The Murder Act of 1751

The Bloody Code and the Butcher’s Knife: How 18th Century Justice Turned Murderers into Medical Specimens

18th century criminal justice in Britain was notorious for its brutality. It was the time of the Bloody Code, where over two hundred crimes were punishable by hanging. Even relatively minor crimes, such as petty theft, could still land you in the gallows.

Perhaps the best example of this brutality was the Murder Act of 1751, which demanded the dissection of murderers after their hanging. This might seem like a shocking punishment to us today, but in the mid-18th century, the British government thought it was not only good but necessary. Murder cases at the time were haphazard. Judges had significant discretion in their cases, and so lesser convictions were common, as were pardons, conditional pardons, and reprieves.

Furthermore, the fact that the punishment for murder was hanging – the same as for numerous minor crimes during the time – made it seem like the crime didn’t have the legal infamy it deserved. This was compounded by a spike in murders in the 1750s, which the press latched onto with great hysteria. One such murder case was likely that of Mary Blandy, a young heiress who had poisoned her own father following a botched engagement.

Dissection as Deterrence: The Medical Demand for Bodies

The spike in paranoia by the public was accompanied by another problem, a lack of bodies. With medical science becoming increasingly important during the century, cadavers were needed – but few, if any, were available. Dissection was seen as an act that would deny someone a proper churchyard burial, so very few were available for such work. Bodies were still needed, though, and as murderers were seen as guilty of a far greater crime than most, their punishment could be made much more severe.

The Murder Act of 1751 included a number of measures to solve both problems. Executions were to be done only two days after a murder conviction was announced, the discretion of judges was limited, and bodies had to be handed over to medical authorities to be dissected or hung in chains to rot. This would ensure a supply of bodies for medical science while also creating an additional stigma around murderers so great that it would discourage future crimes. The act passed swiftly through parliament with little objection and became law at Easter 1752.

From then on, most murderers were swiftly punished with hanging and dissection. To be hung in chains was considered a lesser punishment, and in Oxford, dissection was in heavy demand due to the university. The Ashmolean was used as the grounds for such events, and then most bodies returned to the castle to be buried.

The Case of Mary Blandy’s Exception

Mary Blandy would not be dissected. Her conviction in March 1752 was just before the act was put into effect. However, she may have still been affected by the act at her hanging. Following her death, no coffin had been made ready, so as a result, her body was carried off in a “beastly manner,” as one source put it. It is possible that the executioner, unsure how to react to the new legislation, didn’t know what to do and did not prepare a coffin as it would have been illegal to do so for a murderer.

Others would not share Mary’s kinder fate. Giles Covington was executed at Oxford Castle in 1791 for highway robbery. His body was dissected and then used in medical studies for decades afterward. In 2002, as excavations were being done at the castle grounds, several skeletons were found with obvious signs of dissection, including craniotomies, missing limbs, and, in one case, a full decapitation!

The legacy of the Murder Act of 1751

In the end, the act’s effectiveness was dubious, and the demand for bodies by medical students was not satiated by it. However, it remained on the books until 1832, creating a strong connection between murder and medical dissection.

You can come and hear more about the life of Mary Blandy, as well as other peculiarities of 18th century criminal justice, on our Guided Tours!