Guts, instinct and evidence

Personal papers of 'father of modern forensics' purchased by the Wellcome Library

Personal papers of the late Sir Bernard Spilsbury, the 'father of modern forensics', have been purchased at Sotheby's by the Wellcome Library, Europe's leading resource for the study of the history of medicine.

The £14 000 purchase of the materials dated from 1910 to1930 are the only known collection of his personal papers still in existence, and are soon to become widely available and free for the public to view in the Wellcome Library's Rare Materials Room.

British-born Spilsbury was a famous and controversial figure in forensic medicine during the early 20th century. He appeared as a prosecution witness for the Crown in many high-profile murder cases, including the famous case of the death of Dr Crippen's wife, and of other crimes of violence during the first half of the 20th century. He also performed autopsies on numerous other cases of accidental or unexpected death or suicide, which form the basis of the material purchased by the Wellcome Library. Over the course of his career he undertook more than 25 000 post-mortems - between 750 and 1000 per year.

However, there have been claims that Spilsbury was a rather ambiguous character whose methods could be called into question. He had physical presence in court but was not academically distinguished and tended to promote hypotheses as established fact.

Dr Richard Aspin, Head of Research and Interpretation at the Wellcome Library commented: "Spilsbury often used his gut instincts rather than a purely evidence based approach to forensic medicine. By adding these materials to the Wellcome Library's collections, we hope to deepen our understanding of the man behind the investigations and learn more about the foundations of modern CSI."

Colin Evans author of 'The Father of Forensics: How Sir Bernard Spilsbury invented modern CSI' commented: "Spilsbury was a deeply charismatic figure who had the ability to communicate forensic evidence in plain English. Before Spilsbury, forensic scientists were seen as rather academic and incomprehensible. His presentation skills really propelled him into the limelight and altered the status of forensic medicine at the time."

Although Spilsbury worked on numerous high profile cases - such as the 'Butcher of Soho', and the 'Brides in the bath murders' - the surviving 4000 record cards purchased at Sotheby's relate to cases that were less well known, but of significance to the world of forensic investigation. Spilsbury had intended to use these cards as a basis for writing an authoritative textbook on forensic medicine – unfortunately this remained uncompleted at his death.

Spilsbury committed suicide by coal-gas poisoning, rather poignant given the number of cases of suicide or accidental death he worked on that were carried out by that means. He died in his laboratory at University College London on 17 December 1947. He was estranged from his wife, two of his sons had recently died, and his health was deteriorating. Although his official career is well-documented in materials at The National Archives and in the press, no significant collections of personal papers, apart from these cards, are known to have survived.