John Gill was only seven years old when he was brutally slaughtered in Manningham in 1888. He was buried at Windhill Cemetery, Shipley, where his memorial lays flat on the floor today.

Over time, that memorial has badly deteriorated. I have offered to finance and arrange its careful restoration at no cost to Bradford Council or the public purse out of the proceeds of the sale of a book. The aim is simple: to preserve the grave of a murdered Bradford child and prevent his name from being lost.

Bradford Council has so far refused to permit the restoration unless a current grave owner or qualifying relative can be identified. However, no surviving records to identify the current grave owner exist, the last burial was nearly 100 years ago, and no practical living owner appears to be available. This leaves the memorial trapped in a bureaucratic dead end.

This petition asks Bradford Council to provide a lawful and proportionate route for the privately funded restoration of John Gill’s memorial and asks them to honour the covenants that exist in the transfer deed of the cemetery when they bought it whereby no bloodline can be found.

We are not asking the Council to pay for the work. We are asking them to allow it, subject to proper safety checks, appropriate materials, and the use of a qualified memorial mason or conservation professional.

John Gill’s grave is not just a private family matter. It is part of Bradford’s history, part of Windhill Cemetery’s heritage, and the resting place of a child whose murder shocked Victorian Bradford.

We call on Bradford Council to grant permission, or identify a lawful route, for the privately funded restoration of John Gill’s memorial at Windhill Cemetery, where no surviving records appear to identify a current grave owner.