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I would be grateful if someone could help me find anything on her son.

Kate Atkin born 1900 in Paull East Yorkshire, she died in 1927. She had a son whom she sent to be fostered as she was in service before she died aged 27.

Family Story: He was told on his wedding day that he was illegitimate and raised in an orphanage and named John Henrey known as Jack. He took the surname Paull at some point due to where he was born.

I have tried to find his birth with no luck so far.
Any ideas of where to look in relation to orphanage records?

Many Thanks

Do you know when the son was born?

Is this Kate in the 1921 census? :-

1921 Census Of England & Wales
Keyingham, Yorkshire (East Riding), England

Household members (7 people)

First name(s) Last name Relationship to head Sex Birth year Age in years Birth place Occupation Employer

John Atkin Head Male 1864 56 Lincolnshire, England Farm Labourer Work S Mook Farmer
Emily Atkin Wife Female 1865 56 York, Yorkshire, England House Hold Duties -
Kate Atkin Daughter Female 1899 21 York, Yorkshire, England House Hold Duties -<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Hilda Atkin Daughter Female 1909 12 York, Yorkshire, England - -
Frank Burnham Boarder Male 1901 20 York, Yorkshire, England Horseman Frm Work J Mook Farmer
George Hodgson Boarder Male 1895 26 York, Yorkshire, England Horseman Frm Work J Mook Farmer
Joseph Snaith Boarder Male 1906 15 York, Yorkshire, England Horseman Frm Work J Mook Farmer

Kath. x

Kath.
Thank you yes this is the family.

I assume her son was born around this area East Yorkshire but that is an assumption.
unless she went away somewhere .
I know she was in service at Turmer Hall Gangstead, Hull.
She went missing for a week then she was found in a pond, I have the newspaper cuttings.

I just want to find out what happened to him if possible.
Thank You

Is this Kate's death? :-

First name(s) Kate
District Skirlaugh
Last name Atkin
County Yorkshire
Gender Female
Volume 9D
Birth day -
Page 509
Birth month -
Country England
Birth year 1900
Record set England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007
Age 27
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Death quarter 1
Subcategory Civil Deaths & Burials
Death year 1927
Collections from Great Britain, England

Kath. x

This is the only Atkin Birth where the mothers maiden name is also Atkin in the registration district where she was living in the 1921 census is this one:-

First name(s) Kenneth
Country England
Last name Atkin
Volume 9D
Birth quarter 3
Page 566
Birth year 1923
Record set England & Wales Births 1837-2006
Mother's maiden name Atkin
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
District Patrington
Subcategory Civil Births
County Yorkshire
Collections from Great Britain, England.

I can't find a birth for a John Henry.

EDIT - If she worked at Ganstead then that is covered by the Skirlaugh Regstration and this is the only likely birth:-

First name(s) Charles W
Country England
Last name Atkin
Volume 9D
Birth quarter 2
Page 569
Birth year 1924
Record set England & Wales Births 1837-2006
Mother's maiden name Atkin
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
District Skirlaugh
Subcategory Civil Births
County Yorkshire
Collections from Great Britain, England

Do you know if he kept his forenames when he changed his surname to Paull, or was there no evidence of the change of name apart from hearsay?

Kath. x

More questions you may not know the answer to -

Was he named John Henry by the orphanage, or was that the name his mother gave him? (But can't see any such birth.)

Where was the orphanage?

Who, where, and when did he marry?



For our reference, just one of many newspaper reports -:

