Royal College of Physicians Museum
London
02030751216
Website: https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk
Parent Organisation:
Funded by:
Charity
YLM Entry Submitted: Yes
Comments:
How many human remains are in its collection, and how many of those are of ancient British provenance, pre-Christian or in other way Pagan?:
– Five human anatomical tables, all from Padua Italy, 17th century
– A forensic sample of bone fragments, British, 19th century
– Silver caul case with caul, c 1820.
None are pre-Christian or pagan.
Total: 7
How many of these human remains are well documented, with clear context of date and place of exhumation?:
– The anatomical tables are from unknown people, but they were almost certainly sentenced to death in Padua. Padua was a centre of medical education at the time and were likely used as teaching aids for medical students. The RCP’s anatomical tables were owned by the Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham from the late 17th century, and kept at their country house in Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland. On 24 March 1823, George Finch, Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham offered them to RCP. The tables were originally attributed to have belonged to physician William Harvey, however, twentieth-century research reveals that the Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham’s ancestor Sir John Finch (1626–82) was more likely to be the owner of the tables.
– The bone fragments were part of a 19th century forensic investigation and accompanied a set of papers: (ref. no. MS6068/9) relating to the discovery of a human skeleton in a field near Ipswich in 1868. Dr George Elliston acquired the skeleton from the farmer who owned the land. Elliston believed the skeleton may have belonged to one of several women murdered in the area roughly 50 years previously. As a former student of Dr Alfred Swaine Taylor’s, Elliston sent the bone fragments to Taylor for analysis.
– Silver caul case with caul made in England, c1820. Inside is the inscription ‘Robert Williams, born 13 March 1812’. An outer case box made form green leather bears the monograme ‘RW’. Cauls are the membrane occasionally still found covering the face of a baby at birth. Traditionally, cauls were considered lucky and sailors would buy them as a charm to protect themselves from drowning. Donated to the RCP Museum as part of the Symons collection of medicine.
Where there are ancestors in store, is there a history of use?:
The bone fragments are a relatively new acquisition from 2018 and were acquired as part of a set of archival papers belonging to a physician who was known for his part in forensic science; they have not been displayed or otherwise used yet.
There was a display planned about Taylor and forensic medicine, but it has been postponed due to COVID.
Where there are ancestors in store, is there potential for use, in display, education or scientific analysis?
There is potential for these remains to inform future displays (physical or digital) about the history of forensic science. A blog post has been written about the physician who used them for forensic analysis:
https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/blog/most-horrid-scenes-alfred-swaine-taylors-adventures-forensic-science
Does the museum have a disposal policy, and is it including HR with negligible potential in its discussions about disposal?:Yes
Within the Collections development policy, priorities for rationalisation and disposal are outlined. It does not prioritise human remains specifically as a disposal area, but seven human lung specimens from 1963 were transferred to Wellcome Museum of Anatomy and Pathology at the Royal College of Surgeons in 2013 because the RCP did not hold an appropriate human remains licence.
What sources of information about these human remains are in the public domain and where?:
Our catalogues are publicly accessible, and the records can be viewed here:
X19
http://rcp.adlibhosting.com/Details/collect/1882
X20
http://rcp.adlibhosting.com/Details/collect/2075
X21
http://rcp.adlibhosting.com/Details/collect/2079
X22
http://rcp.adlibhosting.com/Details/collect/2077
X281
http://rcp.adlibhosting.com/Details/collect/2078
2020.11 bone fragments:
http://rcp.adlibhosting.com/Details/collect/9704
Additionally, the anatomical tables have been written about online:
https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/collections/art-and-objects/anatomical-tables
https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/blog/anatomical-tables
They also featured in a recent Museum trail:
https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/blog/anatomy-rcp-museum-explore-our-new-museum-trail
Does the museum have ancestors (human remains) on display?:Yes
The anatomical tables are on display within the Royal College of Physicians, second floor gallery. They serve an educational purpose to educate medical practitioner visitors but also to educate visitors in the history of science and medicine.
There hasn’t been any negative feedback about the tables as far as we are aware. We emphasise during tours that we don’t know who these people were, and that they are unlikely have consented to their bodies being used as teaching aids.
Does the museum hold any iconic ancestors, ie. complete skeletons with a well documented story, or those considered of national or local importance, and are these on display?:
The anatomical tables are of international importance and are of only two sets known in the world. Their acquisition is well documented but who the bodies belonged to is unknown: they were likely from people executed in Padua. They are on display in the Second floor gallery.
Has the museum used or considered using replicas in displays? If not, why not and what would you find useful in moving to these? If you have, what response did these receive?:
The tables have been 3-D scanned so that more of their details can be viewed up-close, online and that they are accessible to more people.
https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/blog/bringing-17th-century-21st-century-3d-scanning-anatomy-table
There has not been any consideration to replace them with replica as they are iconic objects within the collection and serve medical history educational purpose. They are popular with the different segments of our audiences and are used to talk about the history of medicine and consent around medical research.
Secondly, there is no appropriate storage space to take them down from display.
25 November, 2020
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