Chester General Infirmary and the Fate of Executed Convicts, Early 19th Century

[JenB]

I expect you've got this, but just in case....

The body was to be delivered to Griffith Rowlands, Surgeon, for dissection.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C34Q-6PF3?i=77&cat=345316

[hanes teulu]

I was drawn to the "public dissection" and was wondering how public was public? 

[Buffnut453]

I expect you've got this, but just in case....

The body was to be delivered to Griffith Rowlands, Surgeon, for dissection.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C34Q-6PF3?i=77&cat=345316

Wow!  Many thanks JenB.  I hadn't seen that record.  Not only does it give me a name, but reading the small handwriting at the bottom it appears to give a location. 

If I'm reading it right, it says "The said Done died penitent but denied the murder - was dissected and anatomized in the Exchequer or Quarter Sessions room - now building but not compleat." 

If I'm understanding the rather truncated language correctly, it sounds like Thomas Done's body was taken back to the Quarter Sessions room in the Shire Hall for dissection. 

So the General Infirmary is off the list of locations where he would have been dissected.  The next obvious question is what happened to his body?  I'm guessing it was disposed of poorly given the disdain with which convicts were treated in those times. 

[hanes teulu]

There's description of an 1812 execution at Chester Gaol
http://chester.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Execution_at_Chester

See "Edith Morrey"

One of the provisions of the 1752 Murder Act included " ... in no case whatsoever shall the body of any murderer be suffered to be buried."

[Ray T]

The “graveyard” now appears to be within the curtilage of the Queen’s School which itself sits on the site of the prison. You can visit the green space on Google Earth - theres a photo sphere point right in the middle of it which will give you a panoramic view.

My firet port of call would be the Cheshire Archives, which are less than half a mile down the road.

I’m looking at it on an iPad - haven’t tried it on the dektop.

[Buffnut453]

There's description of an 1812 execution at Chester Gaol
http://chester.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Execution_at_Chester

See "Edith Morrey"

One of the provisions of the 1752 Murder Act included " ... in no case whatsoever shall the body of any murderer be suffered to be buried."

Thanks for that pointer.  It is entirely possible that the dissection was completed at the Infirmary and then the body transported for public display at the County Hall.  Certainly, that seems a plausible explanation...plus it would allow for proper clean up of the corpse before display.  Trying to perform a full dissection at the County Hall seems something of a stretch...at least it does to me. 

[Buffnut453]

I’m looking at it on an iPad - haven’t tried it on the dektop.

I'll have to try other devices and see if I can glean any other details. 

I do wonder if the young ladies realize that their school is sitting atop the former sites of a gallows and graveyard.  Hope they're not squeamish.

[Rena]

Prisoners were usually buried in jail graveyards and murderers could not be buried in consecrated ground.

In my lifetime bodies could be legally dissected by surgeons if a patient died in a teaching hospital (where selected body parts would be placed in pickling jars), or if the body was that of a murderer. 

Originally there were two official types of surgeons = barber surgeon and the medical surgeon.   As surgeons were not paid by the taxpayer, he would probably charge a fee for viewing the dissection. Presumably the date would be published for thde public viewing and a large enough room would have to b e organised.  As the public in general knew what lay in store for murdering somebody = public hanging and public dissection this knowledge was supposed to deter people from commiting such acts.

Below are a couple of links explaining the various Legal Acts, but you need local knowledge for which graveyard.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4582158/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK384645/

[Ray T]

I’m looking at it on an iPad - haven’t tried it on the dektop.

I'll have to try other devices and see if I can glean any other details. 

I do wonder if the young ladies realize that their school is sitting atop the former sites of a gallows and graveyard.  Hope they're not squeamish.

You could always write and ask them. Along the lines of - “I am researching the lifeof my ancestor who was hanged on the site of your school in .....”.