The term "Resurrection Men" was given to men in 18th and early 19th Century Britain who dug up cadavers from graves, the main purpose being to sell them to surgeons for large amounts of money. This gruesome practice was unique to Britain, being practiced in no other European country. Britain's most famous Resurrection men were probably Burke and Hare. This era is known in British history as the Resurrection Era.
[SIZE=+1]Resurrection Men: Stalking the Dead[/SIZE]
Background
Imagine being a resident of London during 1795. One fall morning word gets about that three men were apprehended in the vicinity of the Lambeth burial ground, a site where relations happened to be interred, and these men were carrying sacks containing the remains of five human beings. What would one's natural reaction to this news have been? To rush to the site to determine if the relations remained properly buried? Probably. This did, in fact, occur during the fall of 1795. Upon hearing the news a large crowd of people descended on the Lambeth burial ground demanding entrance. Parish officers were called out to keep the crowd at bay but were unable to halt the flow of angry people. The crowd gained admittance and began to dig frantically at the ground, unearthing many empty coffins. This caused a reaction of those involved: "Great distress and agitation of mind was manifest in every one, and some, in a kind of phrensy, ran away with the coffins of their deceased relations" (Richardson, 1988, 7. This was characteristic of a dark and gruesome period in the history of the United Kingdom termed the resurrection times (Montgomery, 1989). Resurrection times spanned some eighty years between approximately 1750 and 1832 when the passage of the Warburton Anatomy Act brought an end to the period. During resurrection times and especially during the latter thirty years of the era citizens living in the major cities of the realm suffered from the very real fear that no sooner than their friends and relatives were buried they were 'resurrected' by thieves termed sack-em-up gentlemen, body snatchers, ghouls, or resurrection men to be sold to the highest bidder (Montgomery, 1989). Those who paid for these things were not Frankensteins, but surgeons, medical school administrators, and teachers and students of anatomy. Rural churchyards were not immune from this threat- if they happened to be located near a medical school. The police were subtly encouraged to look the other way and could offer little protection. The motive behind such monstrous acts lay originally in humanitarian concerns because subjects were needed for scientific reasons. But towards the end of resurrection times the motive became one less noble- profit. In some cases profit drove body snatchers to murder.
The rest of Europe did not share in the resurrection era, however, because the factors of popular animosity against dissection and political decisions reinforcing this animosity were not present. The other countries of the Continent established early laws dealing with anatomical subjects and did not share the abhorrence against dissection. In considering the social, economic and political climate of the resurrection era it was perhaps inevitable that the human corpse became a commodity. Popular opinion was decidedly negative towards the dissection of human remains. Not only did dissection offend religious beliefs, it offended the working class as the subjects of anatomical study were most often drawn from the ranks of the poor. The quest for medical knowledge led to a rise in the use of anatomy for education. Private medical schools opened attracting greater numbers of students. Subjects were needed to educate these students, yet the only legal source from which to obtain these subjects was the gallows. Again, most often those being executed were the poor. England had embarked on an industrial expansion during this time which advanced her economy in comparison with other countries. The wealth accrued from increased agricultural production, manufacturing, trade and finance was shared among the aristocratic and mercantile classes. Little trickled down to the working class. The population also expanded at a rapid rate, increasing from approximately six million during 1730 to twelve million by 1811 (Cooper, 1974). The cities swelled with people looking for employment, creating a new class of urban poor. Conditions were wretched for this class and food riots, looting and mob violence were commonplace. The wealthy upper classes reacted by urging the passage of harsher laws with more severe penalties against crime and by 1820 statutes defining crimes with capital punishments numbered over two hundred (Cooper, 1974). In the words of barrister Charles Phillips, "We hanged for everything- for a shilling- for five shillings- for five pounds- for cattle- for coining- for forgery, even for witchcraft- for things that were and things that could not be" (Cooper, 1974, 27). An act of Parliament during 1752 further outraged the public by making hanging in chains or dissection of those condemned to death for murder mandatory. While execution was bad enough the public was further outraged by the thought of the condemned being dissected and fought to keep the remains out of surgeon's hands. During 1788 a case of grave robbing was brought before a court where the court decided that as the body was not property the theft of human remains could not be considered a crime. This made prosecution of body snatchers futile and frustrated the efforts of police to halt the trade in human remains. While the public decried the work of resurrectionists police had their hands tied by the courts.
Chronological development
The business of opening graves to rob the dead of their jewelry and such can be traced back to Ancient Egyptians, with grave diggers sharing in the spoils with robbers (Adams, 1972). Exhuming bodies from graves for medical education purposes can be traced back to the twelfth century. The first documented case of body snatching occurred in Mondino, Italy, during 1319. Four medical students were apprehended and accused of resurrecting the body of an executed criminal from its grave and transporting it to the medical school to be dissected. Unfortunately no final disposition of the case is recorded (Lassek, 195. Concern of grave robbing in England can be seen as early as 1615, evidenced by the epithet on William Shakespeare's tombstone: Good friend, for Iesus sake forebeare To digge the dust encloased heare. Bleste be ye man (that) spares these stones, And curste be he (that) moves my bones. (Richardson, 1988, 54).
Social Factors Influencing the Resurrection Era
A Short History of British Dissection
When contemplating the social factors surrounding the resurrection era it is important to note the history of dissection in Great Britain as it compared to the remainder of the Continent. The people of the United Kingdom had only negative feelings towards the cutting up of human cadavers for any reason. Religious beliefs fueled this resistance. Most devout Christians were convinced that any such mutilation of the corpse would interfere with the plan of Divine Resurrection, when the faithful would be bodily gathered around the heavenly throne (Montgomery, 1989). Destruction of the body after death could result in the loss of identity forever. The lingering dread was that on the last day of judgment when the dead were resurrected the dissected corpse would be seen wandering around searching for its lost parts (Walker, 1997). Dissection was socially unacceptable and the use of executed criminals served to exacerbate these negative feelings by equating dissection with crime and punishment.
The history of dissection in the United Kingdom is far more complex than those of the other countries of the continent. Medical education was controlled not by the universities but by the guilds of Barbers, Surgeons, and Apothecaries (Frank, 1976). Legal recognition of the need for cadavers to advance medical knowledge was first recognized in Scotland during 1504, when James IV granted the Edinburgh Guild of Surgeons and Barbers the bodies of certain executed criminals for dissection (Lassek, 195. In England King Henry VIII had an interest in medicine and was one of the first kings to allow human dissection. Parliament and King Henry granted a royal charter to the Companies of Barbers and Surgeons during 1540 which united the companies as a guild, and during 1541 they were granted the annual right of the bodies of four executed felons for anatomy. Queen Elizabeth I during 1565 granted four bodies annually to the College of Physicians and Surgeons and during 1663 Charles II increased Henry's original grant to six. This allowed the Barber-Surgeons Company and the College of Physicians to maintain a monopoly on dissection by provision of common law which kept the demand for anatomical subjects low. By the turn of the eighteenth century this monopoly began to lose strength, however, as Parliment realized British medical education had fallen far behind its Continental rivals. Aspiring doctors often went abroad to Italy or Paris for their medical training. They observed the methods in vogue in these countries which included hands-on anatomy by students (Lassek, 195. To compensate for Great Britain's lack of progress Parliament dissolved the two-hundred year-old Barber-Surgeons Guild during 1745, allowing private medical schools to open and compete for executed criminals (Montgomery, 1989). The great London hospitals St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew also began to offer classes in anatomy (Lassek, 195. Increasing numbers of students were drawn to the study of medicine. During 1793 there were only about two hundred medical students in London, but by 1823 there were over a thousand, all in competition for scarce legally allowed subjects (Frank, 1976). In Edinburgh there were some nine hundred medical students (Douglas, 1973).
