Genealogy Chat

HI I have my grandmothers adoption certificate, she was adopted by her paternal grandparents at the age of 15, is there any way i can find out who her mother was, as i have just been informed by email that only the adoptees themselves have a right to their birth details, and my grandmother died a few years ago. She always wanted to know who her mother was but didnt know how to find out, and had mislaid her adoption certificate,( it only came to light when her personal effects were uncovered in a family move last year ) It just looks really sad to have her on my tree as mother unknown...... I have tried looking for a birth registration for her, but there is nothing under the name she grew up with. Any ideas ???? Yvette

Do you know the name of your gran's father? Were her parents married? It might be possible to go forward from your gran's grandparents to their children (from censuses). Do you know why she was adopted - did the mother/parents die?

Hi Janice Yes i know who her father was, he jumped ship and went to Canada after my Nan was born, he was never married to the mother, and i will have to wait for a while to use census details as my Nan was born in 1920. His parents brought her up as their own child, so she thought her Aunts were her sisters, etc, They told her the truth then adopted her at the age of 15, but wouldnt tell her who her mother was. I find it really odd that they wouldnt know who she was as mothers are a lot harder to hide than fathers! The whole family are desperate to know the answer to this but i really dont know where to look next. Regards Yvette

Clutching straws here to try thinking of ways round this.-Was she registered but the record not included in the London GRO index? Was she christened, perhaps as a baby or maybe after adoption? Do you know where she grew up? Perhaps school records would show alternative parents name. Why was she not adopted until 15, was there a significant event in the family? Are you positive about access to her adoption records? I thought I read somewhere that next of kin could also apply if the adoptee had died, but I may be wrong.

Hi Gwyneth and Amanda Thanks for your thoughts on this problem of mine. I really appreciate the input. To answer a few of the suggestions you had.... I have no idea if Nan was Christened, nor have any surviving family, and no idea exactly where she was living in the first 5-10 years of her life, so not sure where to look. The only thing i know was she was in the Croydon/Purley area from her earliest memories. For that reason finding her school and its records are a problem, and chances are the school is no longer standing anyway! Chances are as her 'sisters' never knew they probably did't tell the school either as they were not so fussy about form filling back then. From family 'legend' the reason they adopted her at the age of 15 is because they thought with her coming up to marriage age she needed to know they were her grandparents, not her parents, and gave her the option to make it a legal set-up. I can't help wondering if it was more likely that they knew her natural mother, and that she had possibly died, or moved away by then, so felt it was safe to tell her, or make it legal as she was not around to cause any waves.........or am i just cynical?? As for applying to the court for details, that sounds great, does anyone know how i would go about it?, or if it would work? Thanks again for the replies, it always helps to have a pair of fresh eyes to look at a problem, it is so easy to miss obvious things when you have been going round and round with something!! Regards Yvette

Yvette did you try Croydon Library as i know they have lots of baptism records for the churches in their borough and some outside? i sent you details of croydon via email when you couldn't decide whether to visit croydon or FRC would be a bit of a long shot but may be worth the effort if you find the grnadparents in 1901 it would give you a rough area to start looking for baptism Shelli

Hi Shelli Yes i did make it to Croydon Library, had a shock at working on the old fiche machines, i have been spoilt by the NRO, lol. However my Nans family were not about in the areas their records covered for the times i wanted. The staff were very helpful, and i was even able to listen to a tape my Grandad made 12 years ago (he died shortly after) about memories of Croydon when he was a young man. It was very emotional hearing his voice after so long, but wonderful to listen to his stories of what life was like for him at the ages of 15-19. The whole trip was worth it just for those precious 20 minutes. I will have to go back at some point as i just didnt have enough time to go through the amount of work i wanted to, and i am hoping to make it to the FRC at some point also, as i need more help than the Croydon library covers. Thanks for your help and advice in the emal you sent. Regards Yvette