Thanks for that Helen, managed to catch the "Victorian way of death", that was very interesting. We visited the old church at Kilmun on the Dunoon peninsula, Scotland while on holiday up there and noticed that they have displayed on the outside of the old church wall, some heavy looking coffin shaped cast iron metal contraptions that they used to put into coffins to deter body snatchers. Also remember reading in one of my early 1800's Liverpool Mercury some fuss about an anonymous letter sent to the newspaper complaining about the sextons treatment of disinterred remains at St Nicholas churchyard Liverpool causing the newspaper to send an 'investigative" reporter to the church where of course the Sextons pleaded innocence in the matter. Caryl [email protected] writes: For anyone who has access to UK History channel (100) there are a couple of very interesting programmes tonight. 8pm The Middle Classes: their rise and sprawl 9pm The Victorian Way of Death I have watched the middle class programme before, and is a very interesting incite into social history. The Victorian Way of Death is "tales of overflowing graveyards and sinister bodysnatchers." Far more interesting than Corri! Enjoy! Helen

Apologies to those who did not get the chance to watch The Victorian Way of Death, but it really was worth watching. I had the 'rabble' nattering in the background but what I gathered, at one particular cemetery the gang of body snatchers used a large tomb style of grave to create a series of tunnels through which they were able to drag bodies out. They only found out how it was performed when members of the gang confessed. It seemed that many bodies had been taken over a period of time by this gang. There was a good market in London for the bodies, mostly doctors, for the purpose of training in the medical universities. Any remains at the end of the day were simply discarded. Recently deceased healthy young adults were also valuable for their teeth. A good set would fetch a decent price from a dentist, as the wealthy had their dentures made from real teeth. There was actually nothing illegal about body snatching. There was a loophole in the law; the deceased were not the property of anyone. This loophole was soon closed. Another gruesome discovery was when graveyards, particularly in cities, became over full. If a coffin could not be buried deep enough, the bodies further down the dug plot were removed to make way for the new burial. This was an unprecedented problem, created by the population explosion in the cities. The next step was the municipal cemeteries, but the problem was convincing people to use them. Even if people didn't actually attend church often, it was still an important provider - parish funds, education, christenings, marriages, and of course burial in consecrated ground. I guess it was the final insurance for the after life. The municipal was not church ground. With the nattering going on in the background, I missed the name of the Royal who was buried in a public cemetery (I believe he had married a commoner and wanted to be buried with her when she died, and so could not be married at Westminster), but the effect was that it made it 'ok' to be buried away from the church. I barely saw the part about cremation, but they brought in about WWI so assume it was about that period when that was introduced. Burial history is not something that I have lay awake at night thinking about, but the program last night was certainly food for thought. Well worth watching. I'll make sure I get the TV to myself next time! Best wishes, Helen ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2004 10:52 PM Subject: Re: [BKHD-Wirral] UKTV History > > Thanks for that Helen, managed to catch the "Victorian way of death", > that > was very interesting. > > We visited the old church at Kilmun on the Dunoon peninsula, Scotland > while > on holiday up there and noticed that they have displayed on the outside of > the old church wall, some heavy looking coffin shaped cast iron metal > contraptions that they used to put into coffins to deter body snatchers. > Also remember reading in one of my early 1800's Liverpool Mercury some > fuss > about an anonymous letter sent to the newspaper complaining about the > sextons > treatment of disinterred remains at St Nicholas churchyard Liverpool > causing > the newspaper to send an 'investigative" reporter to the church where of > course the Sextons pleaded innocence in the matter. > > Caryl > > [email protected] writes: > > For anyone who has access to UK History channel (100) > there are a couple of very interesting programmes tonight. > 8pm The Middle Classes: their rise and sprawl > 9pm The Victorian Way of Death > > I have watched the middle class programme before, and is a very > interesting > incite into social history. > The Victorian Way of Death is "tales of overflowing graveyards and > sinister > bodysnatchers." Far more interesting than Corri! > > Enjoy! > > Helen > > > > > > > ==== BIRKENHEAD Mailing List ==== > Our list Web site with links useful for Wirral genealogy > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~liverpool/BIRKENHEAD-WIRRAL.html > > ============================== > Jumpstart your genealogy with OneWorldTree. Search not only for > ancestors, but entire generations. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13972/rd.ashx > >