By 1760 it had become customary for students to dissect for themselves. In order to be granted a license from the former Barber-Surgeons Company, now the Royal College of Surgeons, a course in dissection was mandatory which increased the need for anatomical subjects to a height unable to be satisfied by execution (Frank, 1976). Legally the acceptable method to obtain subjects was still at the gallow's foot. Providing adequate numbers of subjects was not a problem in other countries on the continent which advanced their medical knowledge compared to Great Britain. In France cadavers were obtained from civil hospitals, prisons and alms houses after the bodies remained unclaimed for twenty-four hours. Germany allowed the bodies of those who had died in prison or committed suicide to be used by medical schools. Others made available were the bodies of those who had died as paupers and those who had been supported by the public provided friends or relatives did not come forward to claim the body. If the body was claimed the friend or family paid a sum to the schools in order to collect. Executed criminals could also be used by medical schools. This system functioned well enough to provide an adequate supply of subjects so exhumation was largely unknown. Australia also used unclaimed bodies to supply the medical schools after a wait of forty-eight hours. Most activity was in Vienna where subjects came from the general hospital. There was no need to resort to illegal means. Italian governmental regulations were the most liberal. All persons who died in the hospitals were automatically given up for anatomy unless someone came forward with the money necessary for burial. Body snatching was virtually unknown. As anatomizing began in these countries two centuries before, laws were enacted early which were modified and liberalized to fit the needs of medical schools. The use of executed criminals as the sole source of subjects was uniformly eliminated, thereby removing any infamy associated with dissection which adversely affected obtaining bodies. In 1790 France repealed laws allowing dissection of convicted murders, removing the stigma attached to the practice (Lassek, 195. During the same time period residents of Great Britain were in a difficult situation. The rise in medical schools and increasing number of students created a demand for something the people were not willing to relinquish, and instead of attempting to remedy the situation the government made decisions which exacerbated the problem.
Political Factors
The penal practices of Great Britain had an unintended positive effect on the advancement of medical knowledge and an intended negative effect on the public morale which would eventually serve to outweigh the positive. The common law allowing the bodies of up to ten executed felons per annum was made statutory during 1752 by an act of Parliament and King George II. This act, entitled 'An Act for better preventing the horrid Crime of Murder', contained the preamble: "Whereas the horrid Crime of Murder has of late been more frequently perpetrated than formerly and particularly in and near the Metropolis of this Kingdom, contrary to known Humanity and natural Genius of the British Nation: And whereas it is thereby become necessary, that some further Terror and peculiar Mark of Infamy be added to the Punishment of Death, now by Law inflicted on such as shall be guilty of the said heinous Offense;..." (Radzinowich, 1943, 206). The motive behind the Act was not in the interests of science but to horrify a public who already had a deep-seated fear of dissection. The substance of the Act gave the sentencing judge the discretion to either have the body of the condemned delivered to surgeons for dissection or to be hung in chains, but on no account was the body of a convicted murderer to be allowed a proper burial unless dissected first (Radzinowich, 1943).
Hanging in chains was a gruesome way to dispose of a body. After the condemned was hung the body would remain suspended at the site until decomposed as a warning to the 'lower orders', often near places where crime occurred and occasionally in front of the criminal's house (Cooper, 1974, 1). Despite this humiliation criminals often preferred hanging in chains to dissection by surgeons. The fear of dissection was so great one condemned man sent letters to his former friends begging them to form a company to prevent the surgeons "...in their designs upon his body." He would rather have been hung in chains, and asked the court of justice for this sentence (Gatrell, 1994, 192). Failure to comply with the provisions of the Act was punishable. Gaolers who evaded the provisions could be punished by forfeiture of their office and a fine of twenty pounds. If one attempted to rescue the body of the felon before or after the execution of the sentence the punishment was transportation for seven years (Radzinowich, 1943).
The Act, in effect, made the surgeon or anatomy student the executor of the sentence and linked dissection with the criminal justice system. In order to receive a body the receptor had to follow the criteria prescribed by law. The hangings were usually on Monday mornings at eight o'clock with the cut-down at nine. The body was placed on a cart, accompanied by the city marshal. The marshal was required to be in attendance and properly witness the anatomizing in order for the sentence to be lawfully completed. This witnessing was usually brief on the part of the marshal, who would stay long enough to see a superficial incision in the chest of the body. He would then ride back to report to his superiors that the procedure was properly discharged (Lassek, 195.
Just as executions were public during this period so were some dissections. In many eighteenth century towns public anatomy lessons became social events which often drew fashionable yet voyeuristic audiences. After the execution of murderer William Corder in Bury St. Edmonds during 1828 his body was placed on public display in the shire hall. The half naked body was opened at the chest by a surgeon and lay with the internal organs exposed. People were as anxious to gain a peek at the mangled body as they were intent upon witnessing the actual execution (Gatrell, 1994).
The Court of King's Bench added another political encouragement to the resurrection era. During 1788 the case of Rex v. Lynn came before the court. Lynn was charged and sentenced for the offense of disinterring a corpse for purposes of dissection. His counsel submitted that the offense was solely of ecclesiastical concern but the court found the offense was criminal in that it was morally offensive.
As English common law does not allow the body to have a property value the offense could not be construed as a theft, therefore provision was made to define it as a common misdemeanor punishable by fine and, at the court's discretion, a brief incarceration (Ross, 1976). The theft of grave clothes, however, was a felony. For this reason shrouds were returned to coffins. Such a sentence is astonishing considering that a conviction for theft of a fowl carried a sentence of transportation (Linebaugh, 1975).
Sentences for disturbing a grave handed down even before this decision were not severe. In the 1777 case of a grave digger, his assistant and an accomplice prosecuted for stealing an exhumed body the two principles were sentenced to six months incarceration and a whipping. The accomplice was dismissed (Bailey, 1896). It was also difficult to get a conviction as illustrated by a Hatton Garden Police Court case during 1814. Two men carrying seven dead bodies packed in sacks and baskets were apprehended by officers on a Tuesday. The men were arrested and committed to prison and the bodies deposited in a lock up house. By Thursday, despite the damning evidence, the men were discharged. Often cemetery keepers were reluctant to prosecute because this alerted the public to the situation, causing uproar (Bailey, 1896).
Economic Factors
Several economic factors served to encourage the resurrection era. As previously stated the growth of the United Kingdom's economy during industrialization created a new class of urban poor.
Unemployment was widespread along with job lay-offs and wage decreases. Sudden destitution from the insecurities of credit and the vagarities of the market was commonplace (Linebaugh, 1975). The resurrection business was a better way to make a living than turning to other types of crime when one could be hanged for the theft of a peruke valued at seven shillings (Linebaugh, 1975). The cost of providing burial to paupers was another consideration. Records of the 127 parishes situated in London, Westminister, Southwark and the immediate vicinity during 1827 show that out of 3,744 persons who died in workhouses 3,103 were buried at parish expense, and of those about 1,108 were not attended to the grave by any relations (Bailey, 1896). Resurrection men claiming to be relatives of those who died in workhouses must have been somewhat welcome. To reduce these costs pit burial of the poor became common practice throughout London and in inner city areas all over Britain. "Such graves are dug by orders of parish officers and others and are frequently kept open for many weeks, until charged nearly to the surface with dead bodies." (Richardson, 1988, 61). Such graves encouraged body snatching as they were seldom guarded by police and therefore easily looted.
