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The burgeoning field of medical science in the 18th and 19th centuries created an unprecedented demand for human bodies for anatomical study. As dissection became a cornerstone of medical education, the legal supply of cadavers—primarily the bodies of executed murderers—was grossly inadequate. For instance, in London in 1831, over 900 students were studying anatomy, yet only 11 bodies were legally available for dissection. This critical shortage gave rise to a grim and illicit marketplace where the dead became a valuable commodity, and a new profession emerged to meet the demand: the "resurrection men" or "body snatchers."
These gangs of resurrectionists operated in a legal gray area, as a corpse was not considered personal property, and they developed efficient systems for their trade. They would often scout fresh burials, sometimes sending female spies to funerals, and then return under the cover of darkness to exhume the recently deceased. The bodies of the poor were particularly vulnerable as their families could not afford protective measures like mortsafes or night watchmen for the graves. The exhumed corpses were then sold to anatomy schools, with prices negotiated based on their size and freshness. This practice was so profitable and widespread that it bred public outrage and fear, leading to riots and attacks on anatomists.
The public revulsion, compounded by the infamous Burke and Hare murders in 1828, where individuals were killed to be sold for dissection, spurred legislative action. Parliament passed the Anatomy Act of 1832, which provided a legal and regulated supply of bodies for medical science. This landmark law allowed doctors and medical students to dissect the unclaimed bodies of those who died in workhouses and hospitals. While the act was met with horror by the poor, who feared it criminalized poverty, it effectively ended the gruesome trade of the resurrection men and established a framework that would shape anatomical study for generations.