Jane Bunford

Jane "Jinny" Bunford (26 July 1895-1 April 1922) is the tallest female ever recorded in British medical history and was the tallest woman in the world at the time of her death. She remained the tallest woman ever to have lived until her height was surpassed by Zeng Jinlian in 1981.

Born to John and Jane Bunford of Bartley Green, Birmingham UK, Jane's father was a metal caster and she was one of seven children. She attended St. Michael's School in Bartley Green. Apparently, up to 1906, when she suffered an head injury which damaged her Pituitary gland and triggered her abnormal growth, she was fairly tall for her age but her height had not been anything exceptional. She also had always been an healthy child up to that point. Then, she grew nearly 50cm in the two years after her accident, and on her 13th birthday on 26 July 1908 was measured in her bare feet as standing 6 feet 6 inches or 198 centimeters tall. Her peak standing height was 239 centimeters (7 feet 10 inches) although this later decreased due to the curvature of the spine, as towards the end of her life she suffered from severe Kyphoscoliosis and could not stand fully erect. Shortly before she died Jane was measured as being 2.31 meters (7 feet 7 inches. Had she been able to stand erect, she would have measured 2.41 meters (7 feet 11 inches).

According to her Death certificate, Jane Bunford died from Acromegaly, hyperpituitarism and gigantism on 1 April 1922 at her home at 284 Jiggins Lane, Bartley Green, at the age of 26. She was supposedly buried in St. Michael's Churchyard, Bartley Green, on 5 April 1922.

Hardly anything was mentioned or reported of Jane Bunford in any publication over the next fifty years. However, in 1971, for the first ever time, the Guinness Book of Records issued a photograph of her skeleton and said that her "Identity had remained a 50-year secret". <ref> Although there was no label attached, in 1972 the University finally admitted it was that of Jane Bunford. It had a mounted height of 7 feet 4 inches. Controversy then broke out whether Jane had been buried in Bartley Green in April 1922. What likely happened is that Jane's father presented her body to the museum for research, and they, in turn, removed her skeleton, and returned the remains for burial. In 1972, the Guinness Book of Records listed her for the first ever time as Britain's tallest recorded woman.

Jane Bunford left school at the age of 12 as she was unable to stand other children's comments and taunts about her rapid growth. Also, she found the desks and chairs too uncomfortable. Jane was embarrassed by her height and often stayed indoors during daylight although she used to go out at night-time, sometimes doing babysitting favours for friends and neighbours. She was also famous in the area for having being able to clean the upstairs windows of her house, which was a cottage, whilst standing on the pavement, such was her reach.

Jane possessed copper-coloured hair which when loose fell around her like a cloak reaching the ground. It measured 8 feet 1 inches long. She used to wear it in 2 plaits. On more than one occasion a man of unknown identity offered to buy her hair for a small fortune. Jane turned him down on each occasion and she always rejected offers to appear in shows for sizeable sums of money. Instead, she worked at Cadbury Bourneville for a time after leaving school. Although she was very shy and reclusive, Jane was remembered by friends and relatives as a very kind woman, who always refused to feel sorry for herself. She was also well-liked by her neighbours and had a talent for embroidery. Jane also had a friend named Emma who was a dwarf and lived nearby. Eighty years after her death, a large plaque in commemoration of Jane "Jinny" Bunford was placed on the wall outside the Bartley Green Local Library in June 2002.

Apart from the information on this page, the general public know very little about Jane Bunford, and no photographs of her have ever been seen. Even if any do exist, they are unlikely to be shown to the general public as inquiries and reporting about Jane has caused distress to her relatives. Many questions remain unanswered about Jane's extraordinary life and she has, more than eighty years after her death, continued to remain an enigma. There is little information known about her growth rate, apart from her full height, how tall she was shortly before she died and her height on her 13th birthday. It is not known old she was when she reached her full height, or how she kept herself clothed or clothes she bought, and her physical size apart from her height, or what actually caused the accident that damaged her pituitary gland and how severe the head injury was. In 2005 her skeleton was finally returned to her family burial plot after 83 years, but Jane has never had a headstone erected, because when she died, the family wished to foil morbid treasure hunters. Her grave was re-opened once after her death for a burial of a relative.

See also

• List of tallest people

References

1 - Jane Bunford's death certificate.