Burke and Hare murders

Burke and Hare murders

The Burke and Hare murders were a series of 16 killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The murders were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses of their victims to provide material for dissection. Their actions were motivated by the demand for cadavers for the medical study of anatomy at a time when legal supply was grossly insufficient.

Background[edit | edit source]

In the early 19th century, Edinburgh was a leading European centre of anatomical study, in part due to the work of Dr. Robert Knox, a noted anatomy lecturer. However, the only legal supply of corpses for anatomical purposes in Britain at the time were those condemned to death and dissection by the courts. This supply was insufficient to meet the demand, leading to a rise in body snatching by so-called "resurrection men".

The Murders[edit | edit source]

Burke and Hare met in 1827. Hare was running a lodging house where one of the tenants died owing rent. Instead of burying the body, they sold it to Dr. Knox for dissection. Realizing the financial gain to be had, they decided to procure more bodies. Unable to wait for natural deaths at the lodging house, Burke and Hare resorted to murder, targeting the vulnerable and unlikely to be missed, including the elderly, women, and the destitute.

Detection and Trial[edit | edit source]

The duo was eventually caught when a lodger became suspicious and alerted the police. Hare was offered immunity from prosecution in return for testifying against Burke. Burke was convicted and hanged in January 1829, his body then publicly dissected. Hare's whereabouts after the trial are unknown.

Aftermath[edit | edit source]

The Burke and Hare murders led to public outrage and calls for reform. The Anatomy Act 1832 was passed, which allowed for the legal donation of bodies to medical science, significantly reducing the demand for bodies obtained through illicit means.

Legacy[edit | edit source]

The Burke and Hare murders have had a lasting impact on popular culture, inspiring numerous works of fiction, plays, and films. They also contributed to the development of medical ethics and the legal supply of cadavers for medical research.