Shona
25-11-12, 15:53
Name - "official" name and what they were known as:
John McLean
John McLean was the last person convicted in Scotland for 'violating sepulchres' (grave robbing), before the introduction of the 1832 Anatomy Act, which regulated the supply of bodies to medical schools. He was sentenced to one year in Campbeltown Tollbooth for 'a first offence and only involved one body'. However, this wasn't the only brush with the law. He was later arrested for theft. John McLean married twice and fathered at least 17 children. He also raised his second wife's illegitimate daughter. My great-grandmother was the youngest of his 17 legitimate children.
Date and place of birth:
Birth registered on 5 August 1808 in Killean parish, Argyll, according to marriage record
Names of parents:
John McLean (coachman) and Mirren/Marion nee McCallum
Date and place of baptism - if applicable:
Not known
Details of each of his or her marriages - if any:
1 Married Isabella (Bell) McIntyre on 1 February 1827 in Killean parish - possibly Clachan *
2 Married Catherine Carnegie on 15 January 1855, in Campbeltown. Witnesses: Alexander McLean and James Carnegie. According to this record, he was a widower who had 10 children with five living. Catherine was single and had a child named Mary Moffat.
* EDIT: I have found a record of John McLean marrying Isabella McIntyre on 9 February, Tayvallich
Occupation(s) - if any:
Summer 1831 'worked in the north herring fishing'.
He describes himself as a labourer in the 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871 censuses, but he was also a petty criminal until the age of about 40. His appearances in court, stop following his marriage to his second wife in 1855.
John McLean's occupation is listed as chimney sweep on the death cert of his son Alexander.
Addresses where they lived - and please list which censuses you have or haven't found him/her on:
Winter of 1831-1832 Inveraray Jail
1832 Campbeltown Tollbooth Prison - found guilty of violating sepulchres
1841 Campbeltown Prison - offence not known
[John's wife, six children and mother-in-law living in Bolgam Street, no one in work]
1851 Bolgam Street, Campbeltown
1853 Campbeltown Prison - found guilty of stealing a lead pipe from the grammar school
He is described in the prison records as being 5ft 6 3/4in tall and has a 'tear' in his right brow.
1855 Bolgam Street, Campbeltown
1861 Lady Mary Row, Campbeltown
1871 Lochend Street, Campbeltown
1873 Lochend Street, Campbeltown
Date, place and cause of death:
John McLean, day labourer, died on 21 January 1873 at Lochend Street in Campbeltown, aged 66. Cause: TB for six months. Informant: Alexander McLean
Date and place of burial / cremation:
Not known
Details of will / administration of their estate - if applicable:
Very unlikely
Memorial inscription - if any:
Not known
John McLean - the last Scottish Resurrectionist
Mary McKinven, wife of Robert Munro of Machrinhanish, died on Tuesday 29 November 1831 and was interred at Cladh nam Paitchean burying ground in the parish of Killean and Kilkenzie, Argyll, the next day.
People attending the next funeral at burying ground, noticed that the 'scraws' (sods) on Mrs Munro's grave had been disturbed. On inspection, it was found that the body was missing.
Agnes Munro, widow of Malcolm McMillan, a sailor in Greenock, and the daughter of the recently departed Mrs Munro, suspected John McLean of removing the body because he had allegedly been seen in the vicinity. He had a horse and cart and was in the company of two or three men.
When apprehended, John McLean said that he had no work and that his family were starving, so he had borrowed a horse and cart in the hope of getting potatoes from a farm where he had once worked, so that he could feed his family. En route, he chanced upon a whisky smuggler who offered McLean money to take him and the whisky to Campbeltown. McLean, who needed money, accepted the offer, but he didn't know the name of the smuggler and hadn't seen him since that night.
McLean explained that he met a man with a horse and cart who had two casks of whisky and a jar in the cart. One of the wheels of the cart had broken and the man was trying to repair it. The man mentioned that the casks contained illicit whisky and offered John McLean five shillings to carry the whisky to Campbeltown. The offer was accepted.
After agreeing the deal, John McLean and the smuggler sat for about two hours on the roadside talking and drinking whisky out of a flask that the smuggler had in his pocket. The cause of their waiting so long upon the road was to give time to the horse to eat a feed of corn. The horse didn't take two hours to eat the feed, but McLean and the smuggler were in no hurry.
However, Agnes Munro, the daughter of the late Mrs Munro whose body has been removed from its grave, said that she had been told by Colin Graham, a labourer, that he had been approached several times by John McLean the year before with the proposal that they dig up graves, remove the bodies and sell them to the college at Glasgow. McLean had told Graham that a body was worth between £5 and £7. Graham wouldn't get involved . Another witness, Neil McLellan, corroborated this story. Mclean had shown tools for digging up the grave and breaking open the coffin. He, like Graham, refused to join the venture.
John Carmichael, a 36-year-old fisherman, gave a statement that he tried to get a ride with the body snatchers. He was returning to Campbeltown and heard a cart on the road and ran to catch up with it so as to get a lift into town. He told the Sheriff that: 'There was a chest about the size of a sailor's chest in the cart and two men in the cart sitting upon it and there was a third man driving a white or light-coloured pony.'
Carmichael and the driver began to talk in Gaelic. The driver told him he was from Clachan and was taking his sailor brother's chest to Taynamaol.
Evidence was given that the steam boat, Duke of Lancaster, carried a large red-painted chest from Campbeltown to Glasgow. The chest was later was found to have blood stains inside. The chest was the property of Edward Currie, who left it in the house of Arthur Donally.
Mclean was found guilty and send to prison for a year.
The Procurator Fiscal, Dan McTaggart, was admonished for not following correct procedures in the case. His reasons for not doing so, revolved around a jailer who couldn't be found and a ferry laid up for repairs.
