Genealogy Chat

I have been searching for my fathers birth, with great difficulty!!!! In fact, I am unable to find any reference to him at all. He was illigitimate,have no info if he every lived with his birth mother, so was he....adopted....fostered...or just taken into care?????? I would appreciate any ideas as to what route I can go down. Kathlyn

Even if he was Adopted - there has to be his original Birth Name in the Birth Indexes, my Brothers Birth Name was in the Birth Index and he was Adopted. I am having trouble with my oldest Brother who also Adopted, he was an illegitamate baby and there is no sign of him in the Birth Indexes, usually these were born in unmarried Mothers homes and I was told that the Registrars actually went to these homes to register the babies - in the Nuns office and some may have been given False Birthnames. Hope you have more luck than me. Stella X

what sort of time frame? if he was not the natural child of the person you normally consider his mother, then his birth maybe registered under a completely different name, of course. The majority of those missing, however are not adoptees, just registered in a different name ( i mean as a %)-Mothers maiden name, former married name etc

I would have thought, usually, illigitamate babies would have been registered under the Mothers Maiden name ~ If you know it. But I have done this and still nothing.

I am assuming!!!! that his surname was his fathers/mothers, but am unable to find anything. He was Alfred Richards born 1913 in London. Kathyn

He would not have been formally adopted as that didn't start until 1927. Have you searched for a few years after his birth... remembering it was the WW1 and times were hard. Maybe he was registered late. It's not illegal to change your name unofficially (unless for unlawful purposes) A member of my family changed her name and had 2 children and they were registered in her new name. Anyone not knowing about the name change would face a steel wall if they wanted to search for the children. In this case she changed her name to her own mother's maiden name. Do you have your father's granny's maiden name? If you do I would check the birth index in that name...or any other close family name...I hope you understood that :-) Did he have any other siblings? there may be clues on their birth certificates. I work on the theory that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He may have been fostered or unofficially adopted and taken on his new family name. Good Luck with your search. Cheers Gerry

How sure are you that he was born in London, as he was illigtimate it is poosle his mother had him away from her usual place of residence. Have you considered the Alfred RICHARDS registered in the J/A/S quarter in Wycome 3a, 1938, mother's maiden name RICHARDS. Jennifer