The Coffin in the Barn at Stevenage

The Year Book, quoting the Gentleman’s Magazine, tells of a Stevenage farmer who died on 1 February and left his estate to his brothers and then his nephew for thirty years, after which he expected to come back to life and have it again. To make his return easy he ordered that his coffin be fixed on a beam in his barn, locked, with the key inside so that he could let himself out. When the time was up he was allowed four days’ grace, and when he failed to appear he was given Christian burial on 5 February 1751.