* Finding Adopted Children

[Peter_H_Williams]

My Godmother, an Aunt was born on 23 March 1923. She died about 15 years ago. I always knew she was adopted and I am now trying to find out a bit more about her. The family lived in Hammersmith and I have been going through all the "Patricia's" (she only had one Christian Name) Registered in Hammersmith and Fulham in Q1 and compiling a list of those children whose Maiden surname and the child's surname match (therefore presumed illegitimate).

First question, can I rely absolutely on the fact that she would have been Registered in Q1. What are the relevant rules and how strongly are they enforced?

Aside from that I'm sure I'm not the only person to have done this sort of research. Anyone have any tips?

[TimTreeby]

Birth Registrations should normally take place within 6 weeks of the Birth. So would also need to look in Q2 as well, especially as born at the end of March.

[gwilym'smum]

Peter
There are a myriad of problems when researching someone who was adopted.
First how soon after birth was she "adopted"? - Reason, legal adoption did not come in until 1927. In the unofficial adoptions prior to this if the baby was adopted immediately after birth the name may have been changed from the given name given by the birth mother, both Christian and surname, to that of the new parents.
I was lucky I had a birth certificate, although until my cousin took a DNA test it did not help.
In your case I would investigate thoroughly the adoptive parents as often in cases of unofficial adoptions the child may have been the child of a family member.
There is also The Children's Society who have an archive. It was formerly The Waif and Strays Society. The website is www.hiddenlives.org.uk There is also Dr Barnardo's who also have an archive.
If you have Family Tree magazine in the What's On section it is advertising a webinar on Aug 5 on adoption. You have to register.
Good luck with your research
Ann

[AdrianBruce]

Unfortunately, the only advice that I can give is - rely on nothing.

Firstly, as Tim says, you need to look in Q2 as well. In all honesty, with only 8d to the end of the quarter, it's more likely that any registration will be in Q2. But "more likely" does not mean "certain".

As for my own experiences, I'm afraid that they aren't a lot of help. In one case, it was before the start of legal adoption and I had absolutely no idea that she was adopted until I got her mother's death certificate where she was the informant and described herself as "adopted daughter". I then managed to locate her birth certificate but only because her given names were sufficiently distinctive in combination. I think I can say that "Florence" is not that distinctive! Of course, bear in mind that her name might have been changed on adoption (double ) - though I have zero idea if name changing on adoption was at all common prior to the introduction of "legal adoption".

In another other case, the children were described as adopted in the 1911 census, where they actually had their birth surname. While that's not much help to you, the important thing is that when I traced their story, they had been born as the result of an affair that their biological mother had with someone but were registered as if their birth parents were married. (To add extra spice to the story, their biological mother was their adoptive mother as well - she returned to her husband, who then graciously adopted these children of his errant wife.) So, rule nothing out.

It may be that DNA is the only useful way to go, though if she has no known biological relatives that may not help either....

[Mark1834]

I have a similar case in Fulham from exactly this period, but for me it’s the other way around. Unusually, the father’s full details were included on the child’s birth certificate, along with that of his unmarried mother who lived in the next street. The father went on to marry somebody else only three months later! I’ve often speculated what happened to the child, but I’ve never found any other reference to him, despite knowing his full birth name and exact date of birth.

[Peter_H_Williams]

Thank you all, Adrian, gwilym'smum,Tim and Ann for your advice.

My grandmother was the Headteacher of St Paul's Infant School Hammersmith, she had three children of her own. Pat was the only child they adopted but they fostered seven other children, two when their mother died of meningitus, one with Ricketts who was living on the streets, four whose mother died, I think of Cancer. I'm certain that Patricia was the name given to her by her natural mother and that she was illegitimate. In every case, I think they did what they did because at that time their was nowhere else for a family that had fallen on hard times to go, so I think I won't get very far with Childrens Societies - they wouldn't have gone looking for children.

Incidentally, although I still haven't managed how to work ORA with Family Historian - the instruction videos are close to useless, or I'm very thick. It's been a very useful means of marking the FMP births with comments.

I'm really grateful for the advice on checking Q2.

[Peter_H_Williams]

Mark
I found your message quite moving. If the guy concerned was prepared to sign up to being the father I would wager that his interest in the child did not end there. I can understand why you would be very keen to follow that through. He obviously, if nothing more had respect for the mother. An intriguing mystery and the two that knew the answer are now in their graves. The attraction of family history is trying to solve some of the mysteries of peoples lives and put flesh on them as individuals.
I would approach your riddle by devoting as much time to both the mother and father and the 1939 Register (if it's open on those people) would be where I would begin.

[gwilym'smum]

Peter
If the parents were regular adopters a children's society may have turned to them for help.
The address for the webinar on Aug 5th is https://familytr.ee/leonard It is about using DNA but it may give you ideas.
Ann