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Only evidence for a Laurie R Wilson on Ancestry is that one. No marriage which is suspicious.

Rose

Hello Janey

He didn't apply for the original. He found out about the adoption when he was 37, when I was born in West Germany, so needed ID before I could be registered. It was such a shock to him didn't want to know.

You have found his correct details of birth and death. I don't know if/when/how his birth parents registered him. There were so many secrets. His adopted father's family knew nothing. They thought Dad was Joseph Snrs natural son. Being in the Army, and away from close family, I suppose it was easy for them to do that.

What other info would help?

That's the one I'm wondering about too, Rose.

If "Laurie Ritson" were his *given* names, it could be that Ritson was his father's surname -- it was long common practice for the child of unmarried parents to have the father's surname as a middle name (my great-aunt did).

edit -- if the mother was married to someone else at the time, the birth would have had to be registered under the husband's surname, even if he was not the father.


But with the short certificate, can't Penelope just order the original?

The only Laurie born in June 1921 with a possibly unmarried Mother was born in Portsmouth.

?????

Births Jun 1921
WILSON Laurie R Scott Conway 11b 826

Rose

No Ritson births in Wales that period so he must have been registered under his mother's surname.

Rose

Thank you for such a quick reply, Flick.

The copy of the adoption certificate states that the name of the adopted child was Laurie Ritson. Could this still mean he had a different birth name? (Joseph and Mary never used the name Laurie. Dad only found out the name Laurie in 1958.)

What you need is his original birth certificate. You've left out a little too much here for us to help.

I believe that "short" birth certifictes issued after adoptions show post-adoption info, not original info -- i.e. his birth name was not Laurie Ritson Holdsworth, that was his adoptive name.

What was his actual date of birth?

Have you not just applied for his original birth certificate, or did he never do that?


edit - here we are:

Name: Joseph Laurie R Holdsworth
> Birth Date: 15 Jun 1921
Death Registration Month/Year: 1983
Registration district: Northumberland Central
Inferred County: Tyne and Wear
Volume: 1
Page: 1999

I am trying to find information about my father's birth parents. His short birth certificate (which he received in 1958) states he was born in Wales with birth name Laurie Ritson Holdsworth.

He was 'adopted' by (RSM) Joseph and Mary Holdsworth (who were living in Fulford barracks), when he was only a few weeks old, when he was in York with his birth mother. His christening record in York, in July 1921, states his father was a violinist surnamed Ritson. My father was christened Joseph Ritson Holdsworth.

His formal adoption took place in 1930 in York.

My father passed away in 1983 without finding out about his birth parents. I have spent the last ten years trying to find out, but without much success. Is there anyone out there who would be able to solve this mystery?

Many thanks