Burke and Hare – murderers!

Doctors haven’t always known what is inside the human body. In the past, they didn’t know about the skeleton and the organs of the body. They didn’t know how blood travels around the body. They needed dead bodies to help them find out. They used to practise on the dead bodies of criminals who had been hanged. However, in the 19^th century, the supply dried up because not so many people were being executed. Doctors turned to ‘grave robbers’ or ‘body snatchers’.

In Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1828, two men took this a step further! William Burke and William Hare murdered sixteen people and sold the bodies to Dr Robert Knox. He dissected the bodies to improve his knowledge of anatomy.

Finally, Burke and Hare were caught. Hare made a deal and testified against Burke, who was hanged for his crimes. Hare was sent to prison.  Burke’s skeleton is still on display at the medical school in Edinburgh.

 Answer the following questions.

A)   In the past, why did doctors need dead bodies?

B)   Where did they get their supply of corpses from?

C)   What changed to make things difficult for doctors who wanted to study anatomy?

D)   Doctors turned to grave robbers or body snatchers. Can you describe what these terms mean?

E)   Where did Burke and Hare come from?

F)   How did they acquire bodies?

G)   Who did they sell the bodies to?

H)  Why did Robert Knox want bodies?

I)    Did Hare claim that Burke was innocent?

J)   What happened to them both?