Genealogy Chat

Good morning all,

I have ordered a birth certificate for a family member we believe was adopted either officially/unofficially.

The surname of the child is Leech. However the Surname of the mother is Farrar ( unmarried) no father on certificate.

Now this child ended up being brought up by the leech family, so it looks as though she was given the surname of the family who were keeping her.
, im wondering how someone can register a birth with a different surname to theirs though?

There is no official adoption mark on the certificate.
I may be a bit green about this but i thought a child had to have the mothers or fathers name, which in this case would be farrar as no father on the cert.

This birth occured in 1919.

Any ideas to throw at me?

Maybe surrogacy?/

Thanks in advance

Nicola x

Also- we did know there was a mystery about this birth, but the transripts of births show the child as surname leech with the mothers maiden name of Walsh. Walsh is the maiden name of Mrs leech who brought the child up.
How can the transcripts show Walsh as the mothers maiden name when the certificate shows farrar?

This is doing my nut in!

Is LEECH in the first name box? eg It could be a middle name.

Sometimes, an unmarried mother would give the child the known father's surname as one of the child's forenames.

eg
2nd column - name of child - John Leech
4th column - name and surname of father - blank
5th column - name, surname and maiden name of mother - Farrah

I'm as confused as you are! Where does it say Walsh? What does the gro listing say? Have gro sent you the wrong certificate?

I have had had instance where I've requested one but got another. The original was cancelled at the time as it was incorrect. although it is listed on the GRO index, they weren't allowed to issue the cancelled version.

EDIT - If the ref posted above is correct, it might be an idea to phone gro and ask why you've been sent the one you have, and not the one with Walsh as mmn

Winifred Leech born 15/8/1919 in Horwich, bolton.
She was brought up by a Walter Leech and a Sarah Leech ( nee Walsh)
Walter and Sarah had been married for many years without producing children, there was a rumour that Winifred had been adopted.
The birth certificate has her as Winifred Leech, no middle name. No fathers name. Birth mother as Jane Farrar.
Jane farrar was from the Wigan area and still lived there at the time of birth ( i have researched her) She was actually in her 30's when she gave birth to Winifred.
Winifred was born in Horwich ( which ties in with the Leech family who lived in horwich)
Im of the belief that Jane Farrar had decided to give her baby to the Leech's, or the leech's had been lined uop to adopt her baby.had the baby near them and returned home, i am trying to track down the electoral roll for the birth address to see if that sheds any light on it, to see if any relatives where there. It wasnt a large house so wasnt a mother and baby home as such but couldve been used for just a few Mums.
However, i dont understand how she couldve registered the baby as Leech when she was a farrar and unmarried.
I know adoption wasnt official at the time but i wouldve expected her to have been registered as a Farrar.
There are lots of adoptions in my family but this is the first one where the child doesnt have the Mothers maiden name at birth.
I have no reason to belive its the wrong birth certificate as i already knew there was something 'fishy' about Winifreds parentage.
Also- if you research the birth of Winifred on ancestry/fmp/bmd is shows Walsh as the mothers maiden name.
Im missing something somewhere!

Also - the date of birth is correct.

In which column on the cert does it record Leech? :-S

Where does the name Leech appear on the birth cert? There is no column on a birth cert for the child's surname. The names in the child's name column are its given name(s). The surname a birth is registered under is that of the father unless no father is mentioned in which case it is a registered under the mother's surname.

Who registered the birth and is a relationship to the child given?

Is there a GRO entry for her birth with the mothers name Farra?


I cant see one?


But there is this


Births Sep 1919
-------------------------------------------------------
Farrar Winifred L Farrar Bolton 8c 667


Maybe the 'L' is for Leech

column three, childs name says 'Winifred leech'

column 7 informant is Jane farrar- Mother



there is no GRO for winifred Leech with Maiden Farrah.
and the birthdate is correct.

I do bleilive its the right birth certificate im just baffled as to how it was done.

Thanks for all the input people

Gins- well spotted with the Winifred farrah Birth!! :-)

Both entries have the same ref so were registered at the same time.

Eit: Opps, the ref is different!

I wonder if the registra made a mistake during the registration?

I would defo contact the GRO and ask for advice


:-S

So, the birth cert you have is for the Winifred Farrar birth not the Leech/Walsh one.

So the Winifred leech/walsh birth is in volume 82 page 665 and the winifredleech/ farrar birth is on page 667. which would make you think the farrar entry was after the leech entry.

:-D

So which one did you order?

Births Sep 1919 (>99%)
Leech Winifred Walsh Bolton 8c 665

Births Sep 1919
Farrar Winifred L Farrar Bolton 8c 667

but the winifred leech/ farrar birth cert i have is the right date of birth for my winifred leach.

it wasnt that long ago she died so we know her birthday.

Its confusing!

Im a bit loathe to order the other cert in case it comes back identical and thats another 10 pounds gone.

I ordered the Leech/Walsh one 8c/665 but it came with Mother Jane farrar!

:-S :-S

Just to add to the mix....there is another birth in Bolton in 1923 Leech/Walsh


Give the GRO a ring


:-)

Hope this is the right number

You can contact us by telephone on +44 (0)300 123 1837 (8am to 8pm Monday to Friday. Saturday 9am to 4pm). Calls to 0300 numbers cost no more that calls to UK numbers starting 01 and 02

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/contact_us.asp

the 1923 and 1927 births of leech/walsh are ok, they are the children that the leech family managed to have when they were older. its the first child winifred that the mystery is around.

Im ringing the gro, if its got all of us confused then its definately confusing!!! :-)

Thanks boys and girls

Nicola

Please let us know what they say


I neeeeed to knoooow :-S :-S :-S