Mr Bally's Heads

One of the most secretive attractions in mid-nineteenth century Manchester was a collection of up to 1,000 casts made from people's heads

A set of heads created by the phrenologist William Bally of King Street, Manchester, in 1831. (Photo: Wellcome Collection)

Take a walk down King Street on a Monday night in 1840 and you would see a group of men loitering outside a door.

Sheepish in the cold evening light and hoping not be seen, they were waiting for that door to spring open so they could …