When Sheffield’s new Medical School of Anatomy was opened in Eyre Street in 1829, it was met initially with much enthusiasm. The idea had been driven forward by surgeon Mr Hall Overend, who had been teaching anatomy to medical students in the town since 1811. So enthusiastic was he on the subject, that he had even opened an Anatomy Museum at his home in Church Street. There he gave lectures and demonstrations on the subject of medicine and the workings of the human body. However, the plain truth was that to demonstrate surgery in the new Medical School he needed bodies, and this was where opposition to the new ideas on medicine started.

No one wanted to think about exactly where the bodies given to the students for dissection, came from. Reports of Burke and Hare’s grave robbing exploits in 1828 had circulated in Sheffield, which created a fear that such a thing might happen in the town itself. Nevertheless those fears would manifest in January 1835, when a man called John Butler and his wife Ann were working in the Medical School as caretakers. During the day they were respectful of the lecturers and the students, but at night and at weekends they indulged in alcohol and disputes between each other.

On Sunday 26 January 1835 the trouble started when, against all the rules, Butler’s brother Thomas was admitted into the premises. Fuelled by alcohol, a quarrel broke out later that day when the two brothers threw Ann outside the school and locked the door against her. In her determination to cause trouble for the two men, Mrs Butler called out to passers-by that they were trying to ‘burke’ her before handing her body over to the students for dissection. A crowd of people assembled at the door of the school, ready to rescue the woman from such a fate. It has to be said that many of them were simply curious to look inside the building.

Mrs Butler’s cries were taken up and soon the disturbance was such that the Sheffield police were quickly notified. The two men were carted off to the police station charged with being drunk and disorderly. That should have been the end of the matter, however news of the woman’s claims had now spread like wildfire around the town. Within a matter of hours the building was surrounded by hundreds of people fired up on stories of grave robbers. They were determined to prevent such happenings taking place in Sheffield. The rioting started and continued throughout the night and by the early hours of the next day, around 7.30 am the doors to the Medical School were finally torn open by the mob. Inside the new school they found partially dissected cadavers, which inflamed them to such an extent that they were determined to tear the building down using just their bare hands.

Gangs of rioters entered into each room where furniture, books, floorboards, indeed anything flammable, was thrown out of the windows and doors into Eyre Street itself. A bonfire was made of these flammable objects, which alerted the town constables to the scene. However the mob turned on them, and they were so abused that they had no option but to just as quickly disappear. By this time the wind was fanning the flames of the fire, which also disturbed neighbours in nearby houses on Eyre Street. One of the Sheffield fire engines was called out, but when it arrived, the firefighters were welcomed with stones and pieces of slates which had fallen from the Medical School roof.

They too had no option but to drive quickly away from the rioting mob.

As news that the school had been broken into spread, more and more people joined in the rioting. Once again the police authorities were called upon, but they were still powerless to intervene without the presence of a magistrate who could read out the Riot Act. This would have at least given the police powers to disperse the mob. However the clerk to the magistrates, a man called Mr Albert Smith sent off two constables in cabs to find and urgently return with a magistrate from another town. The Superintendent of Sheffield’s police force, Mr Raynor finally took action by going to the local barracks to ask for a force of soldiers to be sent into town. As a result, a detachment of the 6^th Enniskillen Dragoons was dispatched to the site.

The soldiers gathered just above Howard Street on their horses, where they halted brandishing their sabres. At the sight of the Dragoons with drawn weapons, many in the mob disappeared fearing a charge by the cavalry. Others less afraid, threw stones at the horses and the mounted men. The sergeant in charge of the men persuaded the fire engines to return to the spot, and finally to extinguish the flames of the bonfire in Eyre Street. However, even with the presence of the cavalry the rioting continued, and the police authorities were still powerless to intervene without the presence of a magistrate. Thankfully a magistrate called Mr W J Bagshawe Esq., finally arrived, and he read out the Riot Act to the crowd. The crowd however at this point were having too much fun.

Indeed the mob were only dispersed when the mounted soldiers were ordered to charge at them wielding their sabres. Only then were police authorities actually able to reach the building itself. Inside they found it had been completely gutted, as it had been literally torn down almost to the ground. The back wall and many of the inner walls had been completely smashed open. Newspaper reports of the time stated that ‘from the ground floor up to the roof of the school, there was nothing to see but roof joists and beams.’ By 11 am it would seem that the soldiers had belatedly got the situation under control. This they managed by walking their horses up and down the principal streets around the school.

