Burke And Hare: 8 Facts About The Bodysnatchers Who Weren't

8. The Men

Burke and Hare shared a great many things by the end. What they shared from the start, long before they ever knew one another, was the first name William.

They were both immigrants from the north of Ireland and both moved across the Irish Sea to Scotland to find work opportunities sometime in the early 1800s. Sources are divided on how they met - although they both worked on the construction of the Union Canal, others maintain that it was only when they both found farm work for the harvest in Midlothian that they became properly acquainted.

However it happened, both men were in a new country and had no real families of their own: Burke had left his wife and children behind when he emigrated and Hare was unmarried. Hare ended up running a lodging house in the West Port area of Edinburgh (just beside the Grassmarket for any who have visited) with a widower who used his surname. Burke had found a new partner and they were invited to lodge with them.

Burke, Hare and their de-facto partners lived together in this arrangement alongside various lodgers and boarders that they took in for additional income.