Why Was Body Snatching so Rife in London? The Business of Body Snatching | The London Burkers

When two men appeared at a hospital after dark with a bag over their shoulder, they rang the doorbell of the dissecting room and a porter answered. 

When the porter told them he wasn’t interested in buying a body, the men asked if they could store the corpse there overnight to lessen the chances of them being found wandering around the streets with a dead body. 

When the porter agreed and the men left the bag on the table and scuttled off back into the night, a foot flopped out of it. Thinking it looked very fresh but not wanting to tie himself up as he was off to the theatre, he switched the lights off and left for the night. 

The following day, the men would return saying they had a buyer and they would be taking the body but its next destination would be where suspicions rose and the police were called…

Today on Macabre London, we uncover the mystery of the Italian Boy and the grim London Burkers. 

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SOURCES

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https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t18311201-17

Chester Chronicle - Friday 09 December 1831

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_of_War,_Smithfield

Eastern Argus and Borough of Hackney Times - Saturday 08 July 1911 - weekly publication of story with last segment appearing in: Eastern Argus and Borough of Hackney Times - Saturday 29 July 1911

https://www.britannica.com/topic/body-snatching

https://mymacabreroadtrip.com/a-week-in-the-life-of-a-london-body-snatcher/

https://stjohnstreet.co.uk/the-clerkenwell-italian-community-a-history/

https://www.sarahwise.co.uk/italianboy.html

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