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Imagine burying a loved one, saying your final goodbyes, and believing they can finally rest in peace… only to discover their body has been stolen and sold to a medical school.

In 18th- and 19th-century Britain, the demand for human bodies in medical education created a booming underground trade. Known as resurrectionists, body snatchers dug up freshly buried corpses and sold them to anatomists desperate for cadavers.

But what happens when grave robbing becomes too much work, and murder becomes the easier business?

This week, we're uncovering the disturbing history of body snatching, from the resurrectionist gangs of Britain to the infamous murders committed by Burke and Hare and the London Burkers. We'll explore the medical education system that fueled the trade, the victims who paid the price, and the Anatomy Act of 1832 that changed how medical schools obtained human bodies.

And while the practice eventually became regulated, the ethical questions surrounding who gets used for medical science didn't disappear.

📚 References

1. Mitchell PD, Boston C, Chamberlain AT, et al. The study of anatomy in England from 1700 to the early 20th century. J Anat. 2011;219(2):91-99. Read article.
2. Hogan C. Diary of a resurrectionist: The unique record of a frightening trade born out of necessity. Royal College of Surgeons of England. May 27, 2025.
3. Bailey JB. The Diary of a Resurrectionist, 1811-1812: To Which Are Added an Account of the Resurrection Men in London and a Short History of the Passing of the Anatomy Act. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co.; 1896.
4. MacDonald H. Procuring corpses: the English Anatomy Inspectorate, 1842 to 1858. Med Hist. 2009;53(3):379-396. Read article.
5. Philp J. Bodies and bureaucracy: the demise of the body snatchers in 19th century Britain. Anat Rec. 2022;305(4):827-837. Read article.
6. BBC Bitesize. Body snatching and the history of anatomy. BBC.
7. Frank JB. Body snatching: a grave medical problem. Yale J Biol Med. 1976;49(4):399-410. Read article.