Burke and Hare
Murder, Medicine, and the Dark Underbelly of Edinburgh
Chapter I — Edinburgh in the Age of Enlightenment
In the early 19th century, Edinburgh was celebrated as the intellectual heart of Scotland. Known as the Athens of the North, it boasted world-renowned universities, philosophers, surgeons, and scientists. Yet beneath its refined reputation lay a grim reality: medical schools faced an enormous shortage of legal cadavers for anatomical study.
At the time, only the bodies of executed criminals could be used for dissection. As capital punishment declined, demand for corpses far exceeded supply. This shortage gave rise to a shadowy underworld of body snatchers, known colloquially as resurrectionists, who exhumed the recently dead and sold them to anatomy schools.
It was into this morally grey—and increasingly dangerous—trade that William Burke and William Hare entered.
Chapter II — William Burke: Origins and Arrival in Scotland
William Burke was born in 1792 in County Tyrone, Ireland. Little is known about his early life, but he is believed to have worked as a labourer and possibly served in the militia. By the 1810s, he had migrated to Scotland in search of work and opportunity.
Burke eventually settled in Edinburgh, living a transient and unstable life. He was known to be charismatic, talkative, and prone to heavy drinking. These traits would later play a significant role in his crimes, as he often lured victims with charm and false hospitality.
Chapter III — William Hare: A Shadowy Figure
William Hare’s origins are more obscure. He was likely born in Ireland around 1792–1804, though records are uncertain. Hare was illiterate, rougher in nature than Burke, and known for his violent temper.
Hare lived with his partner, Margaret Laird, in a lodging house in Tanner’s Close, Edinburgh. The couple took in poor tenants—many of whom were elderly, destitute, or socially isolated. This environment would become the hunting ground for one of the most infamous crime sprees in Scottish history.
Chapter IV — The First Body: From Grave Robbing to Murder
The story began in late 1827 when an elderly tenant at Hare’s lodging house died of natural causes, owing rent. Rather than report the death, Burke and Hare removed the body, filled the coffin with bark, and sold the corpse to Dr. Robert Knox, a prominent anatomist, for £7 10s—a considerable sum at the time.
The transaction was disturbingly easy.
Realising the profit to be made, they soon escalated from selling the dead to creating the dead.
Chapter V — The Method: “Burking”
Burke and Hare developed a method of killing that left minimal external marks: one would restrain the victim while the other suffocated them by covering the mouth and nose and compressing the chest. This technique later became known as “burking.”
Their victims were almost always vulnerable individuals: the poor, the homeless, prostitutes, and those without family. These people were unlikely to be missed or traced.
Over the course of 1827–1828, Burke and Hare murdered at least 16 people, selling the bodies to Dr. Knox for anatomical dissection.
Chapter VI — Dr. Robert Knox and the Medical Trade
Dr. Robert Knox was a respected lecturer in anatomy whose classes attracted hundreds of students. While he never stood trial, he was widely criticised for failing to question the suspiciously fresh bodies delivered to him.
The corpses provided by Burke and Hare often arrived without the usual signs of disease or decay—anomalies that should have raised alarm. Although Knox claimed ignorance of the murders, his reputation was permanently tarnished.
This scandal exposed the brutal consequences of unregulated medical procurement.
Chapter VII — Discovery and Arrest
The killing spree ended in October 1828 when a woman named Ann Docherty was murdered at Hare’s lodging house. Suspicious lodgers discovered her body hidden beneath a bed and alerted the authorities.
Both men were arrested, but the lack of physical evidence made prosecution difficult. In a controversial move, Hare was offered immunity in exchange for testifying against Burke.
This betrayal sealed Burke’s fate.
Chapter VIII — Trial and Execution
William Burke was tried in December 1828. The case shocked the nation, with enormous public interest. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.
On 28 January 1829, Burke was publicly hanged before a massive crowd in Edinburgh. In a grim irony, his body was then dissected in a public anatomy lecture—just as his victims had been.
William Hare, having turned king’s evidence, was released. He vanished from history, reportedly fleeing Scotland. His ultimate fate remains unknown.
Chapter IX — The Aftermath and Legal Reform
The Burke and Hare murders horrified Britain and forced society to confront the dark realities of medical science.
In 1832, the Anatomy Act was passed, allowing unclaimed bodies from workhouses and hospitals to be legally used for medical study. This ended the era of body snatching and significantly improved ethical standards in anatomical research.
Though the law brought progress, it came at a tragic cost.
Chapter X — Why Burke and Hare Are Still Remembered
Burke and Hare are infamous not only for their crimes but for what they revealed about society: extreme poverty, moral desperation, and the dangers of unchecked scientific ambition.
Their story has inspired countless books, plays, films, and folklore. Phrases like “burking” entered the language. Their names became synonymous with murder for profit.
They remain a chilling reminder that even in the Age of Enlightenment, darkness thrived in the shadows.