Genealogy Chat

Dear all, tried to put this in the "Trying to find" board as it is more applicable there, but it seems I can only use names I have on my family tree for that section, so I'll put this request in here and hope nobody minds. My grandmother who died about a year ago told her children before her death that she had given birth to another child sometimes before/during World War II. It was adopted by friends of her family. We know the name of the family who adopted that child (Pithkelly) and we know the child's name (well, she isn't a child anymore) - Andrea. We also know that apparently the family went to live in Australia for a while, but that Andrea came back to the UK. As the families were friends, I'm not sure how this whole adoption thing worked and what agencies were involved. I know that generally the law is that the parents who give a child up for adoption cannot search for it or request any information, that only the adopted child can do that. Is that correct? Is there any way to find this Andrea? Basically - apart from the family research - we also want to let her know that her birth mother doesn't live anymore, because I assume she might be interested in that information. Well, sorry for the long ramble and I know it's not strictly genealogy, but it is somehow and so I thought maybe some of you could help me here. Thanks and best wishes, Heike

Heike, Are you sure about the spelling of that surname? There are 0 matches on Ancestry. Crista

Checked Oz White Pages not one listing. John.

John, I suspect the name is Pitkethly Crista

There's a few of those,one lives about 2 mins drive from here. John.

Officially, as birth relatives, the only thing you can do is register on the adoption contact register http://www(.)gro.gov(.)uk/gro/content/adoptions/adoptioncontactregister/ There is some more info on there too but this will only work if the adopted person also registers But if you know the name after the adoption try searching on friends reunited or if you google there are various 'missing persons' type boards too. The only problem with making contact through 'unofficial channels' is that the person concerned may not know they're adopted. Good luck in your search H

Dear all, thanks for your replies. Yes, the name is correct, Pithkelly. I tried some online phone books and other pages and couldn't find it there, seems to be a very elusive family. The adoptive parents might be dead and Andrea apparently returned to England, but that's all I know. I'll check out that adoptive agency and maybe we can find her there. Thanks for the link! Best wishes, Heike

You could try looking/leaving messages on Lookupuk*com (they have an adoption match register as well I think) or Missing-you*net Also if you put the name into your tree (add her as your granny's first child or wherever she came in the system) then you will be able to put her on the trying to find message board (I think). Sometimes newspapers have a "Where are they now" section you could try but you have to be very careful with the wording. Perhaps looking at the BDM's for the years following her return to UK for any possible marriage/death. They have the fiche's at some Central Libraries - thought at the local LDS FHC centre they only go up to 1903.

Heike, What do you know about the adoptive parents? I'm still worried that name isn't correct. If you Google it the 2 hits are actually misspellings of Pitkethly and there's nothing for it on Ancestry, FreeBMD, LDS or IGI. Crista

Hi Heike, I am thinking the same as Crista, just checked my info disk and there are 8 Pitkethley's in the UK ost In Lanarkshire, but no Pithkelly's down, if Andrea returned to England and married here I would try 1837 and look for a marriage but look for a few different spellings of the name to match, if you find anything let me know and I will do a search on my elecotral roll disk for you, to see if I can find an anddress. Good Luck Sheila

Dear all, thanks for the many replies, it is so nice of you all to help me with this! Well, basically I'm pretty sure it's the right name. The birth mother of Andrea was my grandmother and the Pithkellys were friends of my grandmother's parents. My grandmother's siblings gave us the name and so I'm pretty sure it's accurate. However, one never knows and as so many of you now said it could be a different spelling or slightly different name, I'll ask my Mum to ask her uncle about it again. After all this all happened sixty years ago so it could happen that they remember the name not 100% correctly. Best regards, Heike