‘How on earth was this allowed to happen?’

Sadness swept across Oldham at the news  a historic mass grave in Royton Cemetery contained the bodies of almost 300 babies and young children.

Hundreds of people expressed their sympathies with the relatives and shared stories of tracing their lost loved ones to communal graves with the Local Democracy Reporting Service.  

Many said they were aware of the existence of ‘pauper graves’ at Oldham’s cemeteries, where homeless people and those who passed away in workhouses were historically buried. But the presence of 145 stillborn babies and almost 130 babies and young children came as a grim shock. 

The discovery was made by a Royton woman who was searching for the last resting place of her twin brothers, who passed away shortly after birth in 1962. Their parents were never allowed to say goodbye and never told where their children were buried, according to the resident. 

Until the 1980s, it was ‘standard procedure’ for medical staff to tell bereaved parents that their stillborn children would be laid to rest alongside ‘a nice person’ being buried that same day. Instead, the babies were interred in mass graves. 

Now, decades later, parents and relatives have been uncovering the heartbreaking truth about the practice. 

Shani Corcoran is one of those relatives. The Teeside resident, who grew up in Oldham, spoke to the LDRS of her mother’s traumatic experience giving birth to a stillborn baby girl in the 1970s, when Shani was a young teenager. 

Shani said: “I remember my mum was pregnant. She went into hospital. The baby was stillborn and she came home and was drugged up for an awful long time. I just remember her being asleep and crying in her sleep. I was packed off to my auntie’s in Wales while my mum got over it – if she ever could.” 

Her mum, Loretta, was looked after by Doctor Patrick Steptoe, the pioneer of the test tube baby who hailed from Oldham. Her baby Theresa was conceived naturally, but Shani believes the obstetrician may have ‘known something was wrong’ because her mother was subjected to a series of tests at a late stage in her pregnancy. 

For years, the subject was too painful for Loretta to discuss. 

“On the odd occasion that we did discuss it, she told me that when she was in the hospital, there had been no nurses around when she felt the baby coming. My stepdad went off to find a nurse. In that time, my mum just gave birth on her own,” Shani said.  

“My mum said she remembered a nurse came in and took the baby and a moment later left the room with something wrapped in a bundle. So my mum said ‘What are you doing? Where are you going? And [the nurse] just said ‘It’s your baby, it’s dead’ and that was it. 

“My mum never saw the baby again. She was told that the baby would be buried in a mass grave, but they never told her where.” 

The loss ‘hung over’ Loretta for the rest of her life, Shani said. She acted as her mum’s carer until she passed away in April this year. Shani knew her mum had wanted to find out where baby Theresa was buried, but never had enough information to do so. 

Many more readers got in touch to share their stories. 

Susan commented on an M.E.N. post: “My mam had a full term still born little boy who she called Peter in the mid sixties in Oldham. She too was told that he would be buried with a little old lady. 

“Mam was only allowed to hold him for a very short while. It broke her heart but she never knew where he was buried. My mam is no longer here but it would mean so much to me if I could find him.” 

Another reader saod she had found her baby brother’s grave with the help of cemetery and council staff. He passed away at six weeks old and was buried in a smaller communal grave with five other babies and an elderly woman. 

“He now has his own little resting place which I made nice for him,” she said “Because at the end of the day they are all somebody and loved by somebody and shouldn’t have been just put in mass graves as though they are nobodies.” 

The stories have stirred up sympathy and anger in equal measures. Councillors in Oldham have called the practice a ‘social injustice’ leaving parents unable to properly mourn for their children. 

“How on earth was this allowed to happen?,” a reader asked. “The pain these mothers and relatives must have felt throughout their lives from not knowing must have been heartbreaking. This is cruel.” 

Another added: “Sadly in those days parents took the hospital’s word and many didn’t have the money to bury their babies. It’s so sad that only in the last 40 years or so still born babies have been given the respect and dignity from hospitals to have a funeral.” 

Oldham council leader Arooj Shah announced on Wednesday (Sept 11) that cemeteries across the borough would set up memorials to the infant deaths. 

Shah said: “I hope this news will bring some peace and solace to those surviving relatives who have loved ones buried in our cemeteries. It is right to face the mistakes of the past and, more importantly, remember those precious lives.” 

The council also voted in a motion put forward by Royton councillor Maggie Hughes to increase the level of support available to the relatives of the babies. The council will also work on digitising all records related to their deaths – making it easier for relatives to find them. 

Currently, the cemetery services are facing delays because of the number of inquiries they’ve received over the last week. But members of the public are still encouraged to get in touch via env.cemeteries@oldham.gov.uk if they need support.