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THE DIARY OF A RESURRECTIONIST

THE DIARY OF A RESURRECTIONIST

BY JAMES BLAKE BAILEY, B.A.

LIBRARIAN OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND

INTRODUCTION

The "Diary of a Resurrectionist" here reprinted is only of a fragmentary character. It is, however, unique in being an actual record of the doings of one gang of the resurrection-men in London. Many persons have expressed a wish that so interesting a document should be published; permission having been obtained to print the Diary, an endeavour has been made to gratify this wish. To make the reprint more interesting, and to explain some of the allusions in the Diary, an account of the resurrection-men in London, and a short history of the events which preceded the passing of the Anatomy Act, have been prepared.

The great crimes of Burke and Hare drew especial attention to body-snatching in Edinburgh, and consequently there have been published ample accounts of the resurrection-men in Scotland. For this reason, Edinburgh has been omitted from the present work.

"BURKING BY MEANS OF SNUFF.

"It appears that, on Monday se'nnight, a man, named John Wilson, was apprehended at Edinburgh on a charge of Burking a number of persons by introducing arsenic into snuff kept by him. He had long excited the suspicion of the police of that place, but so deep-laid were his diabolical schemes that he eluded their vigilance for a considerable time, until Monday last. When, on the moors, on that day, between Lauder and Dalkeith, practising his dreadful trade, it appears that the victim of Wilson's villainy was a poor man travelling over the moor, whom he accosted, and offered a pinch of snuff. He took it, and it had the desired effect. The next individual whom he accosted was a labouring-man breaking stones, who was asked the number of miles to Edinburgh; when answered, he then offered his snuff-box to the labourer, which was refused, alleging that he never used any. Wilson urged him again, which excited the man's suspicions, but he took the snuff, and wrapped it up in paper, and carried it to a chemist at Dalkeith, who analysed it, when it proved to be mixed with arsenic. The police were then informed of Wilson's villainies, who went in pursuit of him, and after a search of him for several days was at length apprehended at a place three miles from Edinburgh, driving rapidly in a vehicle like a hearse, which, on examination, contained three dead bodies. They were recognised from their dresses to be an elderly man, and his wife and son, who were seen travelling towards Lauder the day before.

"Wilson was immediately ironed and conveyed to Edinburgh, and a sheriff's inquest was held on the bodies. After an investigation of nearly two hours a verdict of Wilful Murder was returned against John Wilson, who was fully committed to the Calton gaol to take his trial at the ensuing sessions.

"Wilson is described as a desperate character, and of ferocious countenance. He is supposed to have been two or three years in this abominable practice, and to have realised a considerable sum in the course of that time. His career is now stopped, and that justice and doom which overtook a Burke and a Hare are his last and only portion.

"LINES ON THE OCCASION.

The difficulty of getting reliable information is increased by the incomplete nature of most of the newspaper records. In many cases there is an account of a preliminary examination of some of the men who were arrested for body-stealing. The report states that they were remanded, but further search fails to find any subsequent notice of the case. It is often impossible to fix who the men were who thus got into trouble, as they nearly always gave false names: unless they were too well-known to the police who arrested them, they invariably did this.

THE DIARY OF A RESURRECTIONIST

It would be beyond the scope of the present work to attempt a history of anatomical teaching; as will be pointed out later on, the resurrection-men did not come into existence until the early part of the eighteenth century.

In Great Britain the study of medicine and surgery was much hampered at this date by the scarcity of opportunities by which the student might get a practical acquaintance with the anatomy of the human body. A knowledge of anatomy was insisted upon by the Corporation of Surgeons, as each student had to produce a certificate of having attended at least two courses of dissection. It is unnecessary to point out the wisdom of this condition in the case of men who were to go out into the world as surgeons, and, consequently, to have the lives of their fellow-men in their hands. The attendance on the two courses of dissection could be evaded, and this was frequently done. The Apothecaries' Hall had no such restriction, and, consequently, many men went thither and received a qualification to practise, although they were quite unacquainted with human anatomy. The work of such 'prentice hands one trembles to think of; whatever experience these men did gain was obtained after they began to practise, and so must have been at the expense of their patients, who were generally those of the poorer class in life.

It was pointed out by Mr. Guthrie, that in the then state of the law a surgeon might be punished in one Court for want of skill, and in another Court the same individual might also be punished for trying to obtain that skill. Before the Anatomy Committee, in 1828, Sir Astley Cooper narrated the case of a young man who was rejected at the College of Surgeons on account of his ignorance of the parts of the body; it was found, on enquiry, that he was a most diligent student, and that his ignorance arose entirely from his being unable to procure that which was necessary for carrying on this part of his education.

