustrated look at the World of Graveyards and Cemeteries. There are many Stories behind the Stones that Stand in them. Who knows what we might find?

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...