Father grieved for daughter at wrong grave for 30 years

A father said he was "gobsmacked" to discover that he had been visiting the wrong grave for his daughter because cemetery workers misplaced the headstone 30 years ago. Photo / BBC

A father made the heartbreaking discovery he had been grieving for his daughter at the wrong grave for more than 30 years because of a mistake with the headstone.

Manchester man George Salt's young daughter died less than two days after being born in July 1988. She was buried at Southern Cemetery in Manchester.

But an error more than 30 years ago, unknown to Salt, meant he had been grieving the loss of his daughter at the wrong grave.

The headstone had been moved to an empty spot in 1988, but the mistake was only realised this year.

A father said he was "gobsmacked" to discover that he had been visiting the wrong grave for his daughter because cemetery workers misplaced the headstone 30 years ago. Photo / BBC

The error was only discovered by Salt after seeing that the misplaced gravestone, which also had 17 other names on it, had been taken from its place.

After checking grave records cemetery workers discovered it had been placed in the wrong spot and decided to move it to the correct location.

Salt, who had visited the grave twice a year for 30 years, told the BBC he's devastated.

"I looked down and was completely gobsmacked. I thought 'where's the stone gone?'.

"I feel so let down. When you go to a grave you sit and talk and say what your troubles are and things like that, but the annoying thing is I'm talking to a piece of ground where she isn't there."

George Salt said he felt let down after his daughter's headstone was in the wrong place for 30 years. Photo / BBC

Salt told The Mirror he had suspected something was wrong in the 1980s but when he questioned it authorities reassured him it was in the right place.

Luthfur Rahman, Manchester City Council's executive member for culture and leisure, told Mirror Online: "We completely understand Mr Salt's distress and we would like to extend our sincere apologies for any upset caused.

"There are more than 200,000 graves at Southern Cemetery and we strive to ensure the plots are well looked after.

The gravestone also had 17 other names on it. Photo / BBC

"The public grave had not been disturbed for around 30 years so it is unclear why the headstone had at some point during that period been moved to a vacant plot close by."

The passing of time meant they were unable to say why it was moved to the wrong plot, the authority added.