When bodies were obtained for dissection it was generally by surreptitious means; the newly-made grave was too often the source from whence the supply was obtained. At first there was no direct trade or traffic in subjects by men who devoted all their efforts to this mode of obtaining a livelihood. The students supplied their own wants as they arose. Mr. G. S. Patterson told the Committee that at St. George's Hospital the students had to exhume bodies for their own use.

"6th March, 1711. It is ordered that William Cave, one of the Beadles of this Company, do make Inquiry who the persons were that carryed away the last body from Tyburne, and that such persons be Indicted for the same.

"9th October, 1711. Richard Russell, one of the persons who stands Indicted for carrying away the last publick body applying himself to this Court and offering to be evidence against the rest of the persons concerned It is ordered that the Clerk do apply himself to Her Majesty's Attorney Generall for a Noli p'sequi as to the said Russell in order to make him an evidence upon the s Indictment and particularly ag one Samuell Waters whom the Court did likewise order to be indicted for the said fact."

Often there were riots caused by the Beadles of the Company going to Tyburn for the bodies of murderers. This rioting was carried to such an extent that it was found necessary to apply for soldiers to protect the Beadles.

"28th May, 1713. Ordered that the Clerk go to the Secretary at War for a guard in order to gett the next Body "

In 1752 it was ordered that bodies of murderers executed in London and Middlesex should be conveyed to the Hall of the Surgeons Company to be dissected and anatomized, and any attempt to rescue such bodies was made felony.

In 1745 the Barbers and Surgeons, who from 1540, until that date, had formed one Company, separated, and the latter were incorporated under the title of "The Masters, Governors, and Commonalty of the Art and Science of Surgery." To the Surgeons naturally fell the duty of dissecting the bodies of the malefactors handed over for that purpose. The building of the Surgeons' Company was in the Old Bailey; there was, therefore, no difficulty in removing the bodies from Newgate. In 1796 the Company came to a premature end through an improperly constituted Court having been held. It was attempted to put matters right by a Bill in Parliament, but there was so much opposition from those persons who were practising without the diploma of the Corporation, that the Bill, after passing safely through the Commons, was thrown out by the Lords. In the following year attempts were made to come to terms with the opponents of the Bill, and finally it was agreed to petition for a Charter from the Crown to establish a Royal College of Surgeons in London. These negotiations were successfully carried out in 1800, and the old Corporation having disposed of their Old Bailey property to the City Authorities, the College took possession of a house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, the site of part of the present building.

During the debate in the House of Lords on the Bill just mentioned, the Bishop of Bangor, who had charge of the measure, sent for the Clerk of the Company, and informed him that a strong opposition was expected to the Bill, on account of the inconvenience that would arise from the bodies of murderers being conveyed through the streets from Newgate to Lincoln's Inn Fields. To remedy this a clause was proposed, giving the College permission to have a place near to Newgate, where the part of the sentence which related to the dissection of the bodies might be carried out.

That this difficulty of moving the bodies was not a fancied one, the following extract from "Alderman Macaulay's Diary" will show: "Dec. 6, 1796. Francis Dunn and Will. Arnold were yesterday executed for murder and the first malefactors conveyed to the new Surgeons' Hall in the Lincoln's Inn Fields. They were conveyed in a cart, their heads supported by tea chests for the public to see: I think contrary to all decency and the laws of humanity in a country like this. I hope it will not be repeated."

Just at this date the Corporation were removing from their old premises to Lincoln's Inn Fields; the last Court in the Old Bailey was held on October 6th, 1796, and the first at Lincoln's Inn Fields on January 5th, 1797.

In July, 1797, it was reported to the Court that Mr. Chandler, one of their members, "had in the most polite and ready manner offered his stable for the reception of the bodies of the two murderers who were executed last month." The thanks of the Court were voted to Mr. Chandler "for his polite attention to the Company upon that occasion."

After the Bill had been lost in the Lords, the following resolution was passed by the Court in November, 1797: "Resolved that in order to evince the sincerity of the Court to remove all reasonable objections to the present situation in Lincoln's Inn Fields the Clerk be directed, with proper assistance, to look for a temporary dissecting-room at a place in or near the Old Bailey until a permanent one near the place of execution can be established."

