More than 300 bodies of mostly children and babies have been discovered in a mass grave in Oldham.
The 12x12ft grave in Royton Cemetery was found by a woman who was looking for her brothers, with one stillborn and the other dying within five hours in 1962, she told local councillors.
They were buried without the parents ever seeing or holding them and shared a mass grave in the cemetery with 303 others, consisting of some 146 stillborn babies, 128 babies and young children, and 29 adults.
The figures were laid bare in a “heartbreaking” study released by councillors Maggie Hurley and Jade Hughes.
Up until the mid-1980s, stillborn babies across the country were often taken from families with no consultation with their parents, who would not know where they were taken.
Bereaved parents were instead told by medical staff that their child was buried alongside a “nice person” that same day.
“It's a plea for social justice. We must fight for the recognition of those innocent babies buried in mass graves in Royton Cemetery, their resting places unmarked, and their lives unrecognised,“ the councillors said in a statement.
Of the 303 bodies found, only 147 names were online, with a further 156 names missing. However, this has since been addressed, they said.
They added the grave is only one of four of its kind in Royton Cemetery.
“It's a stark injustice that parents were denied the fundamental right to bury their babies, a right that should be inherent and unquestionable. This situation should stir our collective sense of fairness and empathy.”
When making the discovery, the resident who found the grave was left “in tears”, the councillors said. “She was in dire need of help, both emotionally and practically, to cope with this traumatic discovery.”
Her quest for her brothers had began after she saw a news report regarding a lady called Gina Jacobs whose stillborn son had been taken in 1969. She had spent over 53 years looking for his final resting place before finding he was in a mass grave.
In response to the Oldham discovery, Ms Jacobs said on Facebook on Thursday evening that the resident “is working tirelessly to get justice and recognition for our babies and born sleeping siblings. We are not anymore a little group of Wirral families looking for justice.”
