Laws and Regulations
The Murder Act of 1751/1752
II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the body of such murderer so convicted shall, if such conviction and execution shall be in the county of Middlesex, or within the city of London or the liberties thereof, be immediately conveyed by the sheriff or sheriffs, his or their deputy or deputies and his or their officers, to the hall of the Surgeons Company, or such other place as the said company shall appoint for this purpose, and be delivered to such person as the said company shall depute or appoint, who shall give to the sheriff or sheriffs, his or their deputy or deputies, a receipt for the same; and the body so delivered to the said company of Surgeons, shall be dissected and anatomized by the said Surgeons, or such person as they shall appoint for that purpose: and in case such conviction and execution shall happen to be in any other county or other place in Great Britain, then the judge or justice of assize, or other proper judge, shall award the sentence to be put in execution the next day but one after such conviction (except as is before excepted) and the body of such murderer shall in like manner be delivered by the sheriff, or his deputy, and his officers, to such surgeon as such judge or justice shall direct for the purpose aforesaid. |
The Murder Act decreed that criminals who were hung would have their bodies dissected by anatomists. To many, this was considered worse than death. However, it failed to supply enough corpses for anatomy schools, which led to body snatching, burking, and eventually the Anatomy Act.
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The Anatomy Act of 1832
"The Anatomy Act of 1832, passed by the British government, regulated the supply of cadavers for medical research and anatomy teaching. Anatomists were given access to ‘unclaimed bodies’, those who had died without any family coming forward to claim them for burial." -The Science Museum Website on the Anatomy Act
Cambridge University short online lectures
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