The cost of obtaining bodies legally available also began to rise as public opposition to dissection of the condemned escalated. Surgeons had to bribe the Sheriff and his officers, tip their assistants for each body seized at Tyburn, and pay constables to protect them and their halls when a body was delivered. When surgeons attempted to prosecute those who rescued bodies the costs exceeded fifteen pounds (Linebaugh, 1975). It became far less expensive to pay resurrection men for subjects.
Methods: How To Snatch A Body
During the early years of the resurrection era body snatching was predominately the work of anatomy students, school administrators and teachers, and surgeons, hence the term "sack- em-up gentlemen" (Montgomery, 1989). A 1721 clause of the Edinburgh College of Surgeons prohibiting students from engaging in the practice suggests that students probably had been robbing graves for subjects. It was also said that in Scotland students could pay tuition in corpses rather than money (Richardson, 1988). In some schools students were encouraged to form a physician-apprentice relationship with their teachers, and it seems almost a rite of passage that the student supply a subject for dissection (Schultz, 1992).
The methods employed by students were often clumsy and involved the use of spirits, therefore easily detected. In an account given by a young medical student during 1751 the student related that after passing an evening drinking in the anatomy room a party decided to resurrect the body of a woman executed for theft the day before. At half past twelve the student, along with several other students and an assistant of the school's administrator set out with spades and grappling hooks. The party arrived at the graveyard where the woman's body was interred yet had some difficulty finding the correct grave. After one of the students literally fell into the correct grave while sitting on the ground the body was snatched and stuffed into a foul smelling sack. The students then fled the graveyard without attempting to cover their actions and the next morning drew lots to determine the disposal of the various parts of the corpse (Gray, 1937). This activity carried the danger of disease transmission. In locating the grave the students inadvertently dug up a coffin which when opened "did prove to contain an old woman very foul...I pray with all my heart...so that we caught not some enervating distemper..." (Gray, 1937, 35).
Students were also in danger of violent response from the watchers of graves. In an account from Glasglow, Scotland students on a snatching expedition accidently tripped the wire of a booby-trap, killing one. The remaining two students fled, fearing scandal, bringing the body back to their lodgings. The following morning they presented the death as a suicide (Adams, 1972). The sack-em-up gentlemen were a brave lot to risk themselves for science. But fearful of the dangers of resurrection teachers and students began to rely on others to provide services and subjects for a fee.
This created a market for corpses and a willing work force to fill the needs of that market. By the turn of the century London anatomists appear to have delegated the procuration of subjects entirely (Richardson, 198. Some resurrected on a part-time basis while others made body snatching a criminal profession and were able to make a comfortable living at their trade (Richardson, 198. The average price for bodies was about four pounds for adults. "Smalls", meaning children, were sold at so much per foot. Teeth were also valuable as dentists used them in making dentures. One enterprizing resurrection man by the name of Murphy gained entry to a vault on the pretense of selecting a burial place for his wife. He was able to leave an entry way opened, and returned later at night. He collected enough teeth make sixty pounds (Bailey, 1896).
There was a difference between grave robbing and body snatching in that the former involved opening a grave while the latter involved subterfuge in obtaining a corpse. In the early days of resurrection the grave was opened and the body wrenched from the shattered coffin. The raiders would then flee leaving the grave disturbed, which quickly led to the discovery of the act.
As resurrection evolved into a criminal profession and gangs began to operate in cities such as London and Edinburgh snatchers learned to restore graves to their original state as closly as possible- not out of respect to families of the dead but to insure future return for more loot. The speed with which bodies were removed was remarkable. Professionals learned through experience and developed techniques enabling the removal of the contents of a grave in less than an hour depending on the number of men involved (Adams, 1972). The tools of the trade included lanterns, ropes, hooks, sometimes a firearm, and shovels. Grave robbers favored short wooden spades which made less noise and would not cause a chink of metal against the occasional stone. Sacks were used to contain the bodies, and in later years a cloth tied crossed corners was used (Adams, 1972).
There has been some controversy over the method employed in robbing a grave (Bailey, 1896).
What follows is probably close to the method most often used. After a funeral a spy would mingle with mourners to take note of any obstacles such as markers or booby-traps. The winter hours were best, and in Scotland snatchers worked between six and eight o'clock as night fell early and police did not come on duty until after eight (Adams, 1972). Any markers would be removed, along with any booby-traps such as spring-guns. A hole was then dug down only to the top of the coffin, about where the head and shoulders lay. Canvas was spread to catch the loose soil. When the head of the coffin was reached two hooks or a crowbar would be used to pry up the lid, snapping it off against the weight of earth covering the other two-thirds of the coffin. Sacking could be used to deaden the noise of tearing wood. Using hooks to pull the body out it was then stripped of its shrould, doubled in half, and shoved into a sack. The soil was then replaced on the grave along with any markers and booby-traps (Adams, 1972). One former student who had accompanied professional snatchers described this method, stating "A considerable force was required, and this was mainly exerted round the neck by means of a cord and other appliances. Now, withdrawing the contents of a coffin by a anrrow aperture was by no means an easy process, particularly at dead of night and whilst the actors were in a state of trepidation. A jerking movement is said to have been more effective than violent dragging" (Adams, 1972, 35).
Another method involved the excavation of a long sloping tunnel beginning some fifteen to twenty feet from the grave. Through this tunnel the coffin would be pulled to the surface, opened, robbed, then pushed back into the grave. Such a method would require a considerable amount of time and digging and leave robbers open to the eyes of potential witnesses, suggesting this method was part of
a myth (Bailey, 1896).
One sucessful resurrectionist by night, grave digger by day told a different story. He would take the body out of the coffin prior to burial and place it in a sack on top. While burying the coffin it was easy to pull the sack up as the soil level rose. At the top of the grave the body would be covered with a thin laver of soil, easily removed when he returned for the body under cover of night (Bailey,1896).
Corpses were also obtained before burial. Snatchers watched the crowded lodging and workhouses in cities, paying careful attention to news of sickness and imminent death. As soon as death struck snatchers could appear claiming to be grieving relaatives of the deceased. Merry Andrew, a member of an Edinburgh resurrection gang, would present himself as a relation of the departed and after mourning over the body would depart- ostensibly to arrange the funeral. He would quickly return with a horse and hearse, often accompanied by another gang member called Praying Howard. Howard, dressed as a minister, prayed over the body before the two took their leave with the corpse and with the confidence of the residents (Douglas, 1973). Body snatchers were also known to have hired women to pose as grieving relatives at workhouses to claim the bodies of dead paupers. Usually little was done to verify these claims because giving over these bodies represented one less funeral at public cost (Richardson, 198. Unclaimed bodies and those awaiting inquest were always targets as they had to be stored somewhere (Bailey, 1896). Even private homes were not safe from snatchers. It was customary that after a family member died the body would be watched in a room of the house for a time before burial. A London police officer responsible for the recovery of more than fifty bodies burgled from private homes was rewarded with a silver staff by grateful citizens (Richardson, 198.
