Anatomists, Bodies and Coffins: Corpse stealing in Georgian London

Timings:

17:30-18:45 Hunterian Museum visit

18:30 Library and Archives display and an exclusive opportunity to view a replica anti-body snatching coffin

19:00 Talk by PhD researcher and archaeologist Robert Hartle followed by Q&A

20:00 Another opportunity to look at the display and coffin, and bar opens (please be aware drinks will not be allowed near the display)

21:00 Event ends

Event info:

Medical science advanced rapidly during the Georgian period (1714–1837), but the number of bodies supplied lawfully to anatomists for dissection was woefully inadequate until the Anatomy Act of 1832. As a result, for over a century, the majority of cadavers used for research and education in Britain were stolen by so-called 'body snatchers' (aka ‘resurrectionists’).

Join Robert Hartle at the Royal College of Surgeons of England to discover new insights into the story of body snatching in London and the public outcry it evoked. Examine a full-scale reconstruction of a ‘Patent Coffin’, which was sold in London between 1796 and 1819 to thwart body snatchers, alongside items from the Library and Archives collections, including one of its most fascinating documents: the Diary of a Resurrectionist, written by body snatcher Joseph Naples in 1811–12.

The event will also include special late access to the Hunterian Museum and the opportunity to explore all of the College's collections with expert staff on hand to answer any questions.

This in-person event is perfect for history buffs and curious minds alike.

About the speaker:

Robert Hartle is a WRoCAH funded PhD student (history and archaeology) at the University of Sheffield. Between 2007 and 2024, he worked as a commercial archaeologist in London, specialising in funerary archaeology. His interest in the history of body snatching was sparked by new evidence of anti-body snatching grave protection found during the excavation of post-medieval burial grounds for Crossrail and HS2, and his thesis is focused on public responses to body snatching in London, c. 1740–1832.

Image credit: Liam Salisbury photography and Diary of a Resurrectionist