John McLean
John McLean was the last person convicted in Scotland for 'violating sepulchres' (grave robbing), before the introduction of the 1832 Anatomy Act, which regulated the supply of bodies to medical schools. He was sentenced to one year in Campbeltown Tollbooth for 'a first offence and only involved one body'. However, this wasn't the only brush with the law. He was later arrested for theft. John McLean married twice and fathered at least 17 children. He also raised his second wife's illegitimate daughter. My great-grandmother was the youngest of his 17 legitimate children.
Date and place of birth:
Birth registered on 5 August 1808 in Killean parish, Argyll, according to marriage record
Names of parents:
John McLean (coachman) and Mirren/Marion nee McCallum
Date and place of baptism - if applicable:
Not known
Details of each of his or her marriages - if any:
1 Married Isabella (Bell) McIntyre on 1 February 1827 in Killean parish - possibly Clachan *
2 Married Catherine Carnegie on 15 January 1855, in Campbeltown. Witnesses: Alexander McLean and James Carnegie. According to this record, he was a widower who had 10 children with five living. Catherine was single and had a child named Mary Moffat.
* EDIT: I have found a record of John McLean marrying Isabella McIntyre on 9 February, Tayvallich
Occupation(s) - if any:
Summer 1831 'worked in the north herring fishing'.
He describes himself as a labourer in the 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871 censuses, but he was also a petty criminal until the age of about 40. His appearances in court, stop following his marriage to his second wife in 1855.
John McLean's occupation is listed as chimney sweep on the death cert of his son Alexander.
Addresses where they lived - and please list which censuses you have or haven't found him/her on:
Winter of 1831-1832 Inveraray Jail
1832 Campbeltown Tollbooth Prison - found guilty of violating sepulchres
1841 Campbeltown Prison - offence not known
[John's wife, six children and mother-in-law living in Bolgam Street, no one in work]
1851 Bolgam Street, Campbeltown
1853 Campbeltown Prison - found guilty of stealing a lead pipe from the grammar school
He is described in the prison records as being 5ft 6 3/4in tall and has a 'tear' in his right brow.
1855 Bolgam Street, Campbeltown
1861 Lady Mary Row, Campbeltown
1871 Lochend Street, Campbeltown
1873 Lochend Street, Campbeltown
Date, place and cause of death:
John McLean, day labourer, died on 21 January 1873 at Lochend Street in Campbeltown, aged 66. Cause: TB for six months. Informant: Alexander McLean
Date and place of burial / cremation:
Not known
Details of will / administration of their estate - if applicable:
Very unlikely
Memorial inscription - if any:
Not known
John McLean - the last Scottish Resurrectionist
Mary McKinven, wife of Robert Munro of Machrinhanish, died on Tuesday 29 November 1831 and was interred at Cladh nam Paitchean burying ground in the parish of Killean and Kilkenzie, Argyll, the next day.
People attending the next funeral at burying ground, noticed that the 'scraws' (sods) on Mrs Munro's grave had been disturbed. On inspection, it was found that the body was missing.
Agnes Munro, widow of Malcolm McMillan, a sailor in Greenock, and the daughter of the recently departed Mrs Munro, suspected John McLean of removing the body because he had allegedly been seen in the vicinity. He had a horse and cart and was in the company of two or three men.
When apprehended, John McLean said that he had no work and that his family were starving, so he had borrowed a horse and cart in the hope of getting potatoes from a farm where he had once worked, so that he could feed his family. En route, he chanced upon a whisky smuggler who offered McLean money to take him and the whisky to Campbeltown. McLean, who needed money, accepted the offer, but he didn't know the name of the smuggler and hadn't seen him since that night.
McLean explained that he met a man with a horse and cart who had two casks of whisky and a jar in the cart. One of the wheels of the cart had broken and the man was trying to repair it. The man mentioned that the casks contained illicit whisky and offered John McLean five shillings to carry the whisky to Campbeltown. The offer was accepted.
After agreeing the deal, John McLean and the smuggler sat for about two hours on the roadside talking and drinking whisky out of a flask that the smuggler had in his pocket. The cause of their waiting so long upon the road was to give time to the horse to eat a feed of corn. The horse didn't take two hours to eat the feed, but McLean and the smuggler were in no hurry.
However, Agnes Munro, the daughter of the late Mrs Munro whose body has been removed from its grave, said that she had been told by Colin Graham, a labourer, that he had been approached several times by John McLean the year before with the proposal that they dig up graves, remove the bodies and sell them to the college at Glasgow. McLean had told Graham that a body was worth between £5 and £7. Graham wouldn't get involved . Another witness, Neil McLellan, corroborated this story. Mclean had shown tools for digging up the grave and breaking open the coffin. He, like Graham, refused to join the venture.
John Carmichael, a 36-year-old fisherman, gave a statement that he tried to get a ride with the body snatchers. He was returning to Campbeltown and heard a cart on the road and ran to catch up with it so as to get a lift into town. He told the Sheriff that: 'There was a chest about the size of a sailor's chest in the cart and two men in the cart sitting upon it and there was a third man driving a white or light-coloured pony.'
Carmichael and the driver began to talk in Gaelic. The driver told him he was from Clachan and was taking his sailor brother's chest to Taynamaol.
Evidence was given that the steam boat, Duke of Lancaster, carried a large red-painted chest from Campbeltown to Glasgow. The chest was later was found to have blood stains inside. The chest was the property of Edward Currie, who left it in the house of Arthur Donally.
Mclean was found guilty and send to prison for a year.
The Procurator Fiscal, Dan McTaggart, was admonished for not following correct procedures in the case. His reasons for not doing so, revolved around a jailer who couldn't be found and a ferry laid up for repairs.