The Cursed Chair of Death

The Cursed Chair of Death

     It was in the late 17th century that this tale of the Cursed chair of death would begin. A man by the name of Daniel Awety moves to the small village of Kirkby Wiske which is located along the River Wiske, just a little bit north and west of the town of Thirsk in North Yorkshire, England. He’d chosen Kirkby Wiske for it’s quiet locale which was well suited for his working at his illicit trade of counterfeiting. He’d purchased an old farm which he converted to something more suitable for his needs, with a large underground room and the installation of very robust locks in order to keep unexpected visitors from catching him at his work or discovering his equipment. He renamed the farm, Dannotty Hall.

     Now Awety had a young and attractive daughter named Elizabeth and a local man by the name of Thomas Busby fell in love with her. The two married after a short courtship, one that Awety was not too happy about happening, but there was nothing he could do. Shortly following the wedding, Awety decided to bring his new son-in-law into the family business and made a partner of Busby, which was a bit of a trying relationship as it turns out that Busby was a drunk.

     Busby and his new bride Elizabeth took up lodgings at the local inn a little ways down the road from Dannotty Hall, which was no doubt the perfect home for a drunkard such as Busby. Things went downhill rather quickly of course between Busby and Awety, both in their partnership with business and in their personal relationship regarding the well being of Elizabeth. One night, for reasons that will never be known, Daniel Awety came to the inn to bring Elizabeth home and away from Busby for good. Elizabeth refused to budge until her husband returned home from wherever he was at that time. So Awety sat there in the inn with his daughter Elizabeth and waited until a very intoxicated Busby arrived home. 

     An argument of very large proportions broke out between the two men, Awety shouting about how he didn’t want his only daughter married to or in any way to associate with, a drunkard who did not take the job of husband seriously. Busby however, was yelling and screaming about something entirely different, he was yelling about Awety sitting in his most favorite chair! Unable to continue his argument with Busby since he was in such a state that any arguing was falling upon deaf ears, Awety left and headed home towards Dannotty Hall (without his daughter), leaving Busby in a fuming state of drunken anger. Later that night, Busby headed out into the night and made the three mile trek to Dannotty Hall, where he bludgeoned his partner and father-in-law to death with a hammer.

     Awety’s body was evenutally found and Busby was charged with the murder, went to trial where he was found guilty and sentenced to death. In 1702, he was hanged. After being cut down and pronounced dead, his body was dipped in pitch (tar) and hanged from a gibbet. However, as he was led to his execution, Busby cursed any person who sat in his favorite chair, to death. Following the execution, the inn where Busby had lived with Elizabeth, changed it’s name to the “Busby Stoop Inn.”

     Now the owner of the inn, seeing an opportunity, told all who visited the inn, about the chair and it’s curse, put upon by Busby himself, and even showed it off as it sat in the same spot it had sat in when Busby was alive and using it. The chair proved to be quite a nice money-maker and was a source of attraction for those who enjoyed the morbid side of life. But was it actually cursed?

      It’s said that a great number of people have died following their daring to sit in the chair. In the late 1800‘s, a chimney sweep and his friend were sitting in the pub and who had been sitting in the “Busby cursed chair” was found dead the next morning, holding onto a gatepost next to the old hangman gibbet. Years later, a certain Mr. Earnshow who for a time was the inn’s landlord, overheard two RAF pilots talking about the famous chair and witnessed the two of them taking turns sitting in the chair. Later that same day, both pilots were killed when their car struck a tree. There are several alleged reports of a number of motorcyclists and bicyclists who, after stopping at the inn for a drink and who sat in the chair, were all later involved in fatal collisions with cars.

     One man who sat in the Busby chair died of a massive heart attack the following night and a hitchhiker, after spending a bit of time at the inn drinking and sitting in the chair, had been hit and killed by an automobile 2 days later. In 1969 two brick layers decided to tempt fate and sat in it --- Both fell to their deaths days later. Then there was the cleaning lady to stumbled into it while she was mopping up and was later killed by a brain tumor. The owner of the pub had it moved into the basement in hopes of avoiding further deaths due to it’s curse but a delivery man who was delivering something to the inn and was in the basement area, unknowingly sat down in the chair. An hour later, the truck he was driving crashed and he died. Following that death, the chair was moved to a local museum in Thirsk where it hangs up on a wall today - placed there so no others could die from the curse.

     For over 300 years, mystery and speculation has surrounded that chair. Is it actually cursed or are the deaths merely coincidence? I’ll tell you one thing - if you’re ever out and about in the village of Kirby Wiske, or the town of Thirsk, and you see an old wooden chair sitting off in a corner - don’t sit in it...

Have a great day everybody!