Finally the soldiers were thanked for their efforts and sent back to their barracks, leaving Mr Raynor and a small party of constables to protect what remained of the building. The soldiers may have breathed a sigh of relief when returned back to the barracks, but they did not have time to rest before they were called out again. By 1.30 pm yet another urgent request for the Dragoons to return was made, as the crowds had again collected in front of the torn down remains. Many of them were showing signs of intoxication and an order was sent out that all public houses in the area had to be closed. As the Dragoons entered back into the area, it was decided once again that the only method of dispersing the drunken rabble was for another charge.

Consequently the troops were divided into two, one force being commanded by the Rev. G Chandler and the second by Mr Bagshawe. At 2.30 pm they charged down Eyre Street scattering the crowd in all directions. One man was actually caught inside the building and he was promptly arrested. As he was taken to the cells under the Town Hall and to ensure he was not rescued en route, he was escorted by a party of Dragoons. Threats had also been made against Mr Overend’s Anatomy Museum on Church Street, and around 6 pm that building too was suddenly attacked. Within a matter of minutes there was not a window of the building left intact. Thankfully another party of Dragoons arrived and they quickly broke up the mob.

By 5 pm the soldiers were lined up in front of the remains of the Medical School on Eyre Street and only then did peace return. It was reported by 7.30 pm that everything was finally quiet. Nevertheless the soldiers continued to patrol the streets until around midnight, when they were sent back to their barracks. On Tuesday 23 January 1835, the caretaker John Butler and his brother Thomas were brought before the Sheffield Magistrates charged with disorderly conduct. The first witness was a man called James Belcher who lived on Eyre Street, a few doors away from the Medical School. He said that on the morning in question he had been passing about 12.30 pm, when he heard a cry of ‘murder’ from a woman who had just come out of the building.

Belcher stated that the caretakers drunken ways were well known in the neighbourhood and they usually happened at weekend when the man had been paid. The woman was clearly drunk and she shouted out that she was frightened of being ‘burked’ before turning and going back inside. Within a few minutes, the witness said a crowd of people had gathered around the door. Belcher claimed that among many others, he found himself being pushed inside the doors of the school by the crowd. He then described how two Butler brothers had tried to turn the mob out with oaths and curses. However the woman kept begging the crowd not to go, claiming that the men were intent on killing her. She claimed that as soon as everyone had gone, she would be murdered and her body would given to the students along with the other cadavers for dissection.

Belcher said that her husband dismissed the accusations of his wife, claiming that she was just drunk and didn’t know what she was saying. Then another neighbour gave evidence. He said his name was John Driver and confirmed Belcher’s account. He claimed that when Mr Raynor appeared, the two Butlers, ‘acting like furies’ grabbed hold of the Superintendent of Police and threw him to the ground. Thankfully two other men rescued him and finally managed to pull him to his feet. Then Driver described how Butler and his brother armed themselves, using a poker, a knife and a brush handle to protect themselves from the angry mob.

The witness described how at this point more constables arrived, and Mr Raynor arrested the two drunken brothers who were quickly removed. Initially Mrs Butler had been left safe inside the building, and a constable ensured that the doors were locked and bolted. The witness said that at this point he went home, but around an hour later he could hear that the mob had returned and went back outside. To his surprise there was an even greater crowd which now collected in front of the Medical School, and that many of them had clearly been drinking. Fuelled by alcohol, the witness described how a panel of the front door had been broken open by someone, and the crowd including the witness, was pushed inside. There they found the building empty, Mrs Butler having fled.

It seemed that she had heard the noise of the mob, and escaped from the building leaving the back door wide open. Driver said that it was not long before people were pouring into the school from both the back and front doors. Anxious to see what kinds of specimens the students were actually dissecting, the mob went into every room both downstairs and up. To their horror they found plenty of body parts. When they found any bones or full skeletons, they threw them out of the windows, inflaming the crowds who still collected below. In disgust they also threw out any items which would burn, including furniture. Two other witnesses gave similar evidence to the bench, which confirmed the fact that Mr and Mrs Butler were notorious for their drunken weekend arguments.

