In the 18th and 19th centuries, "body snatchers" (also known as resurrectionists) were individuals who exhumed recently buried corpses to sell them to medical schools for anatomical dissection.
Published in 1884, this Gothic short story was directly inspired by the Burke and Hare murders. Body Snatchers
: To avoid detection, snatchers typically only stole the body, leaving behind clothes and jewelry, as stealing personal property carried much harsher legal penalties than "disturbing a grave". In the 18th and 19th centuries, "body snatchers"
: Legislation at the time restricted the legal supply of cadavers to executed criminals, which was insufficient for the growing number of medical students. : Legislation at the time restricted the legal
: The most infamous case involved Burke and Hare in Edinburgh (1828), who shifted from exhumation to murder to meet the demand for "fresh" subjects. 2. Literary: Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Body Snatcher"
The body snatchers: corpse and effect - University of Cambridge