Anomalies Article: Spontaneous Human Combustion

Spontaneous Human Combustion:
Brief Reports in Chronological Order

Dates Unknown or Unsure - Dates 1600-1949 - Dates 1950-Present

Dr. Gee's Investigation

The Legend:
Dr. D. J. Gee, a lecturer in forensic medicine at Leeds University, investigated the case of an old woman found dead on the hearth in her living room, her body completely burned except for the right foot. Other than the furniture being covered with soot and the paintwork being blistered, there was very little other damage. A tea towel hanging on the oven door close-by was hardly singed, and the dry firewood stacked inside the oven was untouched.

Theories
According to Joyce Robins in The World's Greatest Mysteries, Dr. Gee was of the opinion that when the woman fell onto the hearth cinders had set fire to her hair, after which the body was slowly consumed as it burned its own fat like a candle; the draft from the chimney drew the flames up and prevented them from spreading to the rest of the room.

Sources:
The World's Greatest Mysteries, Joyce Robins, 1989 Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd.

Madge Knight's Burns

The Legend:
Mrs. Madge Knight of Aldingbourne, Sussex, woke screaming one morning in the early hours with the feeling that she was burning. The screams woke her husband and sister, and they discovered that Mrs. Knight's back had terrible burns on it. There was no smell of burning and, stranger still, no scortch marks on her bedclothes. Though she was questioned many times before her death three weeks later from blood poisoning, Mrs. Knight was unable to explain the event.
Some experts suggested that, because of the lack of signs of a fire, the burns must have been caused by a corrosive liquid, but nothing was found in the house that could fit the theory.

Sources:
The World's Greatest Mysteries, Joyce Robins, 1989 Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd.

Temple Thurston's Fiery Death

The Legend:
Temple Thurston, an English author, was found dead in his armchair with the lower half of his body badly burned though there was no other sign of fire in the room. Some put forward the theory that he was the victim of a curse; to support this claim they pointed out how the author looked as though he had been burned at the stake, with the flames having been put out before they could reach his upper body.

Sources:
The World's Greatest Mysteries, Joyce Robins, 1989 Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd.

English Woman's Fiery Death

The Legend:
In the 17th century, an elderly woman was found burned to death in her cottage in southeastern England. Other than the woman, nothing else in the cottage was damaged; not even the bedclothes on which she lay. An observer was quoted as saying: "No man knoweth what this doth portend." There were suggestions that it was divine retribution for an unknown sin.

Sources:
Strange Stories, Amazing Facts, 1976 Reader's Digest Association, Inc.

Mary Clues' Fiery Death

The Legend:
Sometime previous to 1774 (when an account was published), 52-year-old Mary Clues was found burnt to death one morning in the bedroom of her ground-floor apartment. Her body had been reduced to ashes, and all that was still recognizable were her calcined skull and spine along with her legs, and one thigh that remained untouched.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gets his account of this event from George Henry Lewes' article "Spontaneous Combustion" (from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine #89 [April, 1861]); naturally, I will attempt to locate a copy. From this account, he presents a few more details: Clues was "much given to drinking" and at least once previous to her death had fallen from her bed and been unable to get up until a neighbor stopped by. The walls of her apartment were plaster and the floor was brick, so any fire would not have much of a chance of spreading. The medical man who investigated observed that the walls had been "coloured black," and he supposed that Clues' shift had caught fire either from "the candle on the chair or a coal falling from the grate," an opinion that Nickell shares.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Mrs. Peacock's Fiery Death

The Legend:
Sometime previous to 1809 (when it was reported in the Methodist Magazine), the keeper of an alehouse in Limerick was called to the apartment of a man at two in the morning because the burning body of a Mrs. Peacock had just fallen through his ceiling into his room; the loft above was still burning.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Hannah Bradshaw's Fiery Death

The Legend:
Sometime previous to 1835 (when an account of this event was published in Theodric and John Beck's Elements of Medical Jurisprudence), 30-year-old Hannah Bradshaw's cremated remains were found in a hole burnt in her floor, lying on the ground about a foot below.

Theories
Joe Nickell gives this account from Beck's Elements of Medical Jurisprudence (1835) in his book Secrets of the Supernatural; I will locate a copy of Beck's book to double-check the information. Nickell states that Bradshaw's death was reported by a W. Dunlop of New York, and that her remains consisted of most or all of her bones, an intact right foot burned off at the ankle, portions of her skull and shoulders, and her bowels; some skin remained on her skull and on one shoulder. These remains were found in a four-foot hole in the floor, and part of a chair "within compass of the hole" was burned. A portion of her head was on the wooden floor near the hole; the rest of her was in the hole. Near the hole and portion of head was a candlestick with a portion of candle in it. Nickell also describes Bradshaw as "intoxicated," and states that "apparently the druken woman had set her clothes afire with the candle."

