Genealogy Chat

Just wondering if someone has knowledge about adoption back in the early 1900s. A legal document was drawn up, signed and witnessed, for the adoption of a child (and the document stipulates that the child will retain their original birth name). When i got the child's birth certificate however, it does not mention an adoption and only shows the parents' names as those of the birth parents - so no mention of the adopted parents.
Given this was around 1920, were adoptions actually registered? just wondering what sort of legal standing such a document would have...

England and Wales had no formal adoption before 1927.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/adoptions/

Do you know of the adoptive parents?

Have you tried looking for the child in 1939.?

If they are deceased, post their name and birth date, if you need help to find them in that register.

Oh thanks for that. I hadn't realised there was no formal adoption process so that would explain it. I'm not trying to locate anyone - I already know all the people involved - was just wondering about the legal status. Ie from a legal view, which family is the child' s legal family? The birth parents or the adoptive parents (given they all signed a contract for adoption)

You might need to show the documents to a solicitor or legal specialist. The devil's in the details or, in this case, the wording.
Logically, one would assume that the adoptive parents were given all of the legal rights and responsibilities as if they were the birth parents.

The birth cert will show the birth parents names

A birth cert isn't altered when a child is legally adopted .the court will issue an adoption certificate at the time the adoption is legalised

The certificate will be in the child's new name and isn't on the normal gro records

This would be after 1927 when legal adoptions came into force

When my grandmother died 6 weeks after giving birth to my youngest aunt in 1931, the baby was brought up by a friend of the family and a solicitor was used to draw up a "contract", although this was not an "adoption" as such.

My aunt still has the first page of the solicitor's letter which gives her name, and the name of the neighbour and her husband and says at the bottom of the page that the baby was being handed over with the following conditions in place..........however the next page with these conditions listed is missing. My aunt has always wondered what they were. She kept her original name and the rest of the family (6 brothers and sisters) kept in regular touch with her as she only lived in the next street, but it wasn't until her real father died when she was about 10 that she realised who they all were. From then on she was always part of the family which I imagine is what my grandfather had wanted.

I think there were quite a lot of similar situations in those days where someone else brought up a child but never officially adopted them even though it was possible to do so.

Kath. x

Hi All,
I am new to this and my first time on the message boards, and trying to work how to post messages.... I am looking for information on adoptions in England around 1946. My grandmother who is now 92 yrs old has shared a family secret that she had a little boy in 1946 that was not her husband's as he was still deployed overseas apparently " everyone went a little crazy with the end of the war " and a lot of oops babies were born.... she registered his birth under her married name and had hoped to keep him but when her husband returned he wanted the baby gone and he was then given up for adoption at the age of about 6 weeks. I know his birth name and date of birth and possibly his place of birth. My mother believes if her half brother had wanted to find them as an adult he could of and therefore he doesn't want to find them, I believe it's a little more complicated than that and given that my grandparents packed up the family and moved to Australia in 1959 to live, this would have made locating them difficult I believe, then there is also the scenario of what if he was never told he was adopted and still doesn't know. I did attempt to order his birth certificate and received and email yesterday saying that they were refunding my oney as they could not find any event matching my details around 1944 - 1946
Any advice, suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated,

Thank you,

Have you tried looking up a website such as findmypast? usually very quick and easy.
Or, if you wanted to, I don't mind doing some quick searches for you if you send me a private message?

Welcome to the boards, Paget.

Do you have the details for your half brothers birth, i.e. his birth name? If not look for a birth on https://www.freebmd.org.uk. It might help to order a copy from
https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ for £9.25 inc p&p.

You can leave a post'em message against the entry on FreeBmd with a generic email address saying something along the lines of birth family would welcome contact.

Have you already added his name to your tree and looked in other trees to see if he is named?

Register the name on https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records/the-adoption-contact-register . If he has also added his name, you should be matched.
Read the additional info on that link. It's now possible for birth family to hire intermediaries to trace the missing person. If found, they are asked if they want contact.

Although it's possible her son has no interest in look for his mother, there is also the chance he never knew he was adopted. On the other hand, if he had accessed his file, he may not have been able to trace them as they've emigrated. He may also have decided not to search in case his birth had been kept secret from your grandmother's other family.

You'll never know unless you try!

Hi,
Thanks for the quick replies....
"I did attempt to order his birth certificate from gro.gov.uk and received an email yesterday saying that they were refunding my money as they could not find any event matching my details around 1944 - 1946"
And yes I have registered I think with the adoption contact register....
I was hoping there may have been court records or something that would say what happened and where he ended up....

Thanks

Was your grandmother definitely married, when he was born?

She would have only been about 21, so could her son have been registered in her maiden name?
Was he definitely born in England?
Births in Scotland would not feature on the GRO and in war time people often lived far from their home address.