Henry Hall (lighthouse keeper)

Hall is remembered for his actions following a fire at the Eddystone Lighthouse on 2 December 1755, when the wooden Rudyerd's Tower of 1706 burned down.

[3] The men were forced to retreat down the tower and eventually made their way to a cave to avoid the falling red hot debris.

[2] Hall spoke to Dr. Spry "with a hoarse voice, scarce to be heard, that melted lead had run down his throat into his body"[1] and was experiencing severe internal pain.

Dr. Spry found Hall's claim unbelievable as he felt no person could survive having swallowed molten lead let alone live for hours afterward and be towed through water.

He died on Monday, 8 December 1755, aged 94, at his home in East Stonehouse, Plymouth after "being seized with cold sweats and spasms of the tendons, he soon expired".

Dr. Spry gave the following written account of how Hall and his two colleagues had explained to him how the lead came to be in Hall's stomach: "It will perhaps be thought difficult to explain the manner, by which the lead entered the stomach: But the account, which the deceased gave me and others, was, that as he was endeavouring to extinguish the flames, which were at a considerable height over his head, the lead of the lanthorn being melted dropped down, before he was aware of it, with great force into his mouth then lifted up and open, and in such a quantity, as to cover not only his face, but all his clothes."

Dr. Spry's account was received with such scepticism by The Royal Society that he felt constrained to conduct experiments on dogs and chickens, pouring melted lead down the animals' throats, to prove that it was possible to survive, for at least a limited period, such an extreme accident.