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Dr. Reynolds' Report

The Legend:
Sometime previous to 1841, Dr. F. S. Reynolds examined the body of a 40-year-old woman that was found while still burning. She had apparently fallen near her hearth; the bones of her leg were carbonized, but the stockings were undamaged.

Initial Sources
According to Joyce Robins in The World's Greatest Mysteries, this case was initially reported by Dr. F. S. Reynolds in an 1841 issue of the British Medical Journal. Naturally, I will attempt to get a copy of this initial article... hopefully it will include a date for this event, something that Robins doesn't mention.

Sources:
The World's Greatest Mysteries, Joyce Robins, 1989 Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd.

Frenchman's Fiery Death

The Legend:
Sometime previous to 1847 (when it was published), a 71-year-old Frenchman was found burnt to death lying in his bed. His cloths and bed coverings had been entirely consumed, but the wood frame of the bed was only partially damaged.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event he got from Thomas Stevenson's The Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence (1883), a book I will attempt to locate a copy of. Nickell says that the man's wife and son were suspected of murder, but after the body was exhumed and examined, spontaneous combustion was suggested and accepted, and the wife and son aquitted. The man was "not fat, nor was he addicted to drunkeness," and "had had a hot brick placed at his feet when he went to bed the preceding evening." Nickell states that "possibly, a cinder adhering to the heated brick had ignited the bedding."

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Marie Bally's Fiery Death

The Legend:
On a December morning at eight o'clock sometime previous to 1852 (when it was reported by M. Devergie), 50-year-old washer woman Marie Jeanne Antoinette Bally was found burnt to death in an unusual way. Her room was bare of furniture except curtains, a chest, and a chair, and it was the latter she was found sitting in; while her torso was burnt and her arms reduced to bone, her head, hair, the upper portions of her shoulders, and her stockinged legs were were unharmed.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, presents an account of this event from Lester Adelson's Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science (March-April, 1952), I will attempt to locate a copy. Nickell describes her the burned areas of Bally's torso as "the skin and muscles of her back, as well as the sides and anterior portion of the trunk." The curious burning pattern of Bally's body is not so curious once Nickell points out that underneath the woman was "an earthen pot such as is used by the poor to hold a few coals to warm their feet." Add to this that Bally had returned to her lodging the previous evening "in a state of drunkenness," and a clear possibility of Bally having her clothes accidently catch fire while she was in a deep sleep appears.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

German Combustion

The Legend:
Sometime around the year 1853, a German liquor-shop in Colombus, Ohio, mysteriously burst into flames and was consumed.

The source
My only source of this ephemeral account is from no one less than the great author Charles Dickens. In the preface to the second edition of his novel, Bleak House, he defends the death of a character named Krook by spontaneous combustion, citing several cases in real life to support himself. In a later footnote added to this preface, he writes:

"Another case [of spontaneous human combustion], very clearly described by a dentist, occurred at the town of Colombus, in the United States of America, quite recently. The subject was a German, who kept a liquor-shop, and was an inveterate drunkard."

This footnote exists in an 1853 printing of Bleak House, so "quite recently" is presumably near that year. I will do some newspaper surfing to see what I can find.

Sources:
Bleak House, Charles Dickens, 1853 Bradbury & Evans [London], 1972 Everyman's Library.

English Woman's Fiery Death

The Legend:
Sometime previous to 1854 (when it was published in England), a woman was found dead in her room with her body still smoldering and the flesh burnt off her bones from the groin down. While a hole had been burned in the floor beneath her legs (in which her legs bones had fallen), her feet were oddly unburned, sitting on the wooden floor just past the hole.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event he got from Thomas Stevenson's The Principles and Practices of Medical Jurisprudence (1883); I will attempt to track down a copy of this book. Nickell discloses that after the discovery of the body, a man who had been in the house at the time was arrested and confessed to murdering the woman. Stevenson explains the rapid consumption of the body's legs by observing "that the clothes of the deceased were much burnt, and that beneath the body there was a hempen mat, so combustible, owing to the melted human fat with which it was impregnated, that when ignited it burnt like a link." [I.E., a pitch torch.]

