English Giant's long johns up for auction

The undergarments are expected to sell for between £150 and £250

A pair of 5ft (1.5m) long johns belonging to a man known as the English Giant are to be sold at auction.

The underwear was owned by Frederick Kempster, who at 8ft 4in was thought to be the the tallest man in England at the turn of the 20th Century.

The 27-stone man was born in London in 1889 and later moved to Blackburn, Lancashire, where he died in 1918.

The giant shorts and a nightshirt were found at a house near Clitheroe, Lancashire, in the 1970s.

They were discovered by John Jardine, of Hurst Green, Clitheroe, whose uncle Tom Cook had become friends with Mr Kempster during his time in Blackburn.

Mr Cook's mother owned the Nags Head pub in Blackburn and he and Mr Kempster became drinking companions.

Also on sale with the undergarments are newspaper cuttings about Mr Kempster, who was so tall he could stand on a street and shake hands with someone in an upstairs window.

The items are expected to sell for between £150 and £250 when they are sold at Tennants Auctioneers in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, on 28 April.

Unusual growth

Born in Bayswater, Mr Kempster was 10 years old when his father died, leaving his mother to care for him and his six siblings.

Fred Kempster was the tallest man in England at the turn of the 20th Century

His mother put him into care at Barnardo's, from where he was sent to Canada for a chance of a better life.

While there he experienced weakness of the legs and unusual growth, and returned to England.

By June 1911, he realised he could make a living by joining Astely and Co's American Circus, and travelled with them from Bath to France, Belgium and Germany.

Whilst touring Europe with the circus during World War I, he was captured in Germany and taken as a prisoner of war.

On his release he went on one final tour around the North of England, and while in Blackburn he contracted pneumonia and taken into hospital but never recovered.

He died at the age of 29 on 15 April 1918.

Mr Jardine said: "It's a fascinating part of history and the fact that we could save these is terrific.

"We can't do anything with them that's useful so I hope someone comes along and displays them to their full advantage."