FOUND IN A POND

... FOUND A POND. AN END TO SEARCH FOR GANSTEAD GIRL. SHOCK FOR SICK MOTHER. The body of Kate Atkin, single woman, aged 27 years, who had been missing since December 29th. was, on Tuesday, recovered from a pond at Coniston, which had previously been dragged in a vain attempt to find her. John Myers, an aged shepherd, who lives at Coniston, was walking across a field shortly after one o'clock, when he saw the body floating in the pond, and immediately sent word to P.C. Farmery at Skirlaugh. The latter took the body from the water, and, later, was identified as that of Miss Atkin. Miss Atkin who was employed as a maid at Turmer Hall, Ganstead, near Hull, the residence of William James, had stated on the evening of December 29th, a Wednesday, that she was going for a walk. It was her custom to return in good time. She had hot put in an appearance by the following morning, the police were informed, and immediate search was made for her. The surrounding country was scoured, and all the ponds in the vicinity .including the one in which she eventually was found, were dragged, but no trace could be found of her. She was well liked in the district, and frequently went home for the week-ends. On this occasion; however, she had taken none of her belongings, and inquiries at her home, of course, elicited no response. The pond in which Miss Atkin's body was found fully a mile from the Hall, which situated at some distance off the main road from Hull to Hornsea, and is in a field which is fenced from the road. On the opposite side of .the road is another pond open to the road, and it is difficult to understand how she came to fall into the former pond , unless she had been wandering over the fields. When found her body was in a state of decomposition, but the theory is advanced that she has not been the water all the time, and the police have been informed by one woman that she saw Miss Atkin in Hull. On the other hand, it is pointed out that the pond is a very deep one, reaching to a depth of 17 feet in the centre, into which three springs emerge, and that the first dragging operations were unsuccessful owing to the great depth of the water. It is conjectured that, although nine days usually suffices for the body of a drowned person to re-appear, part of Miss Atkin's clothes she was wearing coat—were caught in a projection. When the body was recovered, Miss Atkin was still wearing all her clothes. It is understood that her mother is lying ill at home. A post mortem examination of the body was made to-day by Dr Gillespie, of Sutton, who will report to the Holderness Coroner when the inquest is held on Thursday.

Published: Wednesday 16 February 1927
Newspaper: Hull Daily Mail
County: Yorkshire, England

Actually born 1899:

ATKIN, KATE mmn SERGANT
GRO Reference: 1899 D Quarter in PATRINGTON Volume 09D Page 331

Just wondering where the family story came in and how they knew the name change and he married

Must have meant the family had stayed in touch with him somehow


Are there any family that can give more info ?

Thank You all.
We have no idea on the orphanage or when he was adopted.

I think the only way is to order the birth cert for the two listed above as maybe his name was changed after he was adopted.

We have no family to ask as they have all passed who knew.

The ‘orphanage’ could have been the Workhouse. You need to work out where he was born and the google for orphanages and workhouses in the area.

Names are invariably changed on adoption, but it's unlikely that this child was formally adopted as he would have taken the name of his adoptive parents, and not the one you mention, which reflects his birthplace


In 1927, the official registration of adoptions was introduced in England, with similar systems brought into Scotland in 1930 and Northern Ireland in 1931.

What was his name when he married?

A lot depends on who name him John Henrey. there are three options, his birth mother, the orphanage or his adoptive parents.


Presumably he married as a Henrey if he didn't find out until his wedding. Did he name his adoptive father on the marriage certificate?

Is John on the 1939 register as it would give his date of birth?

Presume he was named John Henry Atkin ?

What about this one

Births Dec 1917
Atkin John Edward Atkin Sleaford 7a 582


Sleaford is Lincolnshire where her father was born

Maybe she was sent to her fathers family

But he thinks he was born in Paull.

I can’t see that Victoria has told us when he was born, which might help. :

Can't be the Sleaford child:

John E Atkin
 in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
Name: John E Atkin
Death Age: 1
Birth Date: abt 1917
Registration Date: Oct 1918[Nov 1918] [Dec 1918] 
Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration District: Sleaford
Inferred County: Lincolnshire
Volume: 7a
Page: 1003

The implication in Victoria's OP is that the child was born while Kate was in service, which would make it 1921-27.

However, the uncheckable family story may not be accurate.
We really don't know anything about John - where or when born; where the orphanage was; when he was named John Henry; where or when he married; what his name was when he married; wife's name; when (or even if) he changed his surname to Paull; when/where/if he has died.

Perhaps we'll at least know when he was born once Victoria receives the birth certs for Charles William and Kenneth.

A newspaper article 1927 states the owner William James where Kate was in service and then still missing that she had worked at Turmer Hall for 4 years......

Would the owner William James have allowed her to be employed there while --single & pregnant,,,,,,?

So a child may have possibly been born from her being aged 16 to 21////3.,she could have been having a child in 1921.!!

Many Thanks for all your assistance.
Birth Certs have been ordered as I cant move on without them to be honest.

Thanks All