General Chat

can any one help , my grandfather was adopted (he told my grandmother), his birth certificate had the parents he was brought up with even though he claimed they were not his birth parents. His registered mother had a brother who had a boy in the same year that died , although we cant find a record of this either . Is it possibleto trace adoptions around that time.

There weren't formal adoptions at that time just private arrangements. If the people on his birth certificate were the ones who brought him up then its quite likely that the "adoption" was within the family if there was an adoption at all.

You say you can't find the uncles child, do you have a birth registration but no death or do you have neither?

we have neither the children of the uncles (john)child could remember the boy (named norman the same as my grandfather) were told he died very young, although no cause of death given . There doesnt appear to be a birth certificate for norman or a death certificate , however in the same year the johns sister registered her first child , norman .
As john and his wife had several children including a toddler and baby , we are assuming they may have given the new arrival to family to bring up.

Can you list any names, dates or places so we can take a look?

Rose

thank you ,
my grandfather was called norman george hewitt on his certificate ,born june 1910, his mother christina (nee wilson), father willaim james hewitt , and lived in the co durham /south shields area.
christinas brother was john wilson and his wife matilda arkless,and there baby norman was born in 1910 although we dont know when.

These look to be some of the children John and Matilda had after 1911:

Births Sep 1911
Wilson David H Arkless Newcastle T. 10b 113

Births Jun 1913
Wilson Gladys Arkless Newcastle T. 10b 134

Births Dec 1915
Wilson Doris C Arkless Newcastle T 10b 119


Births Mar 1923
Wilson Norman Arkless Newcastle T. 10b 70


See the name of the last one? So they did have a child named Norman.

Rose

Norman's death?

Deaths Mar 1923
WILSON Norman 0 Newcastle T. 10b 38

Deaths Sep 1923
WILSON Norman 0 Newcastle T. 10b 111

Rose

OK,

I found the marriage:

Marriages Mar 1906
HEWITT William James Newcastle T. 10b 11
WILSON Christian Thomson Newcastle T. 10b 11

Rose

thank you every one , this has added light to the information we have , the norman in 1923 is a really interesting lead , we didnt know about this child .also david wilson .I am not sure were to go next with this as it has totally changed what we thought about the adoption.
perhaps my grandfather was william & christinas child or adopted from someone else , I know he lived with william & janet black in the elswick area in 1932 but assumed he was a lodger, I am now beginning to wonder !

I expect the 1911 census will reveal a few more clues once that area is available.

Rose

I havnt found anything in the 1911 census yet , my norman was born in june 1910 so not the same norman ,
the mystery is wether christina and william were his real parents or adopted parents ,
can anyone tell me if i was illegal to register a child as your own if it was adopted ????

thank you portland rose for your information , we know can see that it is unlikely that norman was adopted from his registered mothers brother (my norman was 1910).
I f you could help me with either the date of william james hewitt or christina (thompson wilson) hewitts date of death it might help me in determining wether they were his real parents or adopted parents. I have tried to find dates but just cant seem to track them
regards
sharon

thank you every one for your help, I have to assume that my grandfathers registered parents are his birth parents (despite my grandmothers protests) . Is anyone able to help me with the dates of death for william james hewitt or christina hewitt.
regards
sharon

Sharon,

That's a bit seach to trawl through all the images on Ancestry. When were they born?

Was your grandfather an only child?

Rose

Norman G Hewitt Sept qtr 1910 S.Shields 10a 949

Birth registration for Norman.

There are 2 William James Hewitt's births

1)June qtr 1875 Durham 10a 532

2) Sept qtr 1876 Gateshead 10a 840

Are either of these your grandfather's father

thank you both , the above william james are not my ggrandfather , he was born in wigton cumbria , I agree portland rose this is a tedious task tryingto track the deaths of william james and christina , so far I havnt found any record of there deaths or there lives after the birth (or adoption) of norman in 1910
kind regards
sharon(disha)