1-153-692 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

William Burke, Irish murderer and body snatcher. An accomplice of William Hare (1790-1860) in a series of at least 15 murders and the stealing of corpses to supply bodies for dissection by Edinburgh medical students and anatomists. He was hanged for his crimes, while Hare turned King's evidence and lived. Their actions formed the basis of the plot for James Bridie's (Osborne Henry Mavor) (1888-1951) play The Anatomist published in 1931.