In June, 1800, a warehouse was taken in Castle Street, Cow Cross, West Smithfield, for eighteen months, as, owing to the labours of taking over the Hunterian Collection, there had been no time for obtaining a permanent place. A house in Duke Street, West Smithfield, was afterwards leased for the purpose, and arrangements were made for Pass, the Beadle, to reside there. This landed the College in a small expense, as in 1832 the Beadle was elected Constable of the Ward of Farringdon, and the Council had to pay a fine of ?10 in place of his serving the office. At the expiration of the lease of the Duke Street house, so great an increase of rent was demanded that the College gave up the premises, and took a newly-built house in Hosier Lane, on a lease for twenty-one years. Here the dissections were carried on until the passing of the Anatomy Act, when the College had no longer to share with the hangman the duty of carrying out the sentence on murderers who were condemned to be hanged and anatomized.

The bodies were not really dissected by the College Authorities; a sufficient incision was made to satisfy the requirements of the Act, and the body was then handed over to one of the Teachers of Anatomy. The following is a copy of an order authorizing the Secretary of the College to give up a body:

"Ordered.

"That the body of Mary Whittenbach executed this day at the Old Bailey for murder be delivered to Mr. Joseph Henry Green.

"WILLIAM BLIZARD "WM. NORRIS "ANTH CARLISLE.

There is in the Library of the Royal College of Surgeons of England a series of drawings of the heads of murderers, made by the two Clifts, father and son, when the bodies were brought to the College for dissection. These drawings include Bishop and Williams , and Bellingham, who was executed in 1812 for the murder of Mr. Perceval in the lobby of the House of Commons.

Earl Ferrers, who suffered the extreme penalty of the law in 1760 for the murder of his steward, was taken to Surgeons' Hall, where an incision was made in the body; instead of being further dissected it was given over to the relatives for burial.

At the execution of Bishop and Williams the Sheriffs of London felt that some means should be taken to show gratitude to Mr. Partridge, and the other officials of King's College, for the way they had brought the murderers to justice. The following letter was therefore addressed to the College of Surgeons:

"It is our particular desire and we do ask that it may be thought but a reasonable request that the bodies of the malefactors executed in the front of Newgate this morning should be sent to King's College--by the vigilance of whose surgical establishment these offenders were detected and ultimately brought to justice, we shall therefore feel obliged by your handing over these bodies to the King's College.

"We are, with great respect, "Your mo. ob. Servts.,

The body of Bishop was given to Mr. Partridge, and that of Williams went to Mr. Guthrie at the Little Windmill Street School of Anatomy.

The following account of the reception of one of the bodies is by Mr. T. Madden Stone, for many years an official at the College. It was printed in a series of articles, entitled "Echoes from the College of Surgeons."

These bodies of murderers were the only ones which could be legally used for dissection; it is therefore obvious that the number was quite insufficient for the wants of the Metropolitan Schools, and the teachers were thus forced to obtain a supply from other sources.

It was strongly urged, but urged in vain, that the whole difficulty would disappear if a short Act were passed, doing away with the dissection of murderers, and enacting that the bodies of all unknown persons who died in workhouses or hospitals, without friends, should be handed over, under proper control, to the different teachers of anatomy. That these would be sufficient was afterwards made clear by the Committee on Anatomy. In their Report it is stated that the returns obtained from 127 of the parishes situate in London, Westminster, and Southwark, or their immediate vicinity, showed that out of 3744 persons who died in the workhouses of these parishes in the year 1827, 3103 were buried at the parish expense, and that of these about 1108 were not attended to their graves by any relations. The number of bodies obtained from this source would have exceeded those supplied by the resurrection-men, and would have been adequate for the wants of the London Schools.

The newspapers of the day contain many proposed solutions of the difficulty. One correspondent gravely suggested that as prostitutes had, by their bodies during life, been engaged in corrupting mankind, it was only right that after death those bodies should be handed over to be dissected for the public good. Another correspondent proposed that all bodies of suicides should be used for dissection, and that all those persons who came to their death by duelling, prize-fighting, or drunkenness, should be handed over to the surgeons for a similar purpose.

