Frederick John Kempster (April 13, 1889, April 15, 1918) was an English showman, renowned for his extreme height and also known as the English Giant or Blackburn Giant. He was 7 feet 9.3 inches tall, had an arm span of 8 feet 4.5 inches and weighed 375 pounds. He suffered from a congenital knee problem leading to ligament pains and growth at the upper end of the tibia. This uncontrolled growth was the contributing factor to his increased height. In 1911, he joined the Astley and Company's American Circus in Essex as a professional giant. At the outbreak of the WWI, Kempster was in Germany and was placed under house arrest in Berlin by the German authorities. He was released after a month and returned to Britain where he was interviewed by the London press. He died in 1918 at the age of 29. No photographer credited, undated, name of midget unknown. |