A Blantyre Project reader recently saw this gravestone in High Blantyre Cemetery, referring to a young boy who accidentally drowned.
Ronald Graham was the son of James and Margaret Graham. Born in 1960, at the age of 10, young Ronald went missing on 10th April 1970. A frantic search must have been launched, and news would have quickly circulated throughout Blantyre as search parties took to sweeping the area.
Wanting to know more, I found a snippet in an obscure newspaper down south from April that year. It reported that Ronald was recovered from a deep pond near his home in Blantyre on Sunday 19th April 1970, some 9 days after going missing. The verdict was accidental drowning.
Knowing this was 50 years ago, with both his parents now deceased, this little article hopefully serves to remember little Ronald and his life cut short at such a young age. Rest in Peace Ronald Graham.
