King Of The Ohio Body Snatchers
In this guest post, discover the story of the man they called ‘King of The Ohio Body Snatchers’, a man named William Cunningham, AKA ‘Old Cunny’.
Charlie Chaplin & Other Famous People Who Had Their Bodies Stolen
The more the famous the person, the more chance they have of having their corpse stolen. Be it for reconstructive surgery, ransom or even occult rituals, no-one is safe from body snatchers
Does Body Snatching Still Happen? 8 Real Life Famous Cases!
Think body snatching was a thing of the past? Think again. Here’s 8 modern day body snatching cases that will make your toes curl
Edinburgh’s Escape The Past: The Anatomist
In a city where cadavers were once the hottest commodity, anything relating to the dark art of body snatching and providing corpses for the 19th century dissecting table was always going to pique my interest.
Why Are There Cages Over Graves? It’s Not For Vampires!
If you’ve ever seen a cage over a grave, then what you’re looking at is a mortsafe, a cage used to protect the dead from bodysnatchers.
Why Did Anatomists Hire Body Snatchers? | The Real Reasons
Ever wondered why anatomists stopped raiding graveyards and the professional body snatcher took over the task of acquiring cadavers for the dissecting table…
The Tedious Job Of Oakum Picking In A Victorian Prison
If you’re doing any research into criminal ancestors and the time they spent in a Victorian prison, chances are you’ll have heard about oakum picking. But what exactly was it? In this post I try to find out.
Body Snatching In Lasswade Old Kirkyard, Midlothian, EH18
It took one word from the Miller woman in 1829 and a quiet Midlothian village was awash with resurrection men.
Body Snatchers In Northleach House of Correction
Join me as I look at the stories of three body snatching raids in the County of Gloucestershire and meet the men who were sent to Northleach House of Correction
The Victorian Treadmill: How Did Your Ancestor Use One?
If a criminal’s sentence consisted of ‘Imprisonment with Hard Labour’, chances are the treadmill would have played a part in their hardship somewhere along the line
Waterloo Teeth | The Truth About Wearing Deadmen’s Teeth
This post is dedicated to a by-product that not only came from a battlefield that shares the same name, but also a product that gave the body snatchers a very lucrative sideline.
The Wardsend Body Snatching Scandal of 1862
On 3 June 1862 Sexton Isaac Howard was accused of exhuming cadavers and selling them to Sheffield Medical School. The Reality of his crimes however was much worse.
5 Ingenious Forms of Body Snatching Prevention
Some ingeneous forms of body snatching prevention were dreamt up during the body snatching era. In this post I look at my top 5 favourites.
5 Bizarre Hiding Places Body Snatchers Used For Cadavers
From dungheaps to watery graves, if a body snatcher needed to get rid of a cadaver quickly, they found some pretty ingeneous ways of doing it!
A Short Tale Of A London Body Snatcher | Joseph Naples
A Short tale about the time notorious London body snatcher Joseph Naples broke out of prison.
7 Alternative Body Snatching Sites Outside Of Edinburgh
If you’ve read my blog before you’ll know that I’m a body snatching historian, at least I think that’s…
A Body Snatching Case in Essex | Little Leighs, 1823
After denying his involvement in the theft of 24-year-old Joanna Chinnery from St John’s churchyard in Little Leighs, it would be the smell emanating from this body snatchers cart that would eventually be his downfall.
Body Snatching | St Cuthbert’s Kirkyard, Edinburgh
Mention the watchtower and most people have probably finished with the graveyard’s darker links to the past, but there’s so much more than that if you care to step inside.
Stealing A Cadaver: How Body Snatcher Removed A Corpse
Time and stealth were of the essence when removing a cadaver, but just how did body snatchers do it with out being detected?
The Hope Street Body Snatching Scandal, Liverpool
In 1826 thirty-three cadavers were found stuffed into barrels waiting to be shipped from Liverpool to Leith, Edinburgh. But what happened to the gang responsible for the snatchings?