Mr. Dermott, the proprietor of the Gerrard Street, or Little Windmill Street, School of Medicine, proposed a scheme by which a fund was to be raised by grants from Government, and from the College of Surgeons, and by voluntary contributions from the nobility and gentry. This fund was to be invested in the names of "opulent and respectable men," not more than one-third of whom were to be members of the medical profession. It was proposed to expend the interest on this fund in paying a sum not exceeding seven pounds to those persons who were willing to contract for the sale of their bodies for dissection. Registers were to be kept of all such persons, and the Committee were to have the power of claiming the body six hours after death. Mr. Dermott also suggested that all medical men should leave their own bodies to be used for anatomical teaching. It is hardly necessary to point out the absurdity of the first part of this scheme; the Committee, after paying their seven pounds, would have had no control over the subsequent movements of the persons whose bodies they had thus purchased, and it was hardly to be expected that friends of the deceased would send notice to the Committee that the body was ready for them. Both parts of the scheme would have required an Act of Parliament, as executors were not bound to give up a corpse, even though instructions had been left that it was a person's wish that his body should be used for anatomical purposes. Many such bequests have been made, and in some instances the desire of the testator has been carried into effect. To try to do away with some of the prejudices against dissection, Jeremy Bentham left his body for this purpose; the dissection was duly carried out at the Webb Street School, and at the request of Dr. Southwood Smith, Mr. Grainger delivered the following oration over the body on June 9th, 1832:

"Gentlemen,--In presenting myself before you this day, at the request of my friend and colleague, Dr. Southwood Smith, I can assure you I do so strongly impressed with the high importance of the duty I have undertaken, and the responsibility I have thus assumed. Gentlemen, it is no ordinary occasion on which we are assembled. We are here collected to carry into execution the last wishes of one whose mortal career, prolonged far beyond the usual limits of man's existence, has been devoted with almost unexampled energy and perseverance to the establishment of those great moral and political truths, on which the happiness and the enlightenment of the human race are founded. Ill would it become me, however, to dwell on the genius, the philanthropy, or the integrity of the illustrious deceased. His eulogium has already been eloquently pronounced by one more fitted to do justice to such an undertaking than the humble individual who now addresses you. It would be more suitable to the object of the present meeting that I should consider in what manner the intentions of the late Mr. Bentham, regarding the disposition of his remains, can best be carried into effect. But before I do this, it may be proper to inform some of my auditors what those intentions were. This great man was an ardent admirer of the science of medicine, and his penetrating mind was not slow in perceiving that the safe and successful practice of the healing art entirely rests on a thorough knowledge of the natural structure and functions of the human body. He also perceived that there was but one method of obtaining such knowledge, viz., dissection. In proceeding to inquire how it came to happen that in a country like England, justly proud of those numerous institutions in which science is so successfully cultivated, so little encouragement, or more correctly speaking, so much opposition, was offered to the advancement of so indispensable a branch of knowledge, Mr. Bentham discovered that this repugnance to dissection sprang from a feeling strongly implanted in the human breast--a feeling of reverence towards the dead. Far be it from me to condemn such a sentiment, for it has its source in some of the purest principles of our nature. But if it can be shown that an undue indulgence in this feeling produces incalculable mischief in society, it becomes the duty of all who are interested in the happiness of mankind to oppose the progress of such injurious opinions. Mr. Bentham, impressed with this idea, and thinking it unjust that the humbler classes of the community should alone be called upon to sacrifice those feelings which are cherished alike by the rich and poor, determined to devote his own body to the public good. He knew that this determination would inflict pain on many of his dearest friends. An example of this character, emanating from a person so talented, so influential, and so esteemed, is calculated to operate a most beneficial effect on the public mind, and I cannot refrain from considering the dissection of the body now before us as an important era in the progress of anatomy, as it is one of the first that in this country has been employed for the purposes of science, under the direct sanction of the individual expressed during his lifetime; he also knew that obstacles would probably be offered to its fulfilment, but with an indifference to personal feeling rarely witnessed, he took effectual means to carry his resolution into effect. And thus, gentlemen, did the last act of this illustrious man's existence accord with that leading principle of his well-spent life--the desire to promote the universal happiness and welfare of mankind."

Bentham's skeleton, clothed in his usual attire, is now in University College, London.

"Mr. Foster a Surgeon in Union Court, Broad Street, has been so good as to promise to open my Carcass and see what is the matter with my Heart, Arteries, Kidnies, &c. He is gone to Norwich and may not return before I am . Will you be so good as to let me send it to you, or if he comes will you like to be present at the dissection. I am now very ill and hardly see to scrawl this & feel as if I should live two days, the sooner the better. I am, tho' unknown to you

"Your respectfull humble Servant "MESSR. MONSEY."

Monsey lived until December 20th, 1788; his wishes were duly carried out by Mr. Forster, at Guy's Hospital, in the presence of the students.

Ninety-nine gentlemen of Dublin signed a document, in which the wish was expressed that their bodies, instead of being interred, should be devoted by their surviving friends "to the more rational, benevolent, and honourable purpose of explaining the structure, functions and diseases of the human being."

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