Murder & Mayhem: it started with unpaid rent

In 1827, William and Margaret Hare were running a boarding house in West Port, Edinburgh. On 29 November, their lodger Donald died of dropsy, owing £4 in back rent.

Hare bemoaned his financial loss to his friend and lodger, William Burke. Together they decided to recoup some of Hare’s losses by selling Donald’s body to Dr Robert Knox, a surgeon and anatomy lecturer from Edinburgh University.

In the 19th Century, Edinburgh had become one of the leading European centres of anatomical study. At the time there was a shortage of legitimately-acquired cadavers for study and teaching, as Scottish law required corpses used for medical research should only come from those who died in prison, suicide victims or from foundlings and orphans – giving rise to grave-robbing and the emergence of ‘resurrection men’ and illicit trade in exhumed cadavers. As a result of the scarcity, Dr Knox didn’t ask too many questions and paid Hare £7.10s for the body.

By selling the corpse the Hares not only recouped their £4 in lost rent but made a tidy profit – which sparked an idea.

There was another lodger in the house who was unwell, but not deceased – yet. The man was plied with whisky and then suffocated. Once again, Dr Knox paid handsomely for the body. It was a profitable enterprise for Burke and Hare, earning between £8 and £10 for each corpse.

More lodgers were similarly disposed of and when they ran out of paying guests they started inviting drunks, beggars, prostitutes and others into their home where they were promptly dispatched.

In 10 months at least 16 people were murdered by Burke and Hare in what later became known as the West Port Murders.

The scheme collapsed in October 1828 when a couple of guests in the house discovered a body stashed under a bed and alerted the police, who arrived and found no body. After a tip-off, they discovered it on the slab awaiting Dr Knox’s anatomy class.

After being arrested, Hare turned on Burke in return for immunity from prosecution. Burke confessed and was hanged (his body was also dissected and his skin tanned and made into various items such as calling card cases). The case against Burke’s mistress, Helen McDougal, was deemed ‘not proved’.

The Hares were set free and Knox was never prosecuted for his role. The fate of William Hare is unknown but there are many stories about his demise. As for Margaret Hare, she was shipped back to Ireland and Helen McDougal is rumoured to have emigrated to Australia.

 

And who says property is boring...

 

A novel I read discussed 'burking' people, which is the only reference to B&H I'd heard before.

 

Welcome to the crazy world of property management.

 

@nambis.... Great post! Certainly a different one.

 

Didn't Hare change his name to Horne and partnered up with Raine