The Grave Robber Tales from the Old Bailey

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I am the court reporter.

Since 1674,

every trial that's been played out

between these walls at London's Old Bailey court,

every single one of them,

has been faithfully recorded by a reporter like me.

I sit just here.

I write down what was said by whom.

And now, you, somewhat later,

can listen in.

You can put your ear to the walls

and hear, once again, these voices from the past.

Now, here's a case that sends a shiver down the spine.

A grisly crime.

A dark deed indeed.

Even the dead, it seems, are not safe from thieves.

This is a case of body snatching.

The dead dug up.

The year is 1843.

But it's a curious one, this.

As medical science blossomed,

body snatching had become such a concern

that they introduced an act

to set out a legal avenue for students to access corpses,

to aid the study of anatomy and disease.

That was 1832.

11 years later and up pops this mysterious case.

John White Bridgman and Isaac Bridgman,

indicted for unlawfully breaking and entering

the grave of Thomas Ghorst Tawney

and taking away the said body.

Here accused are a man of the church and his son.

The minister and guardian, no less,

of the village chapel where the crime occurred.

A father, the son

and the wholly unholy business of the dead undone.

And in the very place where they should rest in peace.

Gentlemen.

We're here, are we not, for such a fleeting time.

And when our journey on this earth is done,

when we go to meet our maker,

what do we ask for but the simplest request -

to rest in peace.

Imagine, then, to discover

that your family, duly laid to rest,

found that peace shattered.

Their coffins forced open,

their bones tossed asunder.

I call my first witness,

Mr James Dodsley Tawney.

I swear by Almighty God

that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth,

the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Mr Tawney,

your family has a vault at the chapel of St John's,

is that correct?

That's correct.

My father, the late Thomas Ghorst Tawney,

died in November of 1803 and was buried there.

My elder brother Thomas and my mother both died in 1837

and were buried in the same vault.

Mr Tawney, please can you explain to the court

how you came to discover that your family tomb had been disturbed?

I was at home, on Cheapside,

and I came in receipt of some information

in consequence of which I went to the house of Mr Bridgman.

'I told Mr Bridgman I came there for the purpose

'of opening my family vault.

'He said nothing.

'I said, "I will view my family vault,"

'and I walked into the passage.

'Still, Mr Bridgman said nothing to me.

'Could you describe what you found?

'When I got to the vault, I saw that the large stone at the top

'had evidently been removed and the brickwork damaged.

'When I looked inside,

'I could see my mother's coffin was turned on its side

'and my father's coffin was gone.

'There were some pieces of wood lying at the bottom of the tomb

'and a patch of hair about the size of my hand.'

Did you seek to speak with Mr Bridgman again?

I went directly back through the chapel and into Mr Bridgman's house,

not exceeding ten minutes after I'd first arrived.

I could not find Mr Bridgman.

You then sought a warrant through appropriate channels

to search the premises, correct?

Yes, that's correct.

'When I had the warrant, I went to the chapel yard.

'There, I observed a spot where the earth had been recently removed.

'It was 15 yards from the defendant's back premises.

'I found three skulls and then, in another spot, quite close by,

'I found another skull.'

On what grounds do you stand that some of this material

might be taken from your father's grave?

The fragments of wood that I'd found in the tomb

were applied to the coffin.

When the whole was put together,

it fitted exactly.

Thank you, Mr Tawney.

Four skulls.

He said four skulls.

Does that not beg the question

that perhaps Mr Tawney's poor father might not be the only one disturbed?

And is it not a bit baffling

that you might dig the bones up in one place

and then bury them again a short distance away?

Whatever purpose they served, would it not make more sense

to put them back where you found them afterward?

I will show that the accused, Mr Isaac Bridgman,

was not at home in Walworth on the night in question -

Wednesday, 6th of September.

I should like to call Mrs Margaret Thompson.

Mrs Thompson,

please tell the court where you saw Mr Bridgman on September 6th last.

I was with Mr Bridgman in Ramsgate on Wednesday morning.

I spoke to him and was in company with him for an hour and a half,

watching the ships come from Ramsgate pier.

I asked him to dine with me that evening, which he did.

Are you able to state, on your oath,

that he dined with you on Wednesday, 6th September?

Certainly, I've not the slightest doubt about it.

I dined at six o'clock and that I told him.

It was rather later that day,

being in consequence of some little addition made.

He had been to chapel

and he told me the text and particulars.

Do you remember the text?

Yes, it was, "Fear not to go down into Egypt,

"for I will go with thee."

Or something of that sort.

I should like to add I have known him ten or 12 years

and always considered him a most excellent man.

