Newspapers:
References to bodysnatching, and later ‘burking’ appear in various newspapers throughout the period and beyond. The newspapers mentioned here are an example of those most often used.
Aberdeen Evening Press – 1887.
Berkshire Chronicle – 1828.
Berrow’s Worcester Journal – 1822.
Berwickshire News and General Advertiser – 1906.
Bristol Mercury – 1827.
Bury and Norwich Post – 1817, 1823, 1829, 1831, 1849.
Caledonian Mercury – 1739, 1742, 1802, 1817, 1819, 1820, 1821, 1825, 1826.
Cambridge Chronicle and Journal – 1825, 1827, 1830.
Chester Chronicle – 1816, 1825, 1828.
Coventry Herald – 1833.
Derby Mercury – 1815, 1827.
Devises and Wilshire Gazette – 1822, 1823.
Durham County Advertiser – 1820, 1828.
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette – 1827.
Freeman’s Journal – 1831.
Glasgow Herald – 1821, 1822, 1874.
Glasgow Chronicle – 1822.
Hampshire Chronicle – 1820, 1825, 1826, 1827.
Hampshire Telegraph – 1825.
Hereford Journal – 1832.
Hue and Cry – 1817, 1818.
Hull Advertiser – 1832, 1834.
Hull Packet – 1817, 1826, 1832, 1833, 1834.
Huntingdon, Bedford and Peterborough Gazette – 1831.
Ipswich Journal – 1796, 1818, 1823.
Jackson’s Oxford Journal – 1810, 1818, 1821, 1823, 1830, 1831.
Lancaster Gazette – 1826, 1831.
Leeds Intelligencer – 1826, 1831, 1832.
Leeds Mercury – 1824, 1826, 1829, 1831, 1832.
Leeds Times – 1833, 1838.
Leicester Chronicle – 1827, 1831.
Liverpool Mercury – 1823, 1824, 1826, 1828.
London Daily News – 1849.
Lloyds Weekly Newspaper – 1849.
Manchester Guardian – 1831.
Manchester Mercury – 1817, 1828.
Morning Chronicle – 1817, 1822, 1823, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1832.
Morning Post – 1811, 1818, 1821, 1822, 1823, 1826, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1831, 1832.
Newcastle Chronicle – 1782.
Newcastle Courant – 1742, 1792, 1829, 1830.
Nottinghamshire Guardian – 1862.
Oxford Journal – 1759, 1765, 1776.
Oracle and Public Advertiser – 1798.
Preston Chronicle – 1831.
Royal Worcester Gazette – 1830.
Salisbury and Winchester Journal – 1825.
Sheffield Independent – 1830, 1831, 1832.
Stamford Mercury – 1816, 1823, 1827, 1830.
Sunday Reformer and Universal Register – 1795.
Sussex Advertiser – 1827.
Taunton Courier – 1827, 1830.
The Era – 1849.
The Examiner – 1822, 1828.
The Observer – 1832.
The Scots Magzine – 1742.
The Standard – 1828, 1830, 1831.
The Times – 1815, 1819, 1826.
The Universal Magazine – 1796.
Trewman’s Exeter Flyer – 1832.
Western Daily Press – 1862.
Western Mail – 1869.
Westmoreland Gazette – 1824.
York Gazette – 1826, 1831.
York Herald – 1826, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1831, 1832.
Yorkshire Gazette – 1831, 1832.
Durr, Peter, ‘The Little Leighs Body Snatchers’
(Accessed via www.essex.police.uk/museum/historynotebooks/51.pdf).
Martyn Gorman, ‘Echos of the Resurrection Men’
(Accessed via www.abdn.ac.uk/bodysnatchers/index.php).
Report from the Select Committee on Anatomy, 1828
(Accessed via www.archive.org/stream/reportfromselect00grea#page/10/mode/2up
Smith Jnr., Richard, A History of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, 1917
(Accessible via Internet Archive: http://archive.org/stream/historyofbristol00smit/historyofbristol00smit_djvu.txt)
Victorian County History, A History of the County of Middlesex Vol II: Stepney & Bethnal Green (Accessible via www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol1)
Archives:
University of Aberdeen Special Collections
The university holds the records for the Aberdeen Medico-Chirurgical Society, which includes minute books recording bodysnatching activity in AMCS/1: Institutional Records.
University of Aberdeen Special Collections
Special Collections Centre,
The Sir Duncan Rice Library,
Bedford Road,
Aberdeen,
AB24 3AA
Tel: 01224 272598
Website: www.abdn.ac.uk/library
The Bodleian Library
The John Johnson Collection is a collection of printed ephemera, available to view online and mainly covers the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries.
Bodleian Library,
Broad Street,
Oxford,
OX1 3BG
Tel: 01865 277162
Website: www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/johnson/about
This website provides online access to over seven million digitised newspaper pages from the British Library collection, with new editions being frequently added. Many articles relating to bodysnatching and the feelings surrounding the Anatomy Act can be found, as well as general news articles and advertisements.
Website: www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
The National Archives
The National Archives hold petitions in series HO17, as well as the Criminal Register of England & Wales in series HO26 and HO27. Papers relating to John Craig Hodgson can be found in ASSI 44 and ASSI 45.
The National Archives,
Kew,
Richmond,
Surrey TW9 4DU
Tel: 02088 763444
Website: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
The National Archives of Scotland
Cases relating to bodysnatching can be found for various years in the Crown Office Precognitions in series AD14. The Precognition against Henry Gillies (AD 14/28/207) as well as trial papers (JC26/1828/234) are held here. The NAS online catalogue is available at: www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/catalogues-and-indexes
The National Archives of Scotland,
H M General Register House,
2 Princes Street,
Edinburgh,
EH1 3YY
Tel: 01315 351314
Website: www.nas.gov.uk
National Library of Scotland
The website ‘Word on the Street’ run by the National Library of Scotland has over 1800 broadsides available to view online, with many relating to bodysnatching. Naturally, a large number of items relate to the West Port murderers Burke and Hare. The broadsides can be viewed at www.digital.nls.uk/broadsides
National Library of Scotland
George IV Bridge,
Edinburgh,
EH1 1EW
Tel: 01316 233700
Website: www.nls.uk
Newgate Calendar
The Newgate Calendar contains a wealth of information relating to the dark underworld of Georgian Britain, although little in the way of bodysnatching cases. Originally a compilation of broadsides focusing on the trials of notorious criminals, the Calendar covers the period 1824 and 1826 and provides a wealth of information when researching criminals.
Website: www.exclassics.com/newgate/ngintro.htm
Old Bailey Online
This online collection covers the proceedings of the Old Bailey, from 1674-1913 and includes 197,745 criminal trials held at London’s central criminal court. A limited number of bodysnatchers are mentioned and usually in relation to some other crime.
Website: www.oldbaileyonline.org
Royal College of Surgeons, London
One of the most valuable of resources to have survived from the macabre era of bodysnatching is the ‘Diary of a Resurrectionist’ believed to be written by Joseph Naples. It can be found in series MS0024. Due to the fragile nature of the Diary it can only be viewed as an electronic copy in the College’s Reading Room.
Website: www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums/archives