Padlock & key

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This late 18th century padlock and key are from the deadsafe at Corstorphine Churchyard in Edinburgh. Deadsafes were used to protect the coffin underground for the first six weeks after burial.

Relatives were desperate to protect their dead from the resurrectionists or bodysnatchers, who dug up fresh corpses for dissection. The demand for corpses was created by advances in the study of anatomy.

Many were afraid that a dissected body would not rise to life at the last judgement. Panic reached its height immediately after the 1828-9 trials of Burke and Hare, whose supply of corpses for sale came not from grave robbing but from murder.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-001-315-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  H.MJ 172
• Date: Late 18th century
  Late 18th century
  
• Material: Key, deadsafe
  Padlock, deadsafe
  
• Dimensions: 125 mm L x 65 mm W
  225 mm H x 145 mm W
  
• What: Key, deadsafe
  Padlock, deadsafe
  
• Subject: Locks, keys, etc. (NMAS Classification)
  Locks, keys, etc. (NMAS Classification)
  
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh, Corstorphine Churchyard
  Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh, Corstorphine Churchyard
  
• Event:
• Description: Large padlock from the dead-safe of Corstorphine Churchyard
  Key of the dead-safe of Corstorphine Churchyard
  
• References:
• Translations:
• Related Records: