William Burke & William Hare: The Murderers Who Changed Medical History

In 1828, William Burke and William Hare became infamous for their gruesome crimes, yet their actions inadvertently played a pivotal role in transforming medical education. For decades, medical schools in England and Scotland struggled with an acute shortage of cadavers, essential for teaching anatomy. Until the passage of the Anatomy Act of 1832, institutions relied on a severely limited and controversial supply of bodies, forcing them to seek alternative—and often illegal—means to meet demand.

The Cadaver Crisis: A Shortage That Fueled Crime

Medical education in the early 19th century relied heavily on human dissection, but strict laws made acquiring bodies nearly impossible. Under the Murder Act of 1751, only the corpses of executed murderers were legally available for dissection, with each medical school receiving just one cadaver per year. This proved woefully insufficient for the growing number of students studying anatomy.

Efforts to expand access to unclaimed bodies—particularly those of paupers from workhouses—were met with fierce resistance from the lower classes, who saw it as a dehumanizing assault on their dignity. With legal sources scarce, demand for bodies skyrocketed, leading to the rise of "resurrectionists"—grave robbers who exhumed freshly buried corpses and sold them to anatomists. In response, families took extreme measures to guard the graves of their loved ones, sometimes even hiring armed watchmen to deter body snatchers.

Burke and Hare: Murder for Profit

While most resurrectionists relied on grave robbing, Burke and Hare devised a far more sinister approach—murder. Operating in Edinburgh, they killed sixteen people and sold the bodies to Dr. Robert Knox, a well-respected surgeon and one of the city's most sought-after private anatomy lecturers. Knox, eager to obtain fresh cadavers, asked no questions about their origins.

Eventually, the duo’s crimes were exposed, and authorities arrested both men. Hare struck a deal with prosecutors, offering testimony against his accomplice in exchange for immunity. Burke, however, was sentenced to death by hanging in 1829. In a twist of irony, his body was publicly dissected, and his skeleton remains on display at the University of Edinburgh’s Anatomy Museum to this day.

Despite Burke’s claim that Dr. Knox was unaware of the murders, public outrage destroyed Knox’s career. Though he was never prosecuted, he was forced to leave Edinburgh in disgrace.

The Anatomy Act of 1832: A Turning Point in Medical Science

The horror of the Burke and Hare murders ignited public demand for legal reform. In response, the Anatomy Act of 1832 was passed, allowing medical schools to legally acquire unclaimed bodies from hospitals, workhouses, and prisons. This landmark legislation effectively ended the era of body snatching and established a legal framework for the ethical procurement of cadavers.

A Grim Chapter, A Lasting Impact

Though their crimes were heinous, Burke and Hare’s actions inadvertently accelerated progress in medical education. Their legacy, while steeped in infamy, serves as a stark reminder of how desperation and greed can intertwine with scientific advancement. Today, ethical donation programs ensure that anatomy students can learn from human cadavers without the horrors of the past.

This painting of body snatchers hangs on the wall of the Old Crown Inn in Penicuik, Scotland—an inn that Burke and Hare allegedly frequented.