Body Snatching and Burial Reform in 19th Century Britain – The Public Domain Review

It is clear from the surviving testimonies of resurrection people that pauper cemeteries, without guards or mortuaries, were favorite hunting grounds. Pauper burial pits were often left open until the deep holes were filled with cheap, stacked coffins, sometimes as deep as twelve. Many of the poor were buried only in shrouds, which made the exhumation process even faster. Meanwhile, the anxious middle class, distrustful of the security of cemeteries, spent money on lead coffins, iron grills and various “mortsafe” devices – metal cages cemented in stone around the coffin. Famous examples of mortsafes have been preserved at Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh, a well-known haunt of the resurrection men.