Murder of Daniel Awety and the Death Curse of Thomas Busby's chair

 

Picture of Thomas Busby's chair thanks to unsolved mysteries.

The favorite chair of Thomas Busby has an eerie and terrifying past. For over 300 years this chair has been a sight for many, but misfortune for those who actually sit in it. It has even developed the name the chair of death. And it all started in 1702 with a man named Thomas Busby.

Thomas Busby was a man who would take any chance to drink. It was well known in the community about Busby's favorite pass time. This barfly was not a rare sight in his favorite pub. The only thing that would be rare as if he wasn't sitting in his favorite chair. Busby was not a man to be messed with as he was a thief with a bad temper. If someone said anything he didn't like a fight would ensue.

Busby's father-in-law was Daniel Awety a successful coin forger. The two were partners in petty crime.  Daniel Awety decided after earning a lot of money through his "business" to splurge out and buy a farm near Kirby Wiske. He had renamed it, Danotty Hall, after himself of course.

One summer day in 1702 Awety and Busby had a meeting that ended in a heated argument. Busby went back and found his father-in-law sitting in his favorite seat. Busby demanded Awety to get out of his chair and a fight broke out.

In response, Awety told Busby he was going to take his daughter back to Danotty Hall with him. Later that night Busby went to Danotty Hall and killed Awety with a hammer and placed his body in the woods.

Awety's remains were soon found and the authorities found Busby in his favorite chair. Busby went to trial and was found guilty his punishment was hanging and Busby was granted one last request. He was able to take one last drink in his chair.

"Death will come swiftly to whomsoever sits in my chair." Was Busby's last words before he hung. Surprisingly enough his words rung true.

A chimney sweep sat in Busby's chair and he was unfortunately fell off a roof and had died. This was the first time the chair had been used in decades and this unnamed chimney sweep was the first noted victim. He was not the only one. People were always dared to sit in the chair, but most refused. Some lost their lives doing so.

Some of the most noticeable was when in WWII the place became a hot spot for Members of the Air Force. Few were not afraid to sit in the chair and it was noticeable that those few did not make it home. In 1967 a couple of RAF  sat in the chair and later that night hit a tree head on in their car and died. A lot of daredevils from all around wanted to see the chair. The landlord his it in the basement in hope no one would get hurt.

That didn't help because a roofer sat on the chair to rest and his death soon came after. A cleaning lady who stumbled over the chair had died and even more had died. In the 1970's the chair was donated to the Thrisk Museum where it now resides six feet off the ground so that no one will ever die from it again.

SOURCES:
Historic Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
Thirsk Museum
Profiling the Unexplained
Real Unexplained Mysteries
Unexplainable