'The records were in a skip!' - Health Secretary Neil Gray 'humbled' by work of Lanarkshire asylum grave volunteers
The Scottish Health Secretary was speaking to our Lost Souls project about returning dignity to those buried in unmarked graves across the country.
Health Secretary Neil Gray has been telling our Lost Souls investigation he's humbled by the work of volunteers who've returned dignity to an asylum graveyard in North Lanarkshire.
The local MSP was speaking at a special event at Hartwood Cemetery to mark the life and death of Patrick Tierney - who served his country during the First World War, and lived out his final days at the former asylum there.
We've been investigating the fate of asylum graves across Britain, finding many former patients are now forgotten, and their burial plots lying anonymous, unmarked, and in some cases sold off.
Lost Souls investigation visits Hartwood Paupers Cemetery
Hartwood Cemetery has won national recognition for the work of volunteers who've turned the plot into a place of remembrance - but the chance to connect the past with the present was almost lost.
Mr Gray says it was "fortuitous" that the project was able to happen at all: "The hospital was being cleared out, there was a skip outside and the record book detailing the names of the people who were buried here was in the skip.
"By chance, someone picked it out and preserved it, and because of that, alongside painstaking research by residents and volunteers here in Hartwood and beyond, they've been able to identify where people are buried and we now have families who have travelled from all over the world able to pay tribute to their relatives who are buried here.
"That is just the most touching, humbling and moving story that I can imagine."
Asylum graves lost, abandoned, across the country
1255 souls are buried at Hartwood, in more than 600 plots.
Public records and clear signage created by Friends of Hartwood Pauper's Cemetery mean this is now a peaceful and dignified place where families can pay their respects.
But according to our investigation, not everyone is so lucky in other parts of the country.
Hartwood is hailed as a shining example of how dignity can be returned to these asylum sites.
He also says that is only possible due to hard work and dedication from those who made Hartwood what it is today: "It was overgrown, it was unkempt, it wasn't looked after, nobody knew who was here.
"I don't think many people would have even understood that there was actually a cemetery here.
"It was as if, even in death, they were to be forgotten about."
The MSP says that all changed because of the work of volunteers: "They have given people a sense of dignity and that is so touching for me and it's an example for others to follow in order to recognise that people have not been treated as well as they should have been."
Calls for national memorial for Britain's Lost Souls
Asylum campaigners on a national level are calling for a national memorial to be created to remember those who've been forgotten, whose records have been lost, or whose burial sites have been abandoned or lost.
Neil Gray says that's something he welcomes: "I think it is a very worthy cause, and something that should be considered. I understand the importance of people having somewhere to go to think of, pay tribute to, recognise and pay their respects to loved ones.
"Where we haven’t been able to recognise where people are buried I think it’s an idea worth consideration – where we can give families the opportunity to pay their respects to their ancestors."
Find out more about our Lost Souls investigation
Read more about the work of Friends of Hartwood Pauper's Cemetery