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Hello all,
I haven't read the book by Wynne Weston Davis, but I read the series of articles in the Telegraph. I am a bit surprised that he has requested permission to have her exhumed so he can prove his theory with DNA testing.
I had read several places that her grave "was reclaimed by the city." Wikipedia and several other sites say this was "in the 1950s" and the main article on her the Casebook gives the more specific date of 1947. My understanding of grave reclamation is that the remains of a number of people are dug up and buried again in a concentrated area, making room for more fresh grave sites. I believe this became commonplace in London during the cholera epidemics in the 1840s, when there were so many people to bury. If that is the case, then it would be impossible to find her remains. Does anyone know anything about this?
There is also the separate issue of the grave marker. I believe it was unmarked initially, or the original marker was lost, and one added decades later was discovered to be in the wrong spot and moved, and so it seems it would be hard to guarantee that the remains under the stone are indeed Kelly.
In any case, I doubt the authorities will give permission for this, as I believe they are quite reluctant to do so in the UK.
I haven't read the book by Wynne Weston Davis, but I read the series of articles in the Telegraph. I am a bit surprised that he has requested permission to have her exhumed so he can prove his theory with DNA testing.
I had read several places that her grave "was reclaimed by the city." Wikipedia and several other sites say this was "in the 1950s" and the main article on her the Casebook gives the more specific date of 1947. My understanding of grave reclamation is that the remains of a number of people are dug up and buried again in a concentrated area, making room for more fresh grave sites. I believe this became commonplace in London during the cholera epidemics in the 1840s, when there were so many people to bury. If that is the case, then it would be impossible to find her remains. Does anyone know anything about this?
There is also the separate issue of the grave marker. I believe it was unmarked initially, or the original marker was lost, and one added decades later was discovered to be in the wrong spot and moved, and so it seems it would be hard to guarantee that the remains under the stone are indeed Kelly.
In any case, I doubt the authorities will give permission for this, as I believe they are quite reluctant to do so in the UK.