Exhibitions
Post mortem Sir Bernard Spilsbury and forensic science
1 February - 30 March 2003

Sir Bernard Spilsbury (1877 - 1947) was the first person that could genuinely be called a ‘medical detective’. In his career as a forensic pathologist his meticulous methods and accurate observation resulted in some of the most remarkable and ground breaking forensic work. From a childhood spent in Royal Leamington Spa, he rose to fame as honorary pathologist to the Home Office and became a household name through press coverage of the famous murder cases that he worked on between 1910 and 1947. This exhibition looked at Spilsbury’s life and work and the influence that he had on the worlds of forensics, policing and the justice system.

The exhibition included the original evidence from some of the trials that Spilsbury worked on, including the ‘Blazing car murder’, some of the index cards he completed to keep a record of his post mortems and a scrap book about the trial of Dr Crippen that was compiled by Charles Belcher, the Scotland Yard Inspector who investigated the case. It  also looks at the development of forensic science with modern scene of crime equipment.

Sir Bernard Spilsbury in his laboratory (from Bernard Spilsbury, his life and cases by Browne & Tullett, photo Topical Press).

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