Genealogy Chat

All opinions welcome In 1885/1890 were children officially adopted or would it be more likely that they would be taken in and possibly brought up as a member of that family with their name. Regards Shona

Shona, Legal Adoption didn't start till 1927 Bob

I have a case of 'taken in' and renamed in around 1920.

Hi Thanks. Finding out the real surname could prove to be some job. any ideas appreciated Regards Shona

Shona Is there a place of birth on the birth certificate? If there is an address you could try the directories in the local library for that area to find out the name of the housholder. Jackie

Hi Jackie I dont have a birth cert. I dont know for sure what his surname is He was brought up by another family under their name. All I have is a possible surname from a family story. Needle and haystack spring to mind Shona

Hi My gran was taken in by a neighbour so no family connection, this has all been hearsay and I have the family name, but can't find anywhere. She was born in Mull both parents had died but grew up in Glasgow and married in Ireland, so I'm having fun with this one. Mary

Well I would never have traced my 'taken in' without a chance remark. But in the end I didn't prove it until he died. The death certificate gave me his DOB and despite the name of Evans, I knew that if I could find someone born on the same day it must be correct. Eventually I matched Evans with Lensh, but you have quite a job ahead of you!

Thanks Mary and Hilary It is good to hear how other people got on with a similar situation. I am not sure if he was taken in by a neighbour or not. I checked the "new parents" siblings but found none that would have been the correct age to have had him. I am in the process of checking census records but since he was born about midway between the 1881 and 1891, i don't hold out too much hope but you have to start somewhere Regards Shona

hi, my grandad was "taken in ", when his father took him and his siblings to the salvation army, 1912, after his mother died, during his birth, and asked the people there who will take these children, they were all taken by different people. my grandad used his taken in parents name by adding it on to his own, he was known through life by their name, as were his children, grandchildren, and great granchildren. on his marriage cert it didnt have a fathers name, as he couldnt by law put his taken in fathers name there. by getting his marriage cert it showed his birth name and known as his taken name. i then got his birth cert by his birth name, which give me his birth parents. hope all this makes sense. deb

I was looking for my g.g.father in 1881 and found him as a 1yr old with the right first name but wrong surname living as a 'Nurse-child' with a family with the surname I thought he should have. In 1891 he was down as 'adopted son' with his original surname and in 1901 he was simply 'son' with his new surname, which was my mother's family name. I went back to the 1881 and looked at all the other names in the road and found the real parents by their surname - living right next door! So check everyone in the same road and you may strike lucky! Incidentally, my ancestor's real parents went on to have 8 more children but never took back my g.g.father.

Hi, Thankyou for the replies. Different stories help by giving ideas I had not thought about. Being born between the two censuses makes things difficult. I have him in 1891 age 6 living with his new family and I have his new family in 1881. I am checking the streets but his real parents may not even have been married in 1881 so I will kep digging Regards Shona

On this subject can any one help with more recent issues of adoption. My husband was registered in one name then the following year his parents married and he was registered in their married name. They then divorced but she then married some one else a few years later and that person adopted my husband so my sons name changed again. He has a birth certificate with his adopted name on it, but i cant find a record of it anywhere on 1837, am i doing something wrong, Anita