Genealogy Chat

Hi, On A birth certificate recieved , of child born in 1921, in the uk is a notation in the margin 'Adopted' followed by the superintendant registra's name. As adoption wasnt a formal legal process untill 1927, can any one tell me why this was added? I eas aware that she had been adopted/fostered by family possibly, but thought it had been around 1924. Any help would be great, thanks Kate

dear kate, my grandfather was also adopted, but it doesnt say that on his birth certificate,maybe he was adopted straight away, my grandfathers mum reg his birth before she gave him up for adoption in 1915, and your right in saying adoption wasnt legal until 1927

Hi Suzanne, Its a real pain isnt it, the child Beatrice was born 21st June and registered by her mum Beatrice 27 July, I suppose Im hoping that as this is on the original cert, there may be some way of finding info on who adopted her, and finding any family of hers. Well I can dream anyway :) Kate

Perhaps she was fostered and then legally adopted after 1927.

I think you really need to try to find out more about Beatrice and her mother first, especially her mother. I assume there is no father on the cert? Did her mother die? Can you find her death cert and who registered the death? My mother was in the same situation; born 1915 to a mother who had TB and soon died. I have mother's birth and marriage certs---they don't agree! Her father [birth cert] was George Jackson. Her father [marriage cert] was Samuel Jackson. This was in 1943 so it wasn't just hundreds of years ago that they lied! Luckily I knew who raised her---'Auntie Ethel' nee Jackson, whose father was Samuel. Sam turns out to be George's brother, and the birth of mother was registered by their sister Beatrice. So check out any family names that appear in any records at all---look for things like insurance policies [they all had penny policies for infants] to get clues. She would definitely have been raised by a family member I think.

Hi , Right up till I got the cert, i understood that the little girl had been adopted after her mums death in 1924, as she was known about in the family. The family all called her Peggy so it took a while to find her, we even found a photo of a little girl, with P Smith written on the back. It does look as if she was adopted by a member of the Smith family, sadly , there is very little known about her father James Samuel, he was 61 when he married her mum and when she was born, a widower and naval pensioner. Trying to find him is a nightmare lol. I just dont know why the certificate would say this when there was no legal procedure, have tried calling the GRO , but they are always engaged. Just when you think you have it cracked , lol, something turns up to throw you back again. :)

Could it be she was adopted after her father died?

Hi Jim, It could be that sher dad died also, I know very little about her dad, think he was still alive after 1924, as was living at same address in Portsmouth in 1925. As he is a Smith, this could take forever lol.

Am I right here? James Samuel Smith was 61 when he married Beatrice [what was her maiden name?] Their daughter Beatrice was born in 1921 and 'adopted' in 1924 after her mother's death. [Do you have her death cert? If not, it could be interesting and worth buying]. Am I following this so far? If so, this suggests you have the marriage certificate? Otherwise how do you know his age? What was his occupation? If he was 61 in 1921 you should be able to trace him in the 1901 census aged c. 41. This will give his place of birth. You can then trace him back to find his siblings, then trace THEM forward, and find which of them may have been in the area where Beatrice was born. As she was known as 'Peggy' Smith it was obviously one of his family who raised her. Do you have any addresses?

Hi Wendy, You have grasped it all well :). James marries Beatrice in Feb 1921, her maiden name was Roberts, former name Jackson, she was a widow. James occupation is given as Naval Pensioner. Beatrice( senior) died in Nov 1924, I do have her certificate, the address given for their marriage, Beatrice(junior) birth and Beatrice (senior) death are all the same, 19 Burliegh Road Portsmouth. I am trying to find James on Census, but due to the amount of names and not having any idea where he was born etc, its not easy. On their marriage cert, his father is named as James Samuel Smith a Licensed Victualler, so I think I need to start on 1871 census, first. What do you think? Kate