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Grave robbing, Awre Parish Register (P30 IN 1/1)
Body snatching is the secret removal of corpses from burial sites. A common purpose of body snatching, especially in the 1800s, was to sell the corpses for dissection or anatomy lectures in medical schools. Those who practised body snatching were often called "resurrectionists" or "resurrection-men". It differed from grave robbery (which was the uncovering a tomb or crypt to steal artefacts or personal effects that had been buried with the deceased). It was more common in the cities than in the countryside simply because towns and cities had a higher rate of burials and therefore more bodies, but it wasn’t totally unknown. This example, from the parish register of Awre, records the removal of the body of William Hughes’ body by four men – all of whom are named. We don’t know why the men did this or what happened to them –we can only guess what their purpose was….
Burials in the Year Of Our Lord
1733
William Hughes buried ………………………………. Dec 2
N.B. This body was stolen out of the grave the same
night by Sam. Steele, Tho. Sallens, Rich. Newman, James Lane.
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