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What happened to Laurence Sterne's body after he was buried in London?
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Laurence Sterne
Novelist Laurence Sterne, detail of an oil painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1760; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Shortly after Laurence Sterne was buried in London, his body was stolen by grave robbers and transported to Cambridge to be used for an anatomy lecture. During the session, someone recognized the corpse, leading to its quiet return to the grave.1
While this account was only whispered at the time, it was confirmed in 1969. Sterne’s remains were subsequently exhumed and now rest in the churchyard at Coxwold, near his former home, Shandy Hall.1