Anatomy Act 1832

The Anatomy Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. IV c.75) was a United Kingdom Act of parliament, that expanded the legal supply of cadavers for medical research and education, in reaction to public fear and revulsion of the illegal trade in corpses.

Background
Before 1832, the Murder Act 1752 stipulated that only the corpses of executed murderers could be used for dissection. By the early 19th century, the rise of medical science, occurring at the same time as a reduction in the number of executions, had caused demand to outstrip supply.

As early as about 1810 an anatomical society was formed, to impress on the government the necessity for an alteration in the law. Among the members were John Abernethy, Charles Bell, Everard Home, Benjamin Brodie, Astley Cooper and Henry Cline. The efforts of this body gave rise to an 1828 select committee to report on the question. Details of the evidence are recorded in the minutes of this body.

The report of this committee led to the Bill but public revulsion and fear at the recent West Port murders sensitised opinion in favour of a change in the law. In 1831, public outcry at the activities of the London Burkers caused further pressure for a Bill.

Passage of the Bill
Public sentiment notwithstanding, there was substantial opposition to the Bill.

In 1829 the College of Surgeons petitioned against it, and it was withdrawn in the House of Lords owing to the opposition of the Archbishop of Canterbury William Howley.

In 1832 a new Anatomy Bill was introduced, which, though strongly opposed by Hunt, Sadler and Vyvyan, was supported by Macaulay and O'Connell, and finally passed the House of Lords on the July 19, 1832.

Provisions of the Act
The Act provided that anyone intending to practise anatomy must obtain a licence from the Home Secretary. As a matter of fact only one or two teachers in each institution took out this licence and were known as licensed teachers. They accepted the whole responsibility for the proper treatment of all bodies dissected in the building for which their licence was granted.

Regulating these licensed teachers, and receiving constant reports from them, were four inspectors of anatomy, one each for England, Scotland, Ireland and London, who reported to the Home Secretary and knew the whereabouts of every body being dissected. The principal provision of the act was Section 7 which stipulated that a person having lawful possession of a body may permit it to undergo anatomical examination provided no relative objected. The other sections were subsidiary and detailed the methods of carrying this into effect. In Section 16, however, the old act of Henry VIII was repealed and the bodies of murderers were no longer to be given up for dissection after execution.

The Act, provided for the needs of physicians, surgeons and students by giving them legal access to corpses that were unclaimed after death, in particular those who died in prison or the workhouse. Further, a person could donate their next of kin's corpse in exchange for burial at the expense of the donee.

Occasionally a person, following the example of Jeremy Bentham, left their body for the advancement of science, but even then, if his relatives objected, it was not received.

The act was effective in ending the reign of Resurrectionists who robbed graves as a means of obtaining cadavers for medical study.

Gunther von Hagens who was accused of (but not charged with) breaking the Act because of performing televised autopsy in 2002.

Repeal
The Act was repealed by the Anatomy Act 1984 which was, in turn, repealed by Human Tissue Act 2004. Access to corpses for the use of medical science in the UK is now regulated by the Human Tissue Authority. However in Scotland this is still governed by amendments to the existing Anatomy Act, and Scotland will retain an Inspector of Anatomy.