Historic%20Yorkshire

YORKSHIRE RESURRECTION MEN. 165
Leeds was thrown into a state of consternationin the
month of January, 1826, by the unfolding of a case of
body-stealing. A personnamed ThomasDaniel had been
buried in the Church of St. John, inLeeds, but the body
was discovered to be missing. A box had been booked
to Edinburgh by a young boxmaker namedCox,and for
some reason it came to be opened at Newcastle. The
son of Mr. Daniel went immediately to Newcastle, and
identified the body by the marks of gunpowder upon it.
The boxmaker was taken into custody, and though he
pleaded not guilty, saying that he had made and booked
the box for a Jew who had lodged with his parents, and
was ignorant of whatwas inside, he was found guilty at
the sessions, and sent to York Castle for six months.
In the same year,three months later, another bodywas
stolen from its grave at Armley. It was that of Martha
Oddy, the daughter of a clothier,and aged fifteen. As in
the other case, the subject was for Edinburgh, and there
it had been forwarded, but was traced, and brought back
to be re-buried. Three men were charged with the
offence, but oneonly convicted, whowas sentencedto six
months' imprisonment.
Hull was frequently visited by the wandering minions
of the surgeon, and there are numerous instances of
body-stealingon record. The burial ground of Drypool
Church, Hull,was the oftenestresortedto by the iniquitous
fraternity, probably on account of its being at that time a
solitary and not much frequented place. There is an
account of theft of the bodyof a child, whichis extremely
painful. A child died, and was buried, and the father,
upon losing a second child, was desirous of havingthem
together in the same grave. Upon mentioning this to
the sexton, he was pointed to a different part of the
churchyard as the burial place of his first little one,but,
knowing the exact locality,his suspicions werearoused,
and upon causing the true grave to be laid open, it was
found that the bodyhad been abstracted. This led to a
resolve being taken at a parishioners'meeting to enclose