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Transcription of the lecture “Dead Bodies” by Professor Stephen Carson; May 15th 2007, University of Leiden. The comments between […] indicate reactions from the audience.
“Good afternoon and welcome, colleagues and students. I think a fair amount of you were lured here by the somewhat sensational title of the lecture. I do hope you will find the information I will provide just as sensational, and I assure you I didn’t bring any specimens with me to show you. [laughter]
Today’s lecture will indeed be on dead bodies. Firstly, I would like to tell you about the Anatomy Act of 1832, how it came about and what laws it provided. Secondly, I wish to discuss why the Act was needed. At the end of the lecture there will of course be room for questions.
Our knowledge of the human body is very advanced nowadays, as you well know, yet research is still needed. At times these studies require human tissues: specimens from living patients, or from deceased ones. Bodies are still wanted for autopsies and the like. These practices are closely monitored, for instance by the Human Tissue Authority in the United Kingdom, based on the Human Tissue Act of 2004.
In the first decades of the 19th century, however, things were very different. Medical science was rising, anatomical schools popping up all over the country. The demand for corpses was enormous, but where to get them?
The only available source at the time were the bodies of executed murderers, as stated in an Act of Henry the Eighth, but their number was not sufficient. Nowhere near sufficient, even.
Though there was a lot of public support, the Anatomy Act met with severe resistance from the House of Lords and was not accepted until July 19th, 1832. The bill’s primary use was to increase the legal supply of corpses for medical research. The Act stated that anyone wanting to practise anatomy had to obtain a license from the Home Secretary, thus putting a stop to the random opening of anatomical schools. The small group of people who did take out a license, thereby taking full responsibility for the bodies to be dissected, were known as licensed teachers. They were closely monitored by four so-called inspectors of anatomy, one for England, Scotland, Ireland and the City of London, who in turn reported to the Home Secretary. This made for a clear overview of the whereabouts of every body that was to be dissected.
With the new Act, the corpses of executed murderers were no longer given to medical science, yet every other body that was unclaimed after death was free for use, thereby vastly increasing the overall supply.
As I already stated, the number of corpses that was legally available for dissection before 1832 was very limited. Demand outstripped supply, turning the provision of bodies into a lucrative business. This situation paved the way for the so-called resurrectionists. [gasps]
Anatomists desperately needed bodies. The resurrection men, more commonly known as grave robbers or body snatchers, provided them. Money changed hands. No questions asked.
Not only the dead were at risk, as it soon turned out. I think everyone in this room has heard of the infamous Burke and Hare murders. They killed several people in their lodging house to sell their bodies after death, but the emptying of graves was a more common practice.
The public was in an uproar as news about these ghastly crimes came to light. People started to watch over the deceased until the burial, holding vigils for days to protect the body. They spent the first week after the funeral at the graveyard, making sure nobody touched the grave of their loved one. Iron coffins were used to keep body snatchers from getting to the corpse inside. Another way to protect the dead were the so-called mort safes, a framework of iron bars to protect the grave and its contents, yet all these measures were to no avail. The public cried out for steps from the government to protect the deceased, to take action and prevent the violation of their loved ones. These sentiments ultimately led to the Anatomy Act.
Let’s just go back for a bit. Some of you might be wondering how these resurrectionists worked. How, with the iron coffins and the vigils and all the other measures, did they manage to get hold of the goods?
A number of bodies were already sold before they even got near a graveyard. Poorhouses sold their dead directly to the body snatchers. Some undertakers did the same thing, handing a coffin filled with stones to the family for burial.
The corpses that did make it to six feet under weren’t just dug up. That job takes too long, it’s too obvious. One of the methods we know of is that the grave robbers dug a man-size hole about twenty feet away from the head of the grave. From there they could easily tunnel their way to the actual coffin, which would be opened. A catch would be lowered and hooked into the corpse. Then it was just a matter of pulling the body up through the tunnel and making away with the valuables. The turf of the hole would be replaced and the resurrection men went again, undetected by any watchful relatives. [quiet noises of disgust]
I can see some raised eyebrows in the audience. It seems like some of you have trouble believing me, yet I assure you that all this information is indeed true. Cemeteries have been checked, and empty smashed-up coffins have been unearthed. [quiet noises of disgust] Yes, coffins have been unearthed and opened! [laughter from the lecturer] I guess you still doubt my words, don’t you? It all sounds rather weird, I guess. Slightly unbelievable, perhaps, despite the evidence. Maybe some of you say: he’s talking bollocks. I can’t see it being done. Too perverted. No one could do something like that. And even if their brains work in mysterious ways, if they can justify these actions to themselves, the labour is too difficult; no one can just pull up a corpse through a small hole.
Well, actually, it’s not that much of an issue. Way easier than it sounds. When I first tried it, about three years ago, it was a bit of a struggle. Hugging a dead body to get it out of a slick, muddy hole isn’t the nicest thing to do. [cries of revulsion] I always have to do my own things, of course. It takes longer when it’s just one person, but nowadays I only need an hour, sometimes even less! [angry, disgusted shouts from the audience]
[Lecturer is removed from the stage, still talking, yet his words are lost among the general confusion]
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