Mr Raynor was the next witness and he gave evidence of having being called to the Medical School, and how he had been manhandled by the Butler brothers. He said he had assigned some of his men to remain to protect the building, before returning back to his office. Therefore he could not believe it when he was told later that a full scale riot was taking place. As a result of this, the Superintendent requested that Mrs Butler had better be found and brought to the Town Hall for her own protection. She was found at the rear of the Medical School, now terrified at what she had started, and was escorted to the police office. However on the journey to the Town Hall she was recognised by a crowd of people. As a result she was hooted at and pelted with rubbish from the mob emerging onto Eyre Street.

Mr Raynor said that after he had made sure the woman was safe, he returned back to the school, where thankfully he found that the soldiers had now cleared the crowd. However bones and furniture were scattered in front of the building and all along Eyre Street. Going inside, the Superintendent described finding one human body, which he said that ‘although intact, it had been opened from breast to pubes’ and all the internal organs had been exposed. The witness stated that in many of the rooms of the school there were various body parts and limbs scattered around. Upstairs there was the same grisly sights, as well as several complete skeletons in the teaching and anatomy classrooms.

George Mason, a police sergeant confirmed that he had accompanied Mr Raynor in his search of the building, and he too described finding many body parts. The sergeant informed the bench that under Mr Raynor’s direction, the full and partially dissected bodies had been removed at 2 am on the Monday morning. They had been carefully placed in a sack and taken to the Sheffield Workhouse by two of Mr Overend’s students, before being respectfully interred that same afternoon. The next witness was the woman who had started the riot, Mrs Ann Butler herself. She told the magistrates that the pair had been caretakers at the Medical School for eight months.

They had previously lived in London and her husband was an ‘articulator’ who had worked for Mr Overend. Mrs Butler said that he had prepare limbs and bones which were then displayed in realistic poses behind glass, for display in his Anatomy Museum on Church Street. On Sunday 25 January 1835, her husband and his brother were very drunk and were annoyed at her because she would not give them more money. In retaliation, Mrs Butler told the bench that her husband John had knocked her down and kicked her, putting his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming.

His brother had then helped him to put her out of the doors of the school, and she found herself in Eyre Street.

The witness was asked by one of the magistrates if she was aware that there were partially dissected cadavers inside the building. Mrs Butler said that there had been three bodies to her knowledge, that were kept at the medical school at that time being used for dissection. Her husband, John Butler was the next witness and he confirmed that to his knowledge, one body had been entire and the other two had been cut up in sections for the students to dissect. The caretaker admitted that he had been drunk at the time of the riot, but denied being involved in the assault on Mr Raynor. His brother Thomas Butler told the bench that he had only been in Sheffield for a fortnight and was an unemployed bricklayer. He too admitted being intoxicated at the time of the offence and denied attacking the Superintendent.

The magistrate, Mr Bagshawe asked that the two brothers and Mrs Butler be kept in custody for the time being. He pointed out that it would not be prudent for them to be discharged to that time. The magistrate claimed that an idea had spread around Sheffield that they too were involved with resurrectionists, and if they were recognised by a member of the public, their lives would be in great danger. Mr Raynor told the court that he had spoken to Mr Overend, who said that he had heard nothing of any of the neighbours complaints about the regular drunken rows between the caretaker and his wife. He said that if he had known that, he would never have left ‘those persons in charge of the school, not even for one day’.

The two Butler brothers were therefore remanded once more, although Mrs Butler was dismissed. When both men appeared in front of the magistrates again on Friday 6 February 1835 it seems that Mr Raynor had informed the bench that he did not intend to prosecute either of them for the assault made upon him. Nevertheless the two men were both severely censured for their actions which had led directly to the riot at the Sheffield Medical School. The chair to the magistrates told the men that for the time being they should both be discharged. However they would need to find recognizances of £20 each to appear before the magistrates again, if it should be required.

Mr Bagshawe told them both that they were responsible for the present hostility towards the Medical School, which was still being felt in Sheffield. He warned them both:

‘It is for your own benefit that you have both been kept in prison, and I would advise you to get out of town as soon as possible, in order to avoid any disturbance that might arise from your being recognised.’

So ended the Sheffield Medical School riot, although the fears against resurrectionists took much longer to disperse within the town.