Foul Facts Gallery: Terrible Tudors, Vile Victorians

Dredged

Mary Ann Cotton was buried in Durham jail after her execution and her coffin was found many years later when the jail was being rebuilt. But not every Victorian ended up in a snug coffin. Many ended up in the river and were washed out to sea, or found in the river before they got that far. Men called dredgermen had the terrific task of collecting the dripping dead and handing them over to a policeman.

The dredgermen were paid for each corpse they collected. But they made a bit of extra money by emptying the pockets of the poor dead person and pinching their cash. 'Well,' one dredgerman said, 'If we didn't steal the money the policeman would!' Can you believe that? A crooked corpse-robbing cop?