Jane Bunford

**Jane Bunford**, also known as **Ginny Bunford** or **Jinny Bunford** (26 July 1895 – 1 April 1922), was a woman who was also the tallest ever person recorded in English medical history. She was once tallest female in recorded history, until Zeng Jinlian has beaten her record. No photographs, if any still do exist of her, have ever been seen by the general public.

## Early years

Jane's parents were John Bunford (March 1856 - December 1916) and Jane Bunford (nee Andrews), (1857 - November 1913) of Bartley Green, Northfield, Birmingham, UK. Her father was a metal caster. Known as "Jinny" Bunford, Jane was an ordinary, quiet, shy and well-behaved child who enjoyed good health during the first 11 years of her life. While Jane was quite tall for her age, her growth rate was not unusual.

## Life-changing accident

In June 1906, she stood 5 ft (1.52 m) tall but in October of that year, Jane's life changed forever, when she fractured her skull after falling off her bicycle and hitting her head on the pavement. Although the 11-year-old Jane couldn't have known it at the time, the injury permanently damaged her pituitary gland, releasing an excess of growth hormone which sent her growth patterns out of control. The accident also indirectly led to her death in April 1922. It was not until 1915, nine years after her accident that scientists definitely determined that the pituitary gland is responsible for producing growth hormones in humans, and though the problem was identified, no treatment was available for hyperpituitarism during Jane's lifetime.

## Education

Jane attended St. Michael's Secondary School in Bartley Green. At school she displayed a talent for embroidery, but some pupils picked on Jane after her accident, mainly because of her abnormal growth and height. Also, the desks and chairs became too uncomfortable for her to sit at. As a result of both factors, Jane's parents took her out of school before her 13th birthday on 26 July 1908. That day Jane was measured, in her bare feet, as being 6 ft 6 in tall or 1.98 m. Two years after that, around the time of her 15th birthday in July 1910, Jane hit the 7ft (2.13 m) mark. Four years later, in 1914, she was measured at 7 feet 8 inches (2.33 m) tall. On her 21st birthday Jane was measured at 7 ft 10 in (2.39 m) tall, her peak standing height.

## Life as a giantess

Jane rejected several opportunities to benefit financially from her size and appearance. She had dead straight auburn hair, which she grew until it was 8 ft 1 in long. She wore it in two plaits and it came down to her ankles, according to the 1972 edition of the Guinness Book of Records. When loose it fell around her like a cloak reaching the ground. She refused an offer from a man who wished to purchase her hair for a small fortune. She also rejected offers to appear in various shows for what were large sums of money at the time.

Jane's mother died in November 1913, at the age of 56, and after her father died three years later, Jane moved from Adams Hill, Bartley Green, to Jiggins Lane, Bartley Green, where she lived until her own death. She took holidays away from Bartley Green, to visit relatives or the seaside.

Jane, however, in her final years, became a recluse. She hated the attention her size brought her, and her spine developed a severe curvature through not being able to support her huge body. Due to this, Jane could not stand fully erect towards the end of her life. This also developed because she had to stoop and bend down often when passing through doors. This condition is often seen in very tall people and occurred in both Eddie Carmel and John F. Carroll, who like Jane, grew normally during their early years. She now was also in constant pain because of joint problems and other ailments.

## Death

Jane's final measurement, taken in March 1922, was 2.31 m (7 ft 7 in), estimated at 2.41 m (7 ft 11 in), if she had not developed the spinal curvature. After taking the measurement, Jane's doctor informed the medical school of Birmingham University that she did not have long to live and he was proved to be correct. Jane died at her home on 1 April 1922, her death being registered two days later.

When interviewed in January 1972, elderly residents of Bartley Green remembered Jane Bunford as a woman with a deep voice but a gentle nature. A man from Birmingham who wrote to the Daily Mail newspaper on 22 September 2008 said two of his maiden aunts were contemporaries of Jane, and went to the same school, and they said she was a kind, gentle and shy girl who was much loved by younger children.

## Gallery

Jane Bunford with Pauline Musters (0.61cm).Artist's illustration of Bunford mopping a window.