The body snatching gangs that evolved during the era were of a lower moral order than the early robbers because their motive was profit. The Borough gang operated in London between 1802 and 1825 to supply some of the biggest anatomical schools including that of Sir Astley Cooper. Members included former hospital porter Ben Crouch and Joseph Naples. Naples kept a kind of diary during 1811 to 1812 describing the activities of the gang which was later published. Typical entries include:
"Tuesday 24th. At twelve at midnight a party went to Wyngate got 3 small, came back and got 2 large at Newington, came home and settled with Ben, each man's share L.8, 16s. 8d., at home all night."..."Friday 27th. Went to look out, came home met Ben and Dan at 5 o'clock, went to Harps, got 1 large ...", "Saturday 28th. At 4 o'clock in the morning got up, with the whole party to Guy's and St. Thomas's crib (burial ground), got 6 took them to St. Thomas. Came home and met at Thomas's again, packd up 3 for Edinbro...", "Monday 10th. Met. went to St. James. got 9 large & 4 small, took them to Barthol." "Tuesday 11th. Went to Barthol. Moved the things. Home all night." (Bailey,189 6).
Before each term a gang member would haggle with school administrators to decide how much they were to be paid for each subject, the amount of "starting money" needed for bribes and agree upon the amount of "finishing money" that would be paid at the end of the term. This "finishing money" served as a bonus for a successful session at the school (Frank, 1976, 402). These gangs competed fiercely for 'contracts' with schools, and would sabotage each other. If one gang had knowlege that a rival gang was raiding a particular cemetary evidence of resurrection would be left there, drawing the attention of citizens and police. This would spoil that area for robbing for some time, and frustrated the rival gang. If a member discovered a free-lance operator this man could be denounced to the police, thereby putting him out of business for a while (Frank, 1976). The anatomy schools were at the mercy of such gangs, who could punish them for low prices or dealing with other gangs by leaving putrid corpses on their doorsteps, causing public outrage against the school. If a school bought bodies from free-lance operators the gangs would break into the school and sabotage the subjects (Frank, 1976). Teachers responded to this extortion by forming an anatomical club, and through this attempted to cooperate amongst themselves to hold prices down by fixing a set price and then agreeing not to pay any more for subjects. Prices increased, however, demonstrating the agreement was not kept (Bailey, 1896).
As the police and public attention on gang activity increased so did the prices demanded for subjects. The average price of four pounds and change increased to some seven pounds by 1812 (Montgomery, 1989), and to between nine and ten pounds by 1828 (Frank, 1976). When gang members got into trouble with the law it was not uncommon for their patrons to take care of them and their families financially. Sir Astley Cooper bailed his procurors out of jail and paid them for time served.
During 1827 a gang from London, including one of Cooper's men Vaughan, rented a house located near a churchyard in Varmouth. With the help of the local grave digger the gang operated for two months, stripping the churchyard of bodies and packing them up to be sent to London before being discovered by the local police. Three members, including Vaughan, were apprehended but only Vaughan was sent to London for trial. Cooper sent bail money, and paid Vaughan an allowance during the six month prison sentence he received (Richardson, 198.
Bodies could also be imported and exported. Many bodies came from mpoverished Ireland due to famine, and the cost of obtaining them was low. Bodies were packed into innocent looking containers labeled 'books' or 'pianos' and sent across the Irish Sea in steamboats. During 1813 an Irish sloop berthed at Glasgow with a shipment of bales. The man who was to receive this shipment refused delivery because of high freight charges, so the bales were left on the quayside in a shed. In the next few days an evil stench swept the dock, causing complaints. When the city guard cut open the bales decomposing bodies of men, women, and children tumbled out (Adams, 1972). During 1826 three casks consigned for shipment to Edinburgh were left on a Liverpool dock overnight, and the next day the stench attracted attention. The police were notified and investigated, finding eleven bodies packed inside the casks (Lassek, 195.
The high price commanded by subjects eventually led some people to create their own supply through murder. John Wilson, an Edinburgh resident, allegedly mixed arsenic with snuff which he would then offer to unsuspecting travelers. He was supposed to have spent two or three years as a killer, making a considerable sum of money (Bailey, 1896). Helen Torrence and Jean Waldie, also residents of Edinburgh, shocked the country during 1752 by stealing and killing a child, the body of which they sold to an anatomist for a small fee and the price of a dram (Adams, 1972).
BURKE AND HARE
The worst case of murder for anatomy was that of Burke and Hare, also occuring in Edinburgh.
William Burke immigrated to Scotland from Ireland during the 1820s to find work as a laborer on the Union Canal. He made a friend of a fellow countryman, William Hare, who had also immigrated in the hope of finding work. Hare and his common-law wife, Lucky Logue owned a flophouse and rented a room to Burke and his female companion Helen McDougal. The four spent a lot of time drinking together and not much time working. When one of the residents of the flophouse died they decided to sell his body to the anatomists. After all, the dead man owed money to Hare and money was needed for expensives such as liquor. They made seven pounds from the sale, which was far more than could be made from honest work, and were told to come back anytime with more bodies. When another lodger became ill the two were more than happy to sit with the sick man. When the sick man slipped into a coma Burke finished him off by smothering him with a pillow. They were paid ten pounds this time, and were so pleased with this easy money that they went on to kill fifteen more people. Their victims were lured to the flophouse with shelter and liquor. Once the victim became stupefied with liquor Hare held the victim while Burke smothered him or her to death, hence the term 'burking'. Their career was cut short, however, when a visitor to the flophouse spied a victim before the body could be transported to the anatomy school. When the public discovered the murders they were so enraged that the judges believed there could not be a fair trial unless incontrovertible evidence was obtained. The bodies of the first fifteen victims were gone, so the judges gave Hare immunity from prosecution in return for a full confession implicating Burke. Burke was tried and executed for the crimes, and his body dissected. Dr. Knox, the anatomy teacher who paid for the bodies, was not charged with anything but the incident ruined his career (Douglas, 1973).
A similar case occured in England during 1831. John Bishop and James May, two well known resurrectionists, offered a body for sale to King's College at a unusually high price. The men assured the porter with whom they haggled that the body was worth the price as it was very fresh. Once the price was set the men left to fetch the body and returned with a colleague, Thomas Williams. When the porter actually saw the body he became suspicious, as there were marks of violence on the head.
The anatomy demonstrator agreed, and surrepticiously sent for the police. Bishop, Williams and May were told the reason for the delay was to get change for a fifty-pound note, and so they waited for their fee. The police arrived instead of money and took the men into custody. Upon investigation it was revealed that both Guy's Hospital and Grainger's Anatomical Theatre had refused the body. The body was identified as that of a well- known street urchin who had been seen in the company of the three men two days previously. The police searched Bishop's home and found tools bearing fresh blood. Bloodstained clothing belonging to the victim was found at May's. Williams confessed that he and Bishop were responsible for the murder, and of the murders of a woman and another boy earlier.
Their method was simple-Bishop and Williams offered liquor laced with laudanum to the victim. As the drug took effect the men would lower the victim head first into a well in Bishop's garden. Bishop and Williams were convicted for the crimes but the evidence was inconclusive against May, so he was reprieved. The two were executed four days after the verdict and their bodies were given to the surgeons for dissection.
