Genealogy Chat

bear with me plz

I'm a little stuck. My husbands Grandma Myra Vincent born 1928 Cornwall was adopted by her grandma. Would it be the adopted mother or real mother on the birth certificate? I have also been given details from her son who believes that the following people are her brothers and sister: Clifford, Everett, Dudley, Eldred, Beryl, Avis, Esmie, and Enid. This is what i have found: Eldred Thomas H Vincent 1903 St Columb Cornwall Dudley Cecil Vincent 12/12/1923 Truro Cornwall ??Clifford 1910 Truro ??Clifford 1906 Penzance How would i be able to find out if these are actualy her brothers and sisters and one of them is not actually her mum and the others aunts and uncles as the census doesn't go that far and travelling to Cornwall is out of the option. Is it just a dead end now until the census is updated or i go to Cornwall. Many thanks i hope i haven't confused anyone. Jennie

Hi Jennie, What about ordering a couple of their birth certificates and see who is listed as their mother. Jayne x

In theory - the real mother should be shown on the original birth certificate. In practice - people lied! I have one proven instance of a child being registered by the Aunt and Uncle, as their birth child. The baptism register told me the child was the son of Uncle's sister, illegitimate. Cornwall has LOADS of Family History stuff on line - google for the Cornwall OPC, or the Cornwall FHS. They are usually very helpful. OC

If Myra was adopted by her grandparents then it's likely her mum was quite young. Are the sibling names you listed actually the grandparents natural children?? Merry

You have the right Myra Merry. The question you asked about the others is the same question as i am wondering how to find the answer, I think the only way i will find out is to either bite the bulet and ask Myra and run the risk of upsetting her or order some of the birth certs. Many thanks Jennie

You need to know her birth mum's name, so you can get birth mum's own birth cert (if you can identify it!). Then you will know who the grandparents are. Then you would be in a better position to know who her ''siblings'' are/were. Or would Myra have told you the names of the people who brought her up? I didn't realise she was still alive. Would you prefer me to remove her birth ref, seeing as you have it already? Merry

Thankyou everyone. Thankyou Merry if you wouldn't mind deleting her details i would appreciate it. I think i will go and see Myra tomorrow or Thursday and just ask her if she would talk to me about her adoption the worst thing she can say is no i suppose and it leaves me in the same position. I will let you all know what happens. Many thanks again i appreciate your help. Jen

Would one of those sibling girls names be her mother? Merry

That is what i think Merry i have found a Marion Avis Vincent which seems to tie into the family and she was born 1908 so i think this could be her real mum, but this makes her 17 when Myra was born. I am still searching for the others but will keep searching. Thanks Jen

The big Q , before you ak any one, is to ask YOURSELF - DOES MYRA KNOW?? does she know that her 'mother' was actually her grandmother? if you are not CATEGORICALLY sure she knows the answer, i wouldn't ask the Q at all. Jess x

Hi Jess The only reason i know that my grandma was adopted is because she has spoken about it, otherwise i could of ended up getting into a right pickle. I am going to go and see her hopefully in a few minutes so will let you know how i get on. Thanks again Jennie

Thankyou for your help last night, i thought i would update you. I went to speak to Grandma today and she gave me a big telling off saying i was prying into her family even though i had her permission at the beginning. I explained that it is not me prying but just researching where my husbands middle name came from which is on her side. I know that there are some family secrets her side but seeming as they have all passed away there is nothing really to stop me researching this side of the tree is there. I am just curious as to where the name came from and how many generations it has been passed on for as a middle name as my son now has it as his middle name. I may turn up some secrets but i'm really not interested in this. Would it really hurt if i continued but didn't tell her as she can't really refuse me to look at this line can she? Thanks again for your replies Jen

Jennifer Its your family just as much as it is hers, of course. But you have to remember, that for someone of her age/generation, all this illegitimacy is shameful and probably makes her feel very unhappy. I would continue researching if it was me, but on the quiet! OC