Mrs Thompson has sworn

that Mr Bridgman dined with her on the evening of September 6th,

rendering it impossible that that same night

he might also be a half day's journey away, in Walworth.

No further questions, thank you.

Gentlemen, I will turn my attention to the younger Mr Bridgman.

I have witnesses who place him indisputably

at the scene of the crime.

I would like to call the Bridgmans' neighbour, Mr George Garford.

Mr Garford, please tell the court where you were

on the night of September 6th, and what you saw.

'At the time in question,

'I resided next door to Mr Bridgman's.

'I went to bed about 11 o'clock.

'I fancied I saw something moving in the burial ground.

'I looked again

'and I observed two men going in the direction of Mr Tawney's tomb.

'One of the persons appeared to have nothing on

'but a shirt and a cloak over it.

'The other was dressed in plain black.

'I did not see the tomb opened.

'I observed that it was open.

'I saw one of the men descend into the tomb with a lantern.

'I saw some ropes.

'I saw something carried away by the two of them,

'one carrying it at each end.'

Had you, in the course of this time,

an opportunity to observe the identity of the persons?

'I could not see his face,

'but I have known the young Bridgman for a long time.

'The wind blew about his cloak,

'which gave me an opportunity of seeing his person and appearance.'

Can you elaborate? If you could not see his face,

what do you mean by his appearance?

I had observed his style and gait before.

I cannot say that there's anything peculiar about it,

but I was familiar with his mode of moving quickly.

And I would say I am quite sure it was him.

Did you attempt to speak with him?

'I immediately hurried on what clothes I could and went downstairs.

'When I got down, I heard Mr Bridgman's door open

'and I observed a man come from the door.

'He turned his head and saw me

'and then he ran as fast as he could.

'I ran after him for some time, but lost sight of him.'

I then thought it my duty to examine the tomb to see to whom it belonged

and, on ascertaining the name, I examined the directory,

which led me to Mr Tawney's office,

to whom I sent a note disclosing all I had seen.

Thank you very much, Mr Garford.

I should like to call my next witness,

a servant to the Courtnall residence

on the other either side of the chapel - Miss Priscilla Terry.

Miss Terry, you are in service at Mr Courtnall's, are you not?

Yes, sir, I am.

And I understand that young Mr Bridgman

called some weeks previous to the night in question

to enquire about a dog.

Yes, sir.

There was a lodger at the Courtnall residence who had a dog,

which disturbed us by constantly barking.

About a fortnight or three weeks before this tomb was disturbed,

the younger Mr Bridgman called to borrow the dog.

He said that his father had a horse that shied at dogs

and he wanted to make it used to dogs.

He returned the dog in about a week,

saying that the horse was cured

and he had no further need of it.

Did the dog bark then in the same way it used to do?

If strangers came into the ground, it would bark.

He never barked at Bridgman after that.

Thank you.

Gentlemen, I would suggest to you

that the young Mr Bridgman had good reason

to make this neighbour's dog acquainted with himself,

that it would not disturb his night-time activity

in the graveyard.

And all of this, gentlemen,

begs the question - why would young Mr Bridgman go to such lengths?

I should like to call my next witness - Mr Colson.

Mr Colson, please tell the court the nature of your acquaintance

with Mr Bridgman and your impression of him.

I'm an officer of Guy's Hospital,

the younger defendant has been a student of surgery there

for some time.

The young Mr Bridgman is certainly dedicated

to the extent he is a most assiduous and zealous student.

Mr Colson, in your opinion, what might a medical student want

with a body some six years buried?

It is not usual.

I have no answer.

Thank you, Mr Colson. No further questions.

Gentlemen, it is now for you to decide,

in the light of detached examination of the evidence before you,

whether the defendants bear responsibility

for the crime in question.

For breaking and entering the Tawney family tomb.

Well, well, well. Father and son.

But, remember, the court are here charged

only to answer the legal question

of who is responsible for breaking and entering the Tawney tomb.

That didn't take long.

Gentlemen, have you reached a verdict?

On the charge of breaking and entering the Tawney family tomb,

we find the defendant Isaac Bridgman

not guilty.

On the same charge,

we find the defendant John W Bridgman

guilty.

Isaac Bridgman, you are free to go.

John W Bridgman,

I sentence you to 12 months' imprisonment.

So, the legal question has been answered.

Young Bridgman did it.

But it raises, does it not, so many more questions.

If Mr Bridgman Junior was a student of surgery,

then the suggestion is he was seeking a corpse

on which to hone his surgical skills.

But poor Mr Tawney's father had been in the ground some six years.

So what would he want with a box of bones?

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