Burke and Hare murders two men were hanged in December 1831 for the crime. A bill was quickly introduced into Parliament, and gained royal assent nine months later to become the Anatomy Act 1832. This Act authorised dissection on bodies from workhouses unclaimed after 48 hours, and ended the practice of anatomising as part of the death sentence for murder. The events of the West Port murders have made appearances in fiction. They are referred to in Robert Louis Stevenson's 1884 short story, "The Body Snatcher", and Marcel Schwob told their story in the last chapter of "Imaginary Lives" (1896), while the Edinburgh-based author
Trams in Edinburgh Princes Street and Leith Walk, to Bernard Street, Leith, replacing a horse-drawn carriage service. Edinburgh Northern Tramways began the first cable-hauled tram services in January 1888. The Levenhall to Port Seton section was replaced by motor buses. Expansion in the 1930s added routes Gorgie to Stenhouse, Braids to Fairmilehead and North Gyle to Maybury. At the time of closure, the total tram route was 47 miles long. The Corporation's last electric tram ran on 16 November 1956. After six years in which the controversial scheme suffered from long delays and over-spending, the new Edinburgh Trams system finally began operation on