Bid to clear graves of the lost children in Plymouth
A WOMAN who discovered a "mass grave" thought to contain the bodies of more than 40 babies buried in the 1950s wants to tidy the site so she can pay her respects.
Yesterday The Herald revealed that an area of Ford Park Cemetery is believed to contain the bodies of dozens of children who died within hours of birth in 1954.
Wendy Sophola, who made the discovery while looking for information about her sister Mary, wants people to help cut back the overgrown trees and bushes covering the grave site. She plans to work with the trust that maintains the cemetery to do the work in the right manner.
Ms Sophola said: "It would be important to me and my family to be able to visit the site on a regular basis and put things down and tend the grave. We need to pay our respects to Mary, and with the story going in the paper maybe other people will come forward."
Ms Sophola plans to place a plaque at the site in memory of her sister, and is keen to work with Ford Park Cemetery Trust to clear the land.
All the babies were laid to rest between January and December 1954 after being born at the city's Freedom Fields Hospital or the Alexandra Maternity Home – except one, apparently born at home.
Yesterday The Herald was inundated with calls from people who believe their relatives may be buried in the same place.
Anne Butler, of Southway, whose mother had a stillborn baby in 1952, said: "We were surprised to read about it, very shocked really.
"My mum's baby was just taken from her and that was it, it was quite different in those days. We didn't even have a death certificate."
Diane Burnett, 65, who lives in Peverell, said: "My sister and I had a brother who was stillborn in 1955 or 1956. We never knew what happened to him.
"Mum never talked about it and it's very hard to get information. I never knew it existed, this sort of grave."
A local funeral director, who did not want to be named, said: "I am not surprised by it. In this business you realise that years ago things were not done the way they are today.
"We do our utmost to give parents something to remember their children by. Years ago they did not get that."
John Boon, chairman of the Ford Park Cemetery Trust, said: "With a small staff and limited resources the trust has achieved so much in managing the 34-acre grounds, not only as a place of burial and remembrance steeped in history, but also as a haven of peace and quiet recreation.
"It is an historic cemetery where those buried, including many who died serving their country, and young children, are all remembered and treated with respect."
Mr Boon said if and when relatives identify the grave of a loved one it is immediately cleared and maintained.
He said: "I feel it right to point out that staff and volunteers, whether working on the grounds, in the office or in historical research, work extremely hard in the difficult task of keeping Ford Park Cemetery safe for the future."
If you would like to help with the clean-up effort, call Wendy Sophola on 07973 953115.
Opinion – Pages 10 & 12
9 Comments
by BS_Hater
Monday, February 04 2013, 10:51AM
“Maybe the identities of some of these children were used by the Police for undercover ID's.
A story breaking today as I am sure many of you have heard already?”
by daznkel
Sunday, February 03 2013, 1:01AM
“The link was http://tinyurl.com/ccymtuy
or
If you cant see the above, in Facebook just search for AlexMaesBedFund”
by daznkel
Sunday, February 03 2013, 12:56AM
“As a grandparent of a recently passed granddaughter through still birth, I completely sympathise with Ms Sophola. If I knew that a tiny relative of mine was buried and the site left, shall we say "unattended", for so many years I would be distraught, let alone the manner in which it was probably dealt with.
Whether @Greenleigh it "seems to be much ado about nothing" or @sidewinder it was "unfortunately the way back then" it was still a baby, who was, as my daughter puts it "born sleeping"
My daughter and her partner are currently trying to raise funds and awareness for the parents of stillborn children, through their own loss of dear Alex Mae "Star" Creissen. You may read about their efforts in the coming days in the Herald and on this very site. But for the mean time if you would like to know more, Like them on Facebook; http://tinyurl.com/ccymtuy or follow on twitter @AlexMaesBedFund.
Thank you!”
by BettyD
Friday, February 01 2013, 4:49PM
“Why has it taken this woman 30/40 yrs to decide o try and find out about her sister. Her mother didn't want to talk about etc ,let sleeping dogs lie”
by monkey1
Friday, February 01 2013, 4:43PM
“Let's be clear Mrs Sophola did not discover a mass grave herself. She went to the cemetery to find her sisters grave and was shown an area where her sister and other unknown babies had been buried that has been kept as a nature reserve. Once it was ascertained that this was the grave site as with other graves in the area when claimed the Trust cleared the grave site within 48 hrs to enable the family to visit the grave. I note this was not reported in the article and the photo printed was of the remainder of the area where graves have not been claimed.
The word respect has been bandied about throughout this article therefore why has this not been reported with respect for the deceased and their families and the volunteers and members of the Trust that have worked very hard over the last 10 years to ensure that the deceased buried there continue to rest in peace. It is unfortunate that the records were lost years ago and it is very sad that these babies were taken and buried without the families knowing there whereabouts but that was how it was done in those days. The Trust as far as i am aware are continually working with local historians to try and update and replace records and are always looking for help.”
by sidewinder
Friday, February 01 2013, 2:39PM
“Mass graves were unfortunately the way back then and years before that,even after the Battle of Waterloo 25,000 Allied/French dead were buried in mass graves that even today no-one knows exactly the location.”
by shadoamb
Friday, February 01 2013, 1:24PM
“I had 3 still born babies in the 1950s. They were taken away immediately and I was not told what happened to them nor was my husband, except that on the last one he got a friend who was an undertaker to deal with the baby for us. Still we only knew it had been buried with someone else. I would have liked to know just for some closure. I still mourn my babies never having been able to have any other children. So "much ado about nothing" seems very cruel to me, so does "priorities woman". Every one grieves in their own way so let the lady do it her way!”
by pogle63a
Friday, February 01 2013, 11:15AM
“Okay getting a bit freaky now this story, lady now wants regualr visits and suddenly it has become important to visit. Sort of harks back to what I said yesterday about people nowadays being unable to except the harsh realities of life these days. Back in the 50`s people were far more stoic than people are today the harshness of the war years and the need to get by with less has certainly been nurtured out of the populous now.
I can understand the desire to tidy up the plot and let people know that these kiddies existed in the past even if only briefly. However for it to become an importnat part of her life she obviously has very little going on with the people around her who are still alive. Priorities - woman.
One more thing lets not forget the people who look after this Cemetary and worked so hard to save it are a TRUST not the Council or a Company, they cannot sort everything out at once.
So I am sure they won`t object to any practical help given.”
by Greenleigh
Friday, February 01 2013, 9:05AM
“This seems to be much ado about nothing.
The writer has written the story as if its something found in Sarajevo rather than FPC.
Hopefully the cemetery will appeal for people to come forward and have a suitable service for the little ones buried there but it's noticing sinister nor unusual.”