The body of Earl Ferrers, displayed upright in his coffin at the Royal College of Surgeons. Engraving by Valois.

Earl Ferrers was accused of the murder of a man formerly his servant, in January 1760. He elected to be tried by his peers, who found him guilty. He was hanged and his body was "dissected and anatomised at Surgeons Hall". It seems that his body was first displayed, with the noose used, to the public