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  1. #1
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    Default A Little Help Please

    I found out one of my great grand uncles was adopted by my great grandparents, how do I go about finding his proper surname, and his birth parents? All I know is his name is Colin. A little help or advise would be great. Thanks.

    Forgot to mention that this was around 1920-1935.

  2. #2
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    Even though they don't hold adoption records, the National Archives web site is still worth looking at for advice.

    https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/r...n/adoption.htm

    If it was before 1927, documentation, if there was any, is unlikely to have survived.

    If it was after 1927, access to the information you want is governed by law. This basically means that adopted people can find out their birth names but not anybody else.

    Presumably Colin is his adoptive name. This was not necessarily the same as his birth name. To some extent it depends how old he was when adopted. What certificates have you got? Death?

    1920-1935 is a long timescale. Are you sure you can't zoom in a bit closer? School records? Poor law records? What certificates do you have? Have you searched the adoption register indexes?

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Goodey View Post
    Even though they don't hold adoption records, the National Archives web site is still worth looking at for advice.

    https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/r...n/adoption.htm

    If it was before 1927, documentation, if there was any, is unlikely to have survived.

    If it was after 1927, access to the information you want is governed by law. This basically means that adopted people can find out their birth names but not anybody else.

    Presumably Colin is his adoptive name. This was not necessarily the same as his birth name. To some extent it depends how old he was when adopted.

    1920-1935 is a long timescale. Are you sure you can't zoom in a bit closer? School records? Poor law records? What certificates do you have? Have you searched the adoption register indexes?
    Thanks, with Colin, that's the only information my great grand aunt could give me (I did ask for his date of birth, but she was unsure), my great grandmother had her first child in 1923, but she died in 1935, so I'm only guessing that Colin's birth is around about 1920-1935, I don't know if he was adopted after her death, as my great grandfather remarried.

    Forgot to answer the questions: I have nothing, only the name my great grand aunt gave me.

  4. #4
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    Get his death certificate. If he died after 1969, it will show his date and place of birth.

    Presumably you have searched for a conventional birth certificate? Standard technique, including the possibility of registration under mother's maiden name.

    Search the adoption register index. There is a copy at Bridgend Reference and Information Library which is presumably your nearest site. Perhaps you'll find time to do that before Xmas!

    Once you've got that basic information, we can decide what to do next.

  5. #5
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    Hello Hayz
    If you want to give us the surname your great uncle used all his life and, if you know it, the approximate year of his death and where (the county if not town) then we can look for his death registration for you.
    You can search FreeBMD (google it) yourself but their records only go up to 1985 so if he died after that a search on a pay per view site may find a later registration.

    Christanel
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

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