TWO Greenock brothers have spoken about the rollercoaster of emotions they felt after finding out they belonged to a family-of-17 torn apart by poverty and neglect.

Bernard Clark and Ian Savage — who only met for the first time three years ago — have told the Tele about their extraordinary background which is the subject of a documentary which airs on BBC Two tonight.

‘A Family Divided’ tells the story of how the Clark family were failed by the state in a chain of events which ripped them apart and then eventually brought them back together decades later.

Some of the siblings were taken into care and suffered the worst possible abuse imaginable at the hands of the people supposed to be looking after them.

Six of them died in infancy, and almost of all of them had no idea where they came from.

Finally, a full 60 years on, six of the surviving siblings are now getting the chance to put the final pieces of the jigsaw together.

Both Bernard and Ian have paid an emotional tribute to their late brother George who started the process by fighting his entire life to bring his family back together, finding them one by one.

Sadly he died before the documentary could be completed and before they found their youngest brother, Andrew.

Bernard, 63, who still lives in Greenock, said: “I had absolutely no idea that I was from a family of 17.

“I was taken from my parents when I was only two and a half, with my big sister Joan, who was three and a half.

“We were fostered together.

“We found out later we had a little sister Sandra who was a baby but we were told she went to Australia and never to ask about her again.

“We were sent to a foster carer, this Irish woman whose husband had just died. It was not good. I spent my life in the care system. 

“We were told our parents were gone and there was no one else — we thought there was nobody in the world who loved us and that we were all alone. 

“But they lied to us.

“I had a whole family of brothers and sisters that we knew nothing about.

“My oldest sister Mary-Ann had tried to get us back — she wanted to adopt us.

“I never met her, and to find out that we had a sister who wanted us — it breaks your heart.”

Bernard, born in 1954, grew up in West Stewart Street and went to St Mary’s Primary. 

But he didn’t know that he had a brother living only streets away. 

Ian Savage, born Peter Clark in 1950, was taken away at birth and adopted locally before going to nearby Highlanders’ Academy.

It would be May 2014 before he discovered his secret family.

Ian, 67, who now lives in Gourock, said: “I knew I was adopted but I had no idea that I had any brothers or sisters, never mind 17. 

“Out of the blue I got a letter from the social work saying there was a family who wanted to meet me.

“I worked overseas and I thought it was someone who had I had lost touch with, so I agreed.

“George turned up at my door and I just knew instantly — I knew he was my brother.

“It was the same when Bernard came a few weeks later. I turned to my wife and said: ‘That is my other brother getting out the car’.

“I then had to sit my wife down, my kids and my grandchildren and tell them.”

The brothers were reunited as George set about finding his family one by one.

Bernard had no idea that George was a few years above him at school and probably passed his house as well.

In the documentary being screened tonight, he bravely speaks about his difficulties with alcohol after suffering abuse and cruelty.

Hearing about his experiences is part of the harrowing truth the surviving siblings have faced up to since being reunited with one another.

Brothers George, Jim and Tommy — all born in Greenock — were sent to ‘boarding out’ farms in the Highlands where they suffered terrible abuse.

In the documentary, Jim tells how they were tied up and beaten almost every day, forced to sleep in a barn on top of sacks and not fed.

The boys were eventually rescued by welfare officers who were stunned by what they encountered when they turned up.

One left crying and the other was physically sick when they saw where the boys were kept.

Ian said: “We hope that by telling our story this never happens to another family in the future.”

It was George Clark who was the driving force behind bringing his family back together and he sadly died aged 69 two years ago.

Ian said: “This is a tribute to our brother George because without him none of this would have happened. It was his life’s work.

“In many ways the documentary has brought us together and it has been the glue that has kept us together.

“We might have gone our separate ways.

“We have spent nearly two years on this, and it was hard at times.”

The surviving brothers born Jim, Bernard, Peter, David, Andrew and their sister Joan have carried on George’s work.

They still live in hope of finding their missing brother Tommy,  left inset, who lost contact with George and Jim in the 1980s.

The Clarks’ story began with Elizabeth and William Clark who were married in 1935 and went on to have 17 children.
One after the other they were taken into care.

Mary Ann was the first born and died in 1993 in Dundee without ever finding out what happened to her brothers and sisters.

William, born in 1940, was sent alone to Aberdeen and very little was heard of him.

He has since died.

Tommy, born in 1945, Jim, born in 1947 and George, born in 1949, were all taken into care in 1953 and sent to the Highlands.

George passed away in March 2015.

Peter Clark was born in 1950 and adopted as a baby, growing up as Ian Savage and now living in Gourock.

In the Tele edition of 2 June 1956 it was reported that three children, Joan, born 1953, Bernard, born in 1954, and Sandra, 1956 had been removed from the home because of neglect.

Joan and Bernard were fostered and Sandra was adopted at four months old, lived in Ayr and knew nothing about her past. She died in 2011 months after meeting some of her brothers and sisters for the first time.

David Clark was born in 1952 and adopted at just 10 months. He grew up Iain McLean and lived in Clydebank.

The couple also had six other children — John, Isabel, Anna, Ruth, Elizabeth and Peter — between 1936 and 1943 who all died in infancy or as young children.

They are buried in unmarked graves in Greenock Cemetery.
Youngest son Andrew remained with his parents and they moved to Dundee, where Elizabeth died in 1967.

Programme-maker Biança Barker followed the family as they went in search of the final pieces of the jigsaw.

She said: “I think one of the most important things for the family is the difficulty they faced in finding out about themselves.

“The authorities were unable to give them vital pieces of information because of data protection. This made it all the harder.”

During the film Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership state their regret that record-keeping was not up to modern day standards.

A spokesman said: “We recognise and fully understand the family’s disappointment. In recent years we have strived to address the barriers experienced by the Clark family.”

Biança started making the film nearly two years ago after meeting George and hearing his story, and it was decided to press on after he passed away.

She said: “We spoke with the family and decided this was the right thing to do for George.

“It is a story I felt had to be told.”

Bernard added: “This is only the beginning of the story. I now have 300 people on my family tree.”

A Family Divided, by Steadipix Productions, airs on BBC Two this evening at 9pm.