'Discovering our uncle's forgotten grave means so much'

A relative of one of 15 children buried in a "forgotten grave" has said its restoration means her ancestor can now finally rest in peace.

The plot was discovered at Undercliffe Cemetery in Bradford last year and a ceremony has now been held to honour those interred there.

The children all lived at the Home for Little Incurables, run by Barnardo's in Manningham, and are believed to have died from tuberculosis in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Pat Carey's great-uncle, James Elton, was one of them, and the 86-year-old said the ceremony was a "tearful" moment.

The gravestone was uncovered as part of a project by the Undercliffe Cemetery Charity to make the site, and the stories of those laid to rest there, more accessible.

The 13 boys and two girls buried in the plot, which was bought by Irish philanthropist Dr Thomas John Barnardo, were aged between three and 18.

Carey said she read an article in a national newspaper about the grave and contacted Undercliffe Cemetery Charity to see whether her great-uncle could be one of the children buried there.

"The whole family came from the East End of London - so what was he doing in Bradford?

"Eventually I sent for the death certificate and that proved it was him."

James's twin brother became her grandfather, and she said that he and her father would have been "over the moon" had they lived to attend the ceremony.

"I suppose it's peace isn't it? Peace at last," she added.

Carey's brother Peter Elton, 81, also made the journey to Bradford from Essex.

He said to see the grave reinstated was a "beautiful thing".

Speaking about his great-uncle, who was 15 when he died in 1900, he said that they knew he was "quite ill most of his life", was put into the care system and ended up in Bradford, but that they did not know how or why.

Elton said it was "very touching" when the names of the 15 children were read out at the ceremony.

Each child buried in the grave has been given a plaque with their name on, and a vase for a flower.

Yasmin Hanif, from the charity Barnardo's in Bradford said she was "super proud" of their involvement in the ceremony.

The organisation has worked closely with the Undercliffe Cemetery Charity on the restoration project.

She said: "It's really mixed emotions, it's amazing to see the final restoration and it looks amazing - and the cherry on the cake was finding Pat and Peter.

"I'm just so pleased we've been able to provide that missing piece of information in their family history," she added.

The charity is keen to trace the family members of the other 14 children and urged anyone who believes they too may be related to get in touch.

The Home for Little Incurables opened in 1898 at 2 Parkfield Road in Manningham, then one of the city's most prestigious suburbs. It could accommodate 23 children, many suffering from diseases such as tuberculosis or with severe disabilities such as rickets.

The first burial was in 1899 and the last in 1906, before the home moved to a new site in Harrogate in 1911.

The Manningham building has been significantly altered but is now a private home.

Over the past five years, the Undercliffe Cemetery Charity has painstakingly compiled a database of the cemetery's 124,500 burials, using the information they have collected to locate the sunken gravestones along with in-depth research.

Tim Hardy, from the charity, said: "It is obviously one of our most well-known graves and to think we've got 15 children from all over the United Kingdom, only two of them are from Yorkshire, it's our duty of care to take care of them and to honour their memory."

He said that was a "lovely thing to be able to do" and it was "fantastic" to meet the relatives of one of the children - describing that as the "icing on the cake."

1. Arthur Westwood, six - died 1899
2. James Alfred Elton, 15 - died 1900
3. Samuel Martin Minns, 15 - died 1900
4. Joseph Frederick Sunley, 16 - died 1900
5. Arthur Ayling, 11 - died 1901
6. Robert James Denny, 14 - died 1901
7. George Francis Brown, three - died 1902
8. Horace Russell Everett, 16 - died 1902
9. Thomas Michael Varley, 17 - died 1903
10. Walter Aleck Percy Goddard, nine - died 1903
11. Esther (Kate) Mason, 14 - died 1903
12. George Hague, 12 - died 1903
13. Richard Saunders, 13 - died 1904
14. Florence Edith Jane Pegler, 18 - died 1904
15. Benjamin Lestrille, 11 - 1906

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