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

A.B.'s Fiery Death

The Legend:
Sometime previous to 1861 (when the case was related by George Henry Lewes), a woman, aged about 60 and only referred to as A.B., was discovered burned to death in her bed one morning when family members were alerted by smoke. Her smoldering body was described as being "black as coal," and the fire was extinguished only with great difficulty. Strangely, the bedclothes A.B. had been wearing at the time of her death were undamaged.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event he found in George Henry Lewes' article "Spontaneous Combustion" from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine #89 (April, 1861); I will track down a copy of this magazine. Lewes account mentions that A.B. and her daughter had retired to bed the previous evening "both being, as was their constant habit, in a state of intoxication." The account of the story that Lewes himself was using stated that the burning did not "extend to the bedclothes," but Lewes says that the nightgown was indeed burned. Lewes also found fault with this account for not stateing the position the body was found in, nor wether or not it was in the bed; he also complains about the lack of mention of a lighted candle or of any other ignition source.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Englishman's Fiery Corpse

The Legend:
Sometime about 1866, the corpse of a 30-year-old Englishman (he had died of typhoid) was found burning in its vault thirteen months after his burial. It burned with a blueish flame and put off an offensive smell.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event he found in Thomas Stevenson's The Principles and Practices of Medical Jurisprudence (1883); I will track down a copy of this text. According to Nickell the day previous to the discovery of the burning corpse, a foul smell in the church was traced to a crack imediately above the Englishman's vault. The vault was opened and the coffin was found to have been "burst opposite to the breast," and the corpse, in an extreme state of putrifaction, oozed fluids. Sawdust was poured in the coffin to soak up the fluids and cover the odor. Quoth Stevenson: "Many persons set it down to spontaneous combustion, but it was found that one of the workmen had been smoking in the vault, and might have carelessly thrown down the lighted paper which he used." Stevenson (according to Nickell) then goes on to suggest that such a paper could have ignited both the sawdust and the coffin's cloth cover, together with flammable gases produced by the putrifaction.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Unnamed Woman's Fiery Death

The Legend:
Sometime previous to 1870 (when it was reported in France), a woman was discovered burnt to death in her bedroom just two hours after her husband last saw her. He had noticed that the door to her bedroom was extremely hot, and finally entered through her window; inside, he found his wife with her torso burnt, but her legs undamaged.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event he found in Thomas Stevenson's The Principles and Practices of Medical Jurisprudence (1883); I will find a copy of this text. Nickell adds to the account above that the woman was apparently drunk at the time last seen, that the floor was still smoldering when the body was discovered, and that the woman was found lying partially across the hearth, though there was no fire in it at the time. Stevenson suggests, and Nickell agrees, that "The woman may have had matches about her, and in her intoxiacated state an accident may have easily occurred..."

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

London Combustion

The Legend:
On an October evening in the 1950's, a 19-year-old secretary was dancing with her boyfriend in a London discotheque when flames suddenly burst from her back and chest, enveloping her head and hair. She was dead from first-degree burns before her boyfriend or anyone else could beat out the flames.
Her boyfriend testified at the inquest: "I saw no one smoking on the dance floor. There were no candles on the tables, and I did not see her dress catch fire from anything. I know it sounds incredible, but it appeared to me that the flames burst outward, as if they originated within her body." Other witnesses agreed with him; the coroner's verdit was 'death by misadventure, caused by a fire of unknown origin.'

Theories
It's impossible to deny the similarity of this case to that of Phyllis Newcombe's Combustion and Maybelle Andrew's Combustion; I have to wonder if this is an urban legend, a popular tale that retains the same overall structure while its details change with each retelling. Only more research can tell.

Sources:
Strange Stories, Amazing Facts, 1976 Reader's Digest Association, Inc.

Englishman's Fiery Death

The Legend:
An Englishman was found totally incinerated in the cab of his truck. The London Daily Telegraph reported: "Police witnesses testified they had found the petrol tank full and unharmed by fire, the doors of the cab opened easily, but the interior was 'a veritable furnace.' The coroner's jury declared they were unable to determine how the accident occurred."

Sources:
Strange Stories, Amazing Facts, 1976 Reader's Digest Association, Inc.

Reynold's News' Report

The Legend:
Reynold's News recorded the death of a London man who, while walking along the street, "appeared to explode. His clothes burned fiercely, his hair was burned off, and the rubber-soled boots melted on his feet."

Timeline
This event is described in Strange Stories, Amazing Facts as happening 'a few years later' than the Englishman's Fiery Death, another account for which they give no date. Ug.

Sources:
Strange Stories, Amazing Facts, 1976 Reader's Digest Association, Inc.

Building Contractor's Combustion

The Legend:
Sometime previous to 1976, an English building contractor was driving past one of his construction sites and waved to the workers; a moment later, he burst into flames.

Sources:
Strange Stories, Amazing Facts, 1976 Reader's Digest Association, Inc.

Dates Unknown or Unsure - Dates 1600-1949 - Dates 1950-Present