William Burke
William Burke was an Irishman known for his notorious criminal activities in the early 19th century, specifically in Scotland. Originally from a good family, Burke’s life took a dark turn after he moved to Scotland to work on the New Union Canal and entered into a relationship with Nell McDougal. Together with William Hare, Burke became infamous as a "resurrection man," engaging in body snatching and murder to supply corpses for medical study, which was in high demand due to advancements in anatomy. Their heinous acts reportedly included luring vulnerable individuals to their lodging house, where they would smother them for profit. Burke was eventually apprehended, convicted, and hanged in 1829, while his body was dissected and displayed at the university. His case reflected a broader societal panic about body snatching and the treatment of the dead during a time of rising medical inquiry. The legacy of Burke has persisted in popular culture, inspiring numerous literary and film adaptations that explore themes of morality and the macabre.
Subject Terms
William Burke
Irish murderer
- Born: 1792
- Birthplace: Orrery, Ireland
- Died: January 28, 1829
- Place of death: Edinburgh, Scotland
Major offense: Murder
Active: 1828
Locale: West Port, Edinburgh, Scotland
Sentence: Death by hanging
Early Life
Much of what is known about William Burke (buhrk) comes from a broadside (a news sheet) published after his execution. While most of its substance is likely to be mere rumor and some pure invention, it alleges that Burke came from a good family and worked as a servant for a year after leaving home at eighteen, at which point he then served in the Donegal Militia. He married and had seven children; all but one died. He moved to Scotland to work as a “navvy” on the New Union Canal, and he began a relationship with Nell (Helen) McDougal, whom he met in Maddiston; the two scraped together a living buying and selling secondhand clothing. In 1827, they often stayed at a lodging house in Tanners Close, West Port, which was run by Maggie Laird—she had inherited the lodge from her dead husband. Laird was living with an Ulsterman named William Hare.
Criminal Career
When one of Laird’s tenants, Mr. Donald, died on November 27, 1827, owing four pounds’ rent, Hare allegedly conspired with Burke to steal the body from its coffin and sell it to the school of anatomy in Surgeons Square, run by Robert Knox. The two men were paid seven pounds, ten shillings, and they allegedly embarked upon a career as “resurrection men” (body snatchers). Assisted by Laird and McDougal, the men reportedly lured poor people (often prostitutes) to the lodging house, got them drunk, smothered them, and then sold their bodies. The broadside reported the number of their victims as sixteen. The one murder with which Burke was actually charged was that of an Irishwoman, Mary Docherty; Burke and Hare had been denounced by two fellow lodgers, James and Ann Gray, who had discovered Docherty’s body.
Legal Action and Outcome
Following their arrest, Hare and Laird were recruited to give evidence for the crown against Burke and McDougal. Burke was convicted, although the verdict on McDougal was “not proven.” Burke was hanged at Liberton Wynd, to the great delight of an enraged crowd. His body was then passed on to the University Medical School for dissection; his skeleton still remains there as an exhibit. Burke’s confession exonerated Knox. McDougal allegedly fled West Port with a lynch mob at her heels and went to Australia, while Hare is said to have ended up as a blind beggar. Burke subsequently lent his name to the dubious profession of “burking”—a vocation that probably existed largely in the imaginations of writers and rumormongers. Knox eventually redeemed his reputation by becoming a pioneering physical anthropologist of the racist type that was typical of his era.
Impact
William Burke became the principal scapegoat of a contemporary moral panic regarding the treatment of the dead. At the time, a growing crisis of anxiety existed in Britain, which was manifest in exaggerated fears of premature burial and a dramatic increase in the ceremonial ritual of nineteenth century funerals. The advancement of medical science was dependent on knowledge of anatomy and physiology that could be gained only by empirical inquiry, but the demand for specimens generated considerable popular resentment, which was easily deflected from physicians to the “resurrection men” who did the dirty work of grave robbing. The characters of Burke and Hare became legendary through lurid literary works based on their case, including Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Body Snatcher (1881) and James Bridie’s play The Anatomist (pr. 1930). ActorBoris Karloff, who had earlier played Frankenstein’s monster, was cast as Burke in the 1945 film version of Stevenson’s story. The 1948 film The Crime of Burke and Hare was censored and redubbed as The Greed of William Hart, but The Flesh and the Fiends (1959) and Burke and Hare (1972) avoided censorship, as did The Doctor and the Devils (1985), based on a script by Dylan Thomas.
Bibliography
Bailey, Brian. Burke and Hare: The Year of the Ghouls. Edinburgh, Scotland: Mainstream, 2002. A modern sensationalist account aimed at the Edinburgh tourist trade.
Douglas, Hugh. Burke and Hare: The True Story. London: Robert Hale, 1973. A typical item of modern “true crime” reportage; includes a reasonable summary of the historical evidence.
Edwards, Owen Dudley. Burke and Hare. Edinburgh, Scotland: Polygon, 1981. A more balanced account than that of Bailey, but nonetheless focused on the more sensational aspects of the case.
Roughhead, William, ed. Burke and Hare. Edinburgh, Scotland: William Hodge, 1921. Includes early attempts to uncover reliable historical data and isolate them from broadside-based rumor; a work to which all subsequent accounts are heavily indebted.