The Great Majority: Body Snatching and Burial Reform in 19th-Century Britain
4 days ago
- #body snatching
- #19th-century Britain
- #burial reform
- 19th-century urban population growth led to overcrowded church cemeteries, causing public health concerns due to miasma theory linking decaying bodies to diseases.
- Body snatching, driven by demand from anatomy schools, emerged as a trade where 'resurrection men' exploited legal loopholes, with fresh corpses fetching high prices.
- Pauper burial grounds, lacking guards, were prime targets for body snatchers, while the middle class used protective measures like mortsafes to secure graves.
- The Anatomy Act of 1832 allowed the use of unclaimed pauper bodies for dissection, legally ending body snatching but fueling fears of posthumous desecration.
- Reformers like George Walker campaigned against toxic urban graveyards, documenting health hazards and advocating for burial reform, leading to the 1852 Burial Act.
- Suburban garden cemeteries, such as London's 'Magnificent Seven', replaced overcrowded city graveyards, shifting burial practices and erasing many old burial grounds.