Edgerton cemetery baby memorial to be unveiled

Jun 2 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A MEMORIAL for hundreds of tiny babies is to be unveiled next week at Edgerton Cemetery.

The new baby memorial will give bereaved parents a focal point for remembrance, as they mourn babies who were stillborn or died just after birth.

The news follows angry protests by families who had called for a memorial but then discovered that Kirklees Council had planned to go ahead without telling them.

Now, however, leading campaigner Bruce Jackson has welcomed the moves which will see the memorial commissioned on June 10.

He said: “I’m happy about the outcome and the memorial.

“Hopefully it will help families to come to some kind of terms with what happened and the memorial will give them a focal point within the cemetery instead of having to roam around looking for unmarked graves.

“It will give them somewhere to focus their emotions.’’

Mr Jackson added: “If people contact Kirklees Bereavement Services they will find them empathetic and will deal with the inquiry in a caring way.”

The Canon Catherine Ogle, of Huddersfield Parish Church (right), and the chaplains of Huddersfield Royal Infirmary will be holding an Interfaith blessing at the new memorial on Wednesday, June 10, at 11am.

Bereaved parents and others are welcome to attend the special event.

The memorial commemorates hundreds of babies buried in unmarked graves throughout the cemetery and is to be situated in an area with other public memorials at the Blacker Road side of the cemetery, near the war memorial and the Booth Factory Fire Memorial.

Mr Jackson launched the campaign for recognition for the unmarked graves of children who were stillborn or died just days after being born.