Genealogy Chat

My dad died before i got to know him, but it has been rumored that he was adopted, so how can i find this out as there are no family members around to tell me??

Check his birth cert., or send for one if you do not have it yourself. If, when you see it it is a short form, it could be that he was, although it is not definite. If you go to the GRO and look him up in the registers in the name that you knew him as, and he is not there, then look in the Adoption Registers. Only the new names are in that. If he is there, then that is your answer. You will not be able to cross-reference with his birth name however. Come back to me if you need any more ideas. Eileen (an adoptee)

Hi Kerry You need your dads full birth cert if he was adopted it will tell you on the certificate that he was adopted along with the registrars name whom amended the birth cert (its usually written right at the end outside the black lines where theres usually a line through if ya understand what I mean) Tho it wont tell you your dads adopted name only his birth name. Good luck Angie xxx

Thankyou. In fact i did request his birth certificate once but they couldn't find anything which surprised me, so maybe i will research it myself at GRO. Can you research that online or where is it so i can go there? im new to this sorry! thanks again.

Hi Kerry I think the quickest way is to look for him under the name you know of him as on 1837 or somewhere, if you cant find him then its very likely he was. Im adopted and only appear on birth registers under my birth name and when I was trying to find my birth mum she was adopted by her step father and it was driving me nuts as I didnt have that bit of info at the time and couldnt understand why I couldnt find her. Rebecca

GRO birth, marriage and death registers can be searched free on ancestry, though you have to register first. www.ancestry*co.uk and choose 'England & Wales, BMD Index', then go for the complete images. Bear in mind that if they couldn'f find him when you asked, it's possibly because his birth name isn't the one you knew, which makes sense if he was adopted. nell

Hi again Kerry, No, unfortunately you can't search the GRO adoption registers on line it would save us all a lot of time if that were possible. As for looking up generally on line, there is really no substitute for actually being in the GRO and doing it with real books and pages that you can turn. Its too easy to miss things when you are trying to keep accurate with alphabet and dates. Good luck Eileen

Hey thanks all of you. So say if he was adopted, how would i find out all the details i want to know without knowing the name he was first born with? Again thankyou it has given me something to start with.

hiya, would it help if you had his death cert?? maybe that would give you something to work with, ie a dob or place of birth? dont know much about adoptions but it may help, as it could be his adoptive name and then you could query it with social services?? just trying to help Julie

Hi What about asking for his medical records from his Dr or the Family Medical Practitioners Commitee, I am in the process of doing this as I know nothing about my mother apart from whats on her birth certificate. Just an idea

Put 'adoption' into the search box at the top of this message board and you will see there's a vast number of messages about this topic. I think that unless you have his original birth name, you can't find his original birth cert. If he was adopted, I don;t think you can access his adoption file. nell

Kerry, It isn't easy. My dad was adopted - he knew this, as he was 14 at the time, so I also had his (alleged) father's name - or at least the name he was known by before he was adopted. He always lived with my gran, but I haven't found his birth yet under either his supposed fathers name nor my gran's maiden name (methinks granny was a bit economical with the truth!!!!) I looked at the adoption files years ago in Somerset house (they've since moved to Southport) - and the page I needed wasn't there!! You will have a long slog unless you can find his real surname. His death certificate will at least have his date of birth on it. The only suggestion I had was to contact Social Services in the area he was adopled (either Cornwall or Devon) and see what they could offer - but was told they may not tell me anything as his death was so recent (1994) I'm sure 'first generation' adoptees will be able to help you. Good luck maggie