By 1832 the resurrection era was over in Great Britain.
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[SIZE=+1]Resurrection Men: Stalking the Dead[/SIZE]
Background
Imagine being a resident of London during 1795. One fall morning word gets about that three men were apprehended in the vicinity of the Lambeth burial ground, a site where relations happened to be interred, and these men were carrying sacks containing the remains of five human beings. What would one's natural reaction to this news have been? To rush to the site to determine if the relations remained properly buried? Probably. This did, in fact, occur during the fall of 1795. Upon hearing the news a large crowd of people descended on the Lambeth burial ground demanding entrance. Parish officers were called out to keep the crowd at bay but were unable to halt the flow of angry people. The crowd gained admittance and began to dig frantically at the ground, unearthing many empty coffins. This caused a reaction of those involved: "Great distress and agitation of mind was manifest in every one, and some, in a kind of phrensy, ran away with the coffins of their deceased relations" (Richardson, 1988, 7. This was characteristic of a dark and gruesome period in the history of the United Kingdom termed the resurrection times (Montgomery, 1989). Resurrection times spanned some eighty years between approximately 1750 and 1832 when the passage of the Warburton Anatomy Act brought an end to the period. During resurrection times and especially during the latter thirty years of the era citizens living in the major cities of the realm suffered from the very real fear that no sooner than their friends and relatives were buried they were 'resurrected' by thieves termed sack-em-up gentlemen, body snatchers, ghouls, or resurrection men to be sold to the highest bidder (Montgomery, 1989). Those who paid for these things were not Frankensteins, but surgeons, medical school administrators, and teachers and students of anatomy. Rural churchyards were not immune from this threat- if they happened to be located near a medical school. The police were subtly encouraged to look the other way and could offer little protection. The motive behind such monstrous acts lay originally in humanitarian concerns because subjects were needed for scientific reasons. But towards the end of resurrection times the motive became one less noble- profit. In some cases profit drove body snatchers to murder.
The rest of Europe did not share in the resurrection era, however, because the factors of popular animosity against dissection and political decisions reinforcing this animosity were not present. The other countries of the Continent established early laws dealing with anatomical subjects and did not share the abhorrence against dissection. In considering the social, economic and political climate of the resurrection era it was perhaps inevitable that the human corpse became a commodity. Popular opinion was decidedly negative towards the dissection of human remains. Not only did dissection offend religious beliefs, it offended the working class as the subjects of anatomical study were most often drawn from the ranks of the poor. The quest for medical knowledge led to a rise in the use of anatomy for education. Private medical schools opened attracting greater numbers of students. Subjects were needed to educate these students, yet the only legal source from which to obtain these subjects was the gallows. Again, most often those being executed were the poor. England had embarked on an industrial expansion during this time which advanced her economy in comparison with other countries. The wealth accrued from increased agricultural production, manufacturing, trade and finance was shared among the aristocratic and mercantile classes. Little trickled down to the working class. The population also expanded at a rapid rate, increasing from approximately six million during 1730 to twelve million by 1811 (Cooper, 1974). The cities swelled with people looking for employment, creating a new class of urban poor. Conditions were wretched for this class and food riots, looting and mob violence were commonplace. The wealthy upper classes reacted by urging the passage of harsher laws with more severe penalties against crime and by 1820 statutes defining crimes with capital punishments numbered over two hundred (Cooper, 1974). In the words of barrister Charles Phillips, "We hanged for everything- for a shilling- for five shillings- for five pounds- for cattle- for coining- for forgery, even for witchcraft- for things that were and things that could not be" (Cooper, 1974, 27). An act of Parliament during 1752 further outraged the public by making hanging in chains or dissection of those condemned to death for murder mandatory. While execution was bad enough the public was further outraged by the thought of the condemned being dissected and fought to keep the remains out of surgeon's hands. During 1788 a case of grave robbing was brought before a court where the court decided that as the body was not property the theft of human remains could not be considered a crime. This made prosecution of body snatchers futile and frustrated the efforts of police to halt the trade in human remains. While the public decried the work of resurrectionists police had their hands tied by the courts.
Chronological development
The business of opening graves to rob the dead of their jewelry and such can be traced back to Ancient Egyptians, with grave diggers sharing in the spoils with robbers (Adams, 1972). Exhuming bodies from graves for medical education purposes can be traced back to the twelfth century. The first documented case of body snatching occurred in Mondino, Italy, during 1319. Four medical students were apprehended and accused of resurrecting the body of an executed criminal from its grave and transporting it to the medical school to be dissected. Unfortunately no final disposition of the case is recorded (Lassek, 195. Concern of grave robbing in England can be seen as early as 1615, evidenced by the epithet on William Shakespeare's tombstone: Good friend, for Iesus sake forebeare To digge the dust encloased heare. Bleste be ye man (that) spares these stones, And curste be he (that) moves my bones. (Richardson, 1988, 54).
Social Factors Influencing the Resurrection Era
A Short History of British Dissection
When contemplating the social factors surrounding the resurrection era it is important to note the history of dissection in Great Britain as it compared to the remainder of the Continent. The people of the United Kingdom had only negative feelings towards the cutting up of human cadavers for any reason. Religious beliefs fueled this resistance. Most devout Christians were convinced that any such mutilation of the corpse would interfere with the plan of Divine Resurrection, when the faithful would be bodily gathered around the heavenly throne (Montgomery, 1989). Destruction of the body after death could result in the loss of identity forever. The lingering dread was that on the last day of judgment when the dead were resurrected the dissected corpse would be seen wandering around searching for its lost parts (Walker, 1997). Dissection was socially unacceptable and the use of executed criminals served to exacerbate these negative feelings by equating dissection with crime and punishment.
The history of dissection in the United Kingdom is far more complex than those of the other countries of the continent. Medical education was controlled not by the universities but by the guilds of Barbers, Surgeons, and Apothecaries (Frank, 1976). Legal recognition of the need for cadavers to advance medical knowledge was first recognized in Scotland during 1504, when James IV granted the Edinburgh Guild of Surgeons and Barbers the bodies of certain executed criminals for dissection (Lassek, 195. In England King Henry VIII had an interest in medicine and was one of the first kings to allow human dissection. Parliament and King Henry granted a royal charter to the Companies of Barbers and Surgeons during 1540 which united the companies as a guild, and during 1541 they were granted the annual right of the bodies of four executed felons for anatomy. Queen Elizabeth I during 1565 granted four bodies annually to the College of Physicians and Surgeons and during 1663 Charles II increased Henry's original grant to six. This allowed the Barber-Surgeons Company and the College of Physicians to maintain a monopoly on dissection by provision of common law which kept the demand for anatomical subjects low. By the turn of the eighteenth century this monopoly began to lose strength, however, as Parliment realized British medical education had fallen far behind its Continental rivals. Aspiring doctors often went abroad to Italy or Paris for their medical training. They observed the methods in vogue in these countries which included hands-on anatomy by students (Lassek, 195. To compensate for Great Britain's lack of progress Parliament dissolved the two-hundred year-old Barber-Surgeons Guild during 1745, allowing private medical schools to open and compete for executed criminals (Montgomery, 1989). The great London hospitals St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew also began to offer classes in anatomy (Lassek, 195. Increasing numbers of students were drawn to the study of medicine. During 1793 there were only about two hundred medical students in London, but by 1823 there were over a thousand, all in competition for scarce legally allowed subjects (Frank, 1976). In Edinburgh there were some nine hundred medical students (Douglas, 1973).
