Kirchenakte1917-1981 · 64 years
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Scotland, Smyllum Park and Bellevue, children's homes of the Daughters of Charity 1917 to 1981 (Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry 2018)
In 2018 the state Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry found that children in the Scottish homes of the Catholic Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, above all in the Smyllum Park orphanage in Lanark, were abused: beaten with leather straps, rosary beads and wooden crucifixes, force-fed, used as unpaid labour, sexually abused by priests, sisters and staff. Six-year-old Samuel Carr died malnourished of an infection shortly after a sister had beaten him severely. 16 children from Smyllum lie in a communal plot without headstones.
- Period
- 1917-1981 (64 years)
- Report published
- 1 January 2018
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Institutions
- Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul
Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark
Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen
St Vincent's, Newcastle - Category
- Violence, Sexual abuse
- Level of evidence
- A Primary source · what does this mean?
- Persons
- Samuel Carr (child at Smyllum, died at the age of six, malnourished, after severe beatings by a sister)
Charlie Forsyth (former child in care, later a member of staff at Smyllum, according to the findings physically and emotionally abused children)
What happened to the people
Who was affected? Victims and numbers
- Children were sexually abused at Smyllum and at St Vincent's in Newcastle, which the order ran for the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, by priests, a trainee priest, sisters, staff and a volunteer.
Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9)
„Children were sexually abused by priests, a trainee priest, Sisters, members of staff and a volunteer.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9). Original - Samuel Carr died at Smyllum at the age of six of a severe E. coli infection after contact with a rat. He was malnourished although he had lived in the home for a long time, and had been severely beaten by a sister shortly before his death. Francis McColl, who was hard of hearing, died at 13 after being struck by a golf club during poorly supervised play. Patricia Meenan died at 12 when she was hit by a car while running away from Smyllum.
Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9)
„Samuel Carr, a child in Smyllum, died aged six years as a result of contracting a severe and vicious E. coli infection after contact with a rat. He was malnourished despite having been in Smyllum for a significant time. He had received a severe beating from a Sister not long before his death.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9). Original Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9)
„Francis McColl, a child in Smyllum, died aged 13 years after an accident in which he was hit by a golf club when it was being swung.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9). Original Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9)
„Patricia Meenan, a child in Smyllum, died aged 12 years as a result of being hit by a car when she was running away from Smyllum to go back to Glasgow.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9). Original
How were they charged and sentenced?
- The sisters who gave evidence conceded that the practices described, if they happened, would have been abuse even by the standards of the time. The inquiry found that children in the care of the order were abused.
Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Kap. 1 Introduction, S. 1 (PDF-S. 11)
„the Sisters who gave evidence accepted that, if the practices described in the evidence happened, they would have been abusive by the standards of the time“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Kap. 1 Introduction, S. 1 (PDF-S. 11). Original Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. viii (PDF-S. 8)
„Children were abused while in the care of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul in Scotland.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. viii (PDF-S. 8). Original
What happened to those affected?
- For many children, Smyllum and Bellevue were places of fear, coercive control, threat, excessive punishment and emotional, physical and sexual abuse, where they found no love, no compassion, no dignity and no comfort.
Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. viii (PDF-S. 8)
„For many children who were in Smyllum and Bellevue, the homes were places of fear, coercive control, threat, excessive discipline and emotional, physical and sexual abuse, where they found no love, no compassion, no dignity and no comfort.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. viii (PDF-S. 8). Original - Children were beaten with leather straps, the "Lochgelly Tawse" (a punishment strap), hairbrushes, sticks, footwear, rosary beads, wooden crucifixes and a dog's lead; for some this was part of daily life. In force-feeding, children's noses were held so that they opened their mouths, and food continued to be forced in even when they were vomiting.
Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. viii (PDF-S. 8)
„The implements used included leather straps, the “Lochgelly Tawse,” hairbrushes, sticks, footwear, rosary beads, wooden crucifixes and a dog’s lead.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. viii (PDF-S. 8). Original Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. viii (PDF-S. 8)
„For some children, being hit was a normal aspect of daily life.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. viii (PDF-S. 8). Original Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. viii (PDF-S. 8)
„holding their noses so as to force them to open their mouths. Food continued to be forced into their mouths even when they were vomiting it back“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. viii (PDF-S. 8). Original - Left-handed children were abused verbally and forced to use their right hand, Protestant children were abused verbally and treated as inferior. One child was told while being beaten that the Jewishness would be beaten out of him.
Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9)
„Children were abused for being left handed by being called names and being forced to use their right hands instead.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9). Original Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9)
„Children were abused for being Protestants by being called names and treated as being of lesser importance.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9). Original Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9)
„One child was told the Jewishness would be knocked out of him whilst he was being beaten.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9). Original
Witness accounts and records
“Steaphain” said: “I was beaten. I was beaten up. It was a regular feature ... I can recall being beaten up on frequent occasions ... The people that were always behind the beatings were nuns. The people who were supposed to be looking after myself, my brother, my sister.
Background
Why? Justification and motives (according to the sources)
- The inquiry also attributed the violence to staff shortages and excessive demands: understaffing and the pressure on often young, untrained sisters increased the risk that they lost their temper or used violence as a means of control. A former member of staff said the sisters were not trained and somehow had to keep the children under control.
Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Kap. 3.2 Physical abuse, S. 10 (PDF-S. 20)
„understaffing and the consequent pressures brought to bear on – in many cases – young, untrained Sisters, increased the risk of them losing their temper and/or resorting to physical abuse“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Kap. 3.2 Physical abuse, S. 10 (PDF-S. 20). Original Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Kap. 3.2 Physical abuse, S. 10 (PDF-S. 20)
„They weren’t trained and I think they just had to keep control of us how they could.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Kap. 3.2 Physical abuse, S. 10 (PDF-S. 20). Original
Who received the assets, who profited?
- Children had to do heavy work that was not appropriate to their age and were used as unpaid labour, because there were too few staff and too little money for adequate staffing.
Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. viii (PDF-S. 8)
„Children were used as unpaid labour in circumstances where there were not enough staff and insufficient funds to employ an adequate number of staff.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. viii (PDF-S. 8). Original
Response of the Church
- Between 1900 and 1981, 16 children and young people from Smyllum were buried in the "Smyllum Plot" of St Mary's cemetery in Lanark, without marked graves and without headstones; the graves of sisters in the same cemetery have headstones with inscriptions. The memorial stone, which the order erected only after a campaign by survivors, bears no names.
Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9)
„between 1900 and 1981, there were 16 under-18 year olds who were recorded as having been residents at Smyllum buried in the “Smyllum Plot” within the cemetery of St Mary’s Parish Church, Lanark. There is no record of the individual lairs and there are no headstones to mark them.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9). Original Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9)
„Various Sisters and Charlie Forsyth are also buried in the St Mary’s Cemetery. Their graves are marked and have headstones with inscriptions.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. ix (PDF-S. 9). Original Evidence: Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland), Summary, S. x (PDF-S. 10)
„erected by the Order in response to a campaign by In Care Abuse Survivors (INCAS). It does not bear the names of individual children.“
Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), Summary, S. x (PDF-S. 10). Original
Original documents to read
- Government report
Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Schottland): Case Study no. 1: The provision of residential care for children in Scotland by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul between 1917 and 1981, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park Orphanage, Lanark, and Bellevue Children's Home, Rutherglen (Findings), 1 January 2018. Original (retrieved 15 Oct 2026)
Change log (3)
The change log is kept in German only.
- : Aktualisiert: Englische Übersetzung
- : Aktualisiert: Zeitzeugen und Originaltexte, Tatsachen
- : Aufgenommen
Last changed on 22 October 2026. Is something missing or wrong? Suggest an addition or correction.