ms to have had a happy knack of escaping justice; on p. 92 will be
found an account of his being acquitted, even when taken with the bodies
in his possession. He does not seem to have worked regularly with Crouch's
gang; at Hatton Garden Police Court he appeared as T. Light, _alias_ John
Jones, _alias_ Thomas Knight, in October, 1812, and it was stated against
him that he had lately been convicted at the Middlesex Sessions of
stealing dead bodies for dissection, but he had evaded standing his trial,
in consequence of which the Bench issued a warrant against him. The
particular charge on which he was now brought before the magistrates was
that, with Patrick Harnell,[26] one of his bail, he had been found in the
act of stealing three dead bodies from the parish burial-ground of St.
Pancras, or St. Giles, which were separated only by a wall. The men were
apprehended by the horse patrol of the Hampstead and Highgate district.
There was some difficulty in carrying on the case, as, until it was
determined from which burial-ground the bodies had been taken, it could
not be said which parish was the real prosecutor. Light attempted to
escape, but was secured. The newspaper adds, "and, from the frequency of
such offences, strong indignation was excited in the neighbourhood, from
whence a crowd attended at the office."

* * * * *

Holliss was originally a sexton, and, like so many of his class, came into
the pay of the Resurrectionists; at last his demands became so exorbitant
that the resurrection-men refused to pay him, and informed his employers
of what had been taking place. He was at once dismissed, and, having no
other means of livelihood, he joined the resurrection-men. He saved money,
and afterwards purchased a hackney coach, which he himself drove. Like
most of his companions, Holliss came to a bad end. Harnett, the younger,
had been to France, and had brought away with him a large number of
teeth, which he valued at L700; these he entrusted to his daughter, who
left them in a hackney carriage. The driver found the teeth, and, not
knowing how to dispose of them, consulted his friend, Holliss. Holliss
offered L5 for the teeth, and promised an extra sum if they sold well.
Harnett had made known his loss to Holliss, so that he knew perfectly well
to whom the teeth belonged. Thinking that he could make more money by
selling them privately than by trusting to a reward from Harnett, he began
to d