By 1760 it had become customary for students to dissect for themselves. In order to be granted a license from the former Barber-Surgeons Company, now the Royal College of Surgeons, a course in dissection was mandatory which increased the need for anatomical subjects to a height unable to be satisfied by execution (Frank, 1976). Legally the acceptable method to obtain subjects was still at the gallow's foot. Providing adequate numbers of subjects was not a problem in other countries on the continent which advanced their medical knowledge compared to Great Britain. In France cadavers were obtained from civil hospitals, prisons and alms houses after the bodies remained unclaimed for twenty-four hours. Germany allowed the bodies of those who had died in prison or committed suicide to be used by medical schools. Others made available were the bodies of those who had died as paupers and those who had been supported by the public provided friends or relatives did not come forward to claim the body. If the body was claimed the friend or family paid a sum to the schools in order to collect. Executed criminals could also be used by medical schools. This system functioned well enough to provide an adequate supply of subjects so exhumation was largely unknown. Australia also used unclaimed bodies to supply the medical schools after a wait of forty-eight hours. Most activity was in Vienna where subjects came from the general hospital. There was no need to resort to illegal means. Italian governmental regulations were the most liberal. All persons who died in the hospitals were automatically given up for anatomy unless someone came forward with the money necessary for burial. Body snatching was virtually unknown. As anatomizing began in these countries two centuries before, laws were enacted early which were modified and liberalized to fit the needs of medical schools. The use of executed criminals as the sole source of subjects was uniformly eliminated, thereby removing any infamy associated with dissection which adversely affected obtaining bodies. In 1790 France repealed laws allowing dissection of convicted murders, removing the stigma attached to the practice (Lassek, 195. During the same time period residents of Great Britain were in a difficult situation. The rise in medical schools and increasing number of students created a demand for something the people were not willing to relinquish, and instead of attempting to remedy the situation the government made decisions which exacerbated the problem.
Political Factors
The penal practices of Great Britain had an unintended positive effect on the advancement of medical knowledge and an intended negative effect on the public morale which would eventually serve to outweigh the positive. The common law allowing the bodies of up to ten executed felons per annum was made statutory during 1752 by an act of Parliament and King George II. This act, entitled 'An Act for better preventing the horrid Crime of Murder', contained the preamble: "Whereas the horrid Crime of Murder has of late been more frequently perpetrated than formerly and particularly in and near the Metropolis of this Kingdom, contrary to known Humanity and natural Genius of the British Nation: And whereas it is thereby become necessary, that some further Terror and peculiar Mark of Infamy be added to the Punishment of Death, now by Law inflicted on such as shall be guilty of the said heinous Offense;..." (Radzinowich, 1943, 206). The motive behind the Act was not in the interests of science but to horrify a public who already had a deep-seated fear of dissection. The substance of the Act gave the sentencing judge the discretion to either have the body of the condemned delivered to surgeons for dissection or to be hung in chains, but on no account was the body of a convicted murderer to be allowed a proper burial unless dissected first (Radzinowich, 1943).
Hanging in chains was a gruesome way to dispose of a body. After the condemned was hung the body would remain suspended at the site until decomposed as a warning to the 'lower orders', often near places where crime occurred and occasionally in front of the criminal's house (Cooper, 1974, 1). Despite this humiliation criminals often preferred hanging in chains to dissection by surgeons. The fear of dissection was so great one condemned man sent letters to his former friends begging them to form a company to prevent the surgeons "...in their designs upon his body." He would rather have been hung in chains, and asked the court of justice for this sentence (Gatrell, 1994, 192). Failure to comply with the provisions of the Act was punishable. Gaolers who evaded the provisions could be punished by forfeiture of their office and a fine of twenty pounds. If one attempted to rescue the body of the felon before or after the execution of the sentence the punishment was transportation for seven years (Radzinowich, 1943).
The Act, in effect, made the surgeon or anatomy student the executor of the sentence and linked dissection with the criminal justice system. In order to receive a body the receptor had to follow the criteria prescribed by law. The hangings were usually on Monday mornings at eight o'clock with the cut-down at nine. The body was placed on a cart, accompanied by the city marshal. The marshal was required to be in attendance and properly witness the anatomizing in order for the sentence to be lawfully completed. This witnessing was usually brief on the part of the marshal, who would stay long enough to see a superficial incision in the chest of the body. He would then ride back to report to his superiors that the procedure was properly discharged (Lassek, 195.
Just as executions were public during this period so were some dissections. In many eighteenth century towns public anatomy lessons became social events which often drew fashionable yet voyeuristic audiences. After the execution of murderer William Corder in Bury St. Edmonds during 1828 his body was placed on public display in the shire hall. The half naked body was opened at the chest by a surgeon and lay with the internal organs exposed. People were as anxious to gain a peek at the mangled body as they were intent upon witnessing the actual execution (Gatrell, 1994).
The Court of King's Bench added another political encouragement to the resurrection era. During 1788 the case of Rex v. Lynn came before the court. Lynn was charged and sentenced for the offense of disinterring a corpse for purposes of dissection. His counsel submitted that the offense was solely of ecclesiastical concern but the court found the offense was criminal in that it was morally offensive.
As English common law does not allow the body to have a property value the offense could not be construed as a theft, therefore provision was made to define it as a common misdemeanor punishable by fine and, at the court's discretion, a brief incarceration (Ross, 1976). The theft of grave clothes, however, was a felony. For this reason shrouds were returned to coffins. Such a sentence is astonishing considering that a conviction for theft of a fowl carried a sentence of transportation (Linebaugh, 1975).
Sentences for disturbing a grave handed down even before this decision were not severe. In the 1777 case of a grave digger, his assistant and an accomplice prosecuted for stealing an exhumed body the two principles were sentenced to six months incarceration and a whipping. The accomplice was dismissed (Bailey, 1896). It was also difficult to get a conviction as illustrated by a Hatton Garden Police Court case during 1814. Two men carrying seven dead bodies packed in sacks and baskets were apprehended by officers on a Tuesday. The men were arrested and committed to prison and the bodies deposited in a lock up house. By Thursday, despite the damning evidence, the men were discharged. Often cemetery keepers were reluctant to prosecute because this alerted the public to the situation, causing uproar (Bailey, 1896).
Economic Factors
Several economic factors served to encourage the resurrection era. As previously stated the growth of the United Kingdom's economy during industrialization created a new class of urban poor.
Unemployment was widespread along with job lay-offs and wage decreases. Sudden destitution from the insecurities of credit and the vagarities of the market was commonplace (Linebaugh, 1975). The resurrection business was a better way to make a living than turning to other types of crime when one could be hanged for the theft of a peruke valued at seven shillings (Linebaugh, 1975). The cost of providing burial to paupers was another consideration. Records of the 127 parishes situated in London, Westminister, Southwark and the immediate vicinity during 1827 show that out of 3,744 persons who died in workhouses 3,103 were buried at parish expense, and of those about 1,108 were not attended to the grave by any relations (Bailey, 1896). Resurrection men claiming to be relatives of those who died in workhouses must have been somewhat welcome. To reduce these costs pit burial of the poor became common practice throughout London and in inner city areas all over Britain. "Such graves are dug by orders of parish officers and others and are frequently kept open for many weeks, until charged nearly to the surface with dead bodies." (Richardson, 1988, 61). Such graves encouraged body snatching as they were seldom guarded by police and therefore easily looted.
