Zoe Dyndor Conference Paper

At the British Crime Historians Symposium held at the Open University on 6-7th September 2012, Dr Zoe Dyndor presented a paper entitled ‘To be dissected and anatomized? The fate of the criminal corpse from 1752 to 1832’. This provided a general overview of post mortem punishments using a case study of criminals convicted at the Norfolk Assizes. The case study provided insight into the disposal methods of the corpses, showing the processes of criminal dissection and hanging in chains. Cases from Norfolk circuit are exemplary of the various ways in which the corpses were treated, and the very public nature of this treatment. The paper explored how the criminals and the criminal bodies were viewed by the law and society through examining the journey of those sentenced to hang: from trial to execution to their final resting place. Proceedings of the conferences will be published in the journal Crime, History and Societies.