Plymouthhistory

The Strange Death
Of
Henry Hall
Henry Hall was born in East Stonehouse, Devon in 1661 and he was the oldest known member of
a renowned family of lighthouse keepers that includes Grace Darling.
In the early hours of 2 nd December 1755, while working on the Eddystone Lighthouse, Hall
realised that sparks from kitchen stove chimney had set the lighthouse roof ablaze. He attempted
to extinguish the fire by throwing buckets of water upward "four yards higher than his head", onto
the underside of the burning roof. Soon, two other lighthouse keepers joined the fight and the
three tucked their heads while blindly hurling buckets of water overhead at a frantic pace.
During the battle with the blaze, Hall looked up to check their progress. As he did so, a shower of
molten lead fell from the lighthouse roof onto him, burning his head, neck, and shoulders and
almost unbelievably, falling into his open mouth which he then involuntarily swallowed. Despite the
intense pain, Hall continued fighting the fire until the blaze grew so large the three men were
forced to retreat from the lighthouse tower. The fire raged for the five days.
Several hours later, the three men were spotted by a passing boat. Sailors threw ropes to the men
and hauled them aboard. They were taken to East Stonehouse where Hall was treated by Dr.
Edmund Spry. According to Dr. Spry, “Hall spoke with a hoarse voice, scarce to be heard, that
melted lead had run down his throat into his body”. Hall added that he was suffering from intense
internal pain. At first, Dr. Spry did not believe Hall’s claims feeling that anyone who swallowed
molten lead would have surely died on the spot. Hall however, appeared to be perfectly fine other
than the burns about his head and neck.
In the days following, Hall was able to eat, drink, and take medicine. After several days, it
appeared as if Hall was on the mend and the claims of swallowing molten lead were dismissed as
the ramblings of an injured and shaken old man. However, on the sixth day, events took a tragic
turn. Hall’s health began to decline and by the 10th day, Hall could no longer eat or drink. He died
on December 8, 1755 aged 94 years.
Dr. Spry conducted an autopsy on Hall and to his surprise, inside the confines of Hall’s stomach
was a seven ounce layer of solid lead (see above). Dr. Spry immediately wrote an account of the
incident and sent it to The Royal Society who met the report with great disbelief. In response to
their scepticism, Dr. Spry initiated a subsequent series of experiments on dogs and chickens,
pouring melted lead down the animals’ throats to test their reaction. The results of Dr. Spry’s
efforts proved that indeed, it was possible to survive, for a limited period of time, after such an
extreme and bizarre event. Spry’s animal experiments would go down in history as the first fully
documented and reported British scientific experiments on animals.
The piece of lead taken from the stomach of Henry Hall,
weighed 7 ounces (approx 200g). It now resides in the
National Museum of Scotland. (Picture by kind permission National
Museum of Scotland)