The cost of obtaining bodies legally available also began to rise as public opposition to dissection of the condemned escalated. Surgeons had to bribe the Sheriff and his officers, tip their assistants for each body seized at Tyburn, and pay constables to protect them and their halls when a body was delivered. When surgeons attempted to prosecute those who rescued bodies the costs exceeded fifteen pounds (Linebaugh, 1975). It became far less expensive to pay resurrection men for subjects.
Methods: How To Snatch A Body
During the early years of the resurrection era body snatching was predominately the work of anatomy students, school administrators and teachers, and surgeons, hence the term "sack- em-up gentlemen" (Montgomery, 1989). A 1721 clause of the Edinburgh College of Surgeons prohibiting students from engaging in the practice suggests that students probably had been robbing graves for subjects. It was also said that in Scotland students could pay tuition in corpses rather than money (Richardson, 1988). In some schools students were encouraged to form a physician-apprentice relationship with their teachers, and it seems almost a rite of passage that the student supply a subject for dissection (Schultz, 1992).
The methods employed by students were often clumsy and involved the use of spirits, therefore easily detected. In an account given by a young medical student during 1751 the student related that after passing an evening drinking in the anatomy room a party decided to resurrect the body of a woman executed for theft the day before. At half past twelve the student, along with several other students and an assistant of the school's administrator set out with spades and grappling hooks. The party arrived at the graveyard where the woman's body was interred yet had some difficulty finding the correct grave. After one of the students literally fell into the correct grave while sitting on the ground the body was snatched and stuffed into a foul smelling sack. The students then fled the graveyard without attempting to cover their actions and the next morning drew lots to determine the disposal of the various parts of the corpse (Gray, 1937). This activity carried the danger of disease transmission. In locating the grave the students inadvertently dug up a coffin which when opened "did prove to contain an old woman very foul...I pray with all my heart...so that we caught not some enervating distemper..." (Gray, 1937, 35).
Students were also in danger of violent response from the watchers of graves. In an account from Glasglow, Scotland students on a snatching expedition accidently tripped the wire of a booby-trap, killing one. The remaining two students fled, fearing scandal, bringing the body back to their lodgings. The following morning they presented the death as a suicide (Adams, 1972). The sack-em-up gentlemen were a brave lot to risk themselves for science. But fearful of the dangers of resurrection teachers and students began to rely on others to provide services and subjects for a fee.
This created a market for corpses and a willing work force to fill the needs of that market. By the turn of the century London anatomists appear to have delegated the procuration of subjects entirely (Richardson, 198. Some resurrected on a part-time basis while others made body snatching a criminal profession and were able to make a comfortable living at their trade (Richardson, 198. The average price for bodies was about four pounds for adults. "Smalls", meaning children, were sold at so much per foot. Teeth were also valuable as dentists used them in making dentures. One enterprizing resurrection man by the name of Murphy gained entry to a vault on the pretense of selecting a burial place for his wife. He was able to leave an entry way opened, and returned later at night. He collected enough teeth make sixty pounds (Bailey, 1896).
There was a difference between grave robbing and body snatching in that the former involved opening a grave while the latter involved subterfuge in obtaining a corpse. In the early days of resurrection the grave was opened and the body wrenched from the shattered coffin. The raiders would then flee leaving the grave disturbed, which quickly led to the discovery of the act.
As resurrection evolved into a criminal profession and gangs began to operate in cities such as London and Edinburgh snatchers learned to restore graves to their original state as closly as possible- not out of respect to families of the dead but to insure future return for more loot. The speed with which bodies were removed was remarkable. Professionals learned through experience and developed techniques enabling the removal of the contents of a grave in less than an hour depending on the number of men involved (Adams, 1972). The tools of the trade included lanterns, ropes, hooks, sometimes a firearm, and shovels. Grave robbers favored short wooden spades which made less noise and would not cause a chink of metal against the occasional stone. Sacks were used to contain the bodies, and in later years a cloth tied crossed corners was used (Adams, 1972).
There has been some controversy over the method employed in robbing a grave (Bailey, 1896).
What follows is probably close to the method most often used. After a funeral a spy would mingle with mourners to take note of any obstacles such as markers or booby-traps. The winter hours were best, and in Scotland snatchers worked between six and eight o'clock as night fell early and police did not come on duty until after eight (Adams, 1972). Any markers would be removed, along with any booby-traps such as spring-guns. A hole was then dug down only to the top of the coffin, about where the head and shoulders lay. Canvas was spread to catch the loose soil. When the head of the coffin was reached two hooks or a crowbar would be used to pry up the lid, snapping it off against the weight of earth covering the other two-thirds of the coffin. Sacking could be used to deaden the noise of tearing wood. Using hooks to pull the body out it was then stripped of its shrould, doubled in half, and shoved into a sack. The soil was then replaced on the grave along with any markers and booby-traps (Adams, 1972). One former student who had accompanied professional snatchers described this method, stating "A considerable force was required, and this was mainly exerted round the neck by means of a cord and other appliances. Now, withdrawing the contents of a coffin by a anrrow aperture was by no means an easy process, particularly at dead of night and whilst the actors were in a state of trepidation. A jerking movement is said to have been more effective than violent dragging" (Adams, 1972, 35).
Another method involved the excavation of a long sloping tunnel beginning some fifteen to twenty feet from the grave. Through this tunnel the coffin would be pulled to the surface, opened, robbed, then pushed back into the grave. Such a method would require a considerable amount of time and digging and leave robbers open to the eyes of potential witnesses, suggesting this method was part of
a myth (Bailey, 1896).
One sucessful resurrectionist by night, grave digger by day told a different story. He would take the body out of the coffin prior to burial and place it in a sack on top. While burying the coffin it was easy to pull the sack up as the soil level rose. At the top of the grave the body would be covered with a thin laver of soil, easily removed when he returned for the body under cover of night (Bailey,1896).
Corpses were also obtained before burial. Snatchers watched the crowded lodging and workhouses in cities, paying careful attention to news of sickness and imminent death. As soon as death struck snatchers could appear claiming to be grieving relaatives of the deceased. Merry Andrew, a member of an Edinburgh resurrection gang, would present himself as a relation of the departed and after mourning over the body would depart- ostensibly to arrange the funeral. He would quickly return with a horse and hearse, often accompanied by another gang member called Praying Howard. Howard, dressed as a minister, prayed over the body before the two took their leave with the corpse and with the confidence of the residents (Douglas, 1973). Body snatchers were also known to have hired women to pose as grieving relatives at workhouses to claim the bodies of dead paupers. Usually little was done to verify these claims because giving over these bodies represented one less funeral at public cost (Richardson, 198. Unclaimed bodies and those awaiting inquest were always targets as they had to be stored somewhere (Bailey, 1896). Even private homes were not safe from snatchers. It was customary that after a family member died the body would be watched in a room of the house for a time before burial. A London police officer responsible for the recovery of more than fifty bodies burgled from private homes was rewarded with a silver staff by grateful citizens (Richardson, 198.
The body snatching gangs that evolved during the era were of a lower moral order than the early robbers because their motive was profit. The Borough gang operated in London between 1802 and 1825 to supply some of the biggest anatomical schools including that of Sir Astley Cooper. Members included former hospital porter Ben Crouch and Joseph Naples. Naples kept a kind of diary during 1811 to 1812 describing the activities of the gang which was later published. Typical entries include:
"Tuesday 24th. At twelve at midnight a party went to Wyngate got 3 small, came back and got 2 large at Newington, came home and settled with Ben, each man's share L.8, 16s. 8d., at home all night."..."Friday 27th. Went to look out, came home met Ben and Dan at 5 o'clock, went to Harps, got 1 large ...", "Saturday 28th. At 4 o'clock in the morning got up, with the whole party to Guy's and St. Thomas's crib (burial ground), got 6 took them to St. Thomas. Came home and met at Thomas's again, packd up 3 for Edinbro...", "Monday 10th. Met. went to St. James. got 9 large & 4 small, took them to Barthol." "Tuesday 11th. Went to Barthol. Moved the things. Home all night." (Bailey,189 6).
Before each term a gang member would haggle with school administrators to decide how much they were to be paid for each subject, the amount of "starting money" needed for bribes and agree upon the amount of "finishing money" that would be paid at the end of the term. This "finishing money" served as a bonus for a successful session at the school (Frank, 1976, 402). These gangs competed fiercely for 'contracts' with schools, and would sabotage each other. If one gang had knowlege that a rival gang was raiding a particular cemetary evidence of resurrection would be left there, drawing the attention of citizens and police. This would spoil that area for robbing for some time, and frustrated the rival gang. If a member discovered a free-lance operator this man could be denounced to the police, thereby putting him out of business for a while (Frank, 1976). The anatomy schools were at the mercy of such gangs, who could punish them for low prices or dealing with other gangs by leaving putrid corpses on their doorsteps, causing public outrage against the school. If a school bought bodies from free-lance operators the gangs would break into the school and sabotage the subjects (Frank, 1976). Teachers responded to this extortion by forming an anatomical club, and through this attempted to cooperate amongst themselves to hold prices down by fixing a set price and then agreeing not to pay any more for subjects. Prices increased, however, demonstrating the agreement was not kept (Bailey, 1896).
As the police and public attention on gang activity increased so did the prices demanded for subjects. The average price of four pounds and change increased to some seven pounds by 1812 (Montgomery, 1989), and to between nine and ten pounds by 1828 (Frank, 1976). When gang members got into trouble with the law it was not uncommon for their patrons to take care of them and their families financially. Sir Astley Cooper bailed his procurors out of jail and paid them for time served.
During 1827 a gang from London, including one of Cooper's men Vaughan, rented a house located near a churchyard in Varmouth. With the help of the local grave digger the gang operated for two months, stripping the churchyard of bodies and packing them up to be sent to London before being discovered by the local police. Three members, including Vaughan, were apprehended but only Vaughan was sent to London for trial. Cooper sent bail money, and paid Vaughan an allowance during the six month prison sentence he received (Richardson, 198.
Bodies could also be imported and exported. Many bodies came from mpoverished Ireland due to famine, and the cost of obtaining them was low. Bodies were packed into innocent looking containers labeled 'books' or 'pianos' and sent across the Irish Sea in steamboats. During 1813 an Irish sloop berthed at Glasgow with a shipment of bales. The man who was to receive this shipment refused delivery because of high freight charges, so the bales were left on the quayside in a shed. In the next few days an evil stench swept the dock, causing complaints. When the city guard cut open the bales decomposing bodies of men, women, and children tumbled out (Adams, 1972). During 1826 three casks consigned for shipment to Edinburgh were left on a Liverpool dock overnight, and the next day the stench attracted attention. The police were notified and investigated, finding eleven bodies packed inside the casks (Lassek, 195.
The high price commanded by subjects eventually led some people to create their own supply through murder. John Wilson, an Edinburgh resident, allegedly mixed arsenic with snuff which he would then offer to unsuspecting travelers. He was supposed to have spent two or three years as a killer, making a considerable sum of money (Bailey, 1896). Helen Torrence and Jean Waldie, also residents of Edinburgh, shocked the country during 1752 by stealing and killing a child, the body of which they sold to an anatomist for a small fee and the price of a dram (Adams, 1972).
BURKE AND HARE
The worst case of murder for anatomy was that of Burke and Hare, also occuring in Edinburgh.
William Burke immigrated to Scotland from Ireland during the 1820s to find work as a laborer on the Union Canal. He made a friend of a fellow countryman, William Hare, who had also immigrated in the hope of finding work. Hare and his common-law wife, Lucky Logue owned a flophouse and rented a room to Burke and his female companion Helen McDougal. The four spent a lot of time drinking together and not much time working. When one of the residents of the flophouse died they decided to sell his body to the anatomists. After all, the dead man owed money to Hare and money was needed for expensives such as liquor. They made seven pounds from the sale, which was far more than could be made from honest work, and were told to come back anytime with more bodies. When another lodger became ill the two were more than happy to sit with the sick man. When the sick man slipped into a coma Burke finished him off by smothering him with a pillow. They were paid ten pounds this time, and were so pleased with this easy money that they went on to kill fifteen more people. Their victims were lured to the flophouse with shelter and liquor. Once the victim became stupefied with liquor Hare held the victim while Burke smothered him or her to death, hence the term 'burking'. Their career was cut short, however, when a visitor to the flophouse spied a victim before the body could be transported to the anatomy school. When the public discovered the murders they were so enraged that the judges believed there could not be a fair trial unless incontrovertible evidence was obtained. The bodies of the first fifteen victims were gone, so the judges gave Hare immunity from prosecution in return for a full confession implicating Burke. Burke was tried and executed for the crimes, and his body dissected. Dr. Knox, the anatomy teacher who paid for the bodies, was not charged with anything but the incident ruined his career (Douglas, 1973).
A similar case occured in England during 1831. John Bishop and James May, two well known resurrectionists, offered a body for sale to King's College at a unusually high price. The men assured the porter with whom they haggled that the body was worth the price as it was very fresh. Once the price was set the men left to fetch the body and returned with a colleague, Thomas Williams. When the porter actually saw the body he became suspicious, as there were marks of violence on the head.
The anatomy demonstrator agreed, and surrepticiously sent for the police. Bishop, Williams and May were told the reason for the delay was to get change for a fifty-pound note, and so they waited for their fee. The police arrived instead of money and took the men into custody. Upon investigation it was revealed that both Guy's Hospital and Grainger's Anatomical Theatre had refused the body. The body was identified as that of a well- known street urchin who had been seen in the company of the three men two days previously. The police searched Bishop's home and found tools bearing fresh blood. Bloodstained clothing belonging to the victim was found at May's. Williams confessed that he and Bishop were responsible for the murder, and of the murders of a woman and another boy earlier.
Their method was simple-Bishop and Williams offered liquor laced with laudanum to the victim. As the drug took effect the men would lower the victim head first into a well in Bishop's garden. Bishop and Williams were convicted for the crimes but the evidence was inconclusive against May, so he was reprieved. The two were executed four days after the verdict and their bodies were given to the surgeons for dissection.
By 1832 the resurrection era was over in Great Britain.
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