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Research in Other Countries => New Zealand => New Zealand Completed Requests => Topic started by: Bugly on Tuesday 03 April 12 12:50 BST (UK)
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I received the birth printout for (grandfather) Ronald Kennedy, which blew away a few family myths on his background.
From the birth printout, Ronald Kennedy was born on 10 March 1903 at 14 Thompson Street, Wellington. His birth however was not registered (at least not registered under THIS name) until 24 May 1921. Ronalds parents were listed as James Kennedy, labourer, of "Nainai, Lower Hutt" and Mary Jane Kennedy, wife of James Kennedy, also of "Nainai, Lower Hutt". The column between the 'Father' details and the 'Mother' details, normally showing when and where married, and previous issue of existing marriage was simply notated "Adopting Parents".
Papers Past at http://www.paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19011130.2.66.6&srpos=4&e=-------10--1----214+Thompson+Street-- shows that 14 Thompson Street was a Salvation Army "Maternity Home" ... but was it an orphanage too?
Would there be any way of tracing 1903 records to find birth parents (or mother) of Ronald? Clutching at straws, I know ... :)
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Salvation army archives are excellent so try them first
http://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/research-media/
look bottom right of page for email address
Bye
althea
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It may be worth emailing BDM's and ask them if there is an original birth cert you can have a printout for
Cheers Janette
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They may not release the original. My grandmother was adopted by her grandparents in 1922, somewhat later than Ronald Kennedy. I had to apply to the District Court (in Christchurch where I live) and they retrieved the adoption papers from Wellington where the adoption had taken place when my application was granted. There was quite a bundle of papers including a statement from the mother, application from the adoptive parents and letters from sponsers supporting the application. There was also the original birth certificate, which, par for the course, only had the mother's name on it. By extreme good fortune I have found the name of the (very) likely father through another source. At the moment I'm looking at autosomal DNA testing to determine the liklihood of a link between the families. I think Althea's idea of contacting the Sallies first is a good one, and then trying the above. The DNA is of course optional but is being used more and more in adoption situations.
Craig.
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Hi Craig,
I thought the 100 year thing might make it easier to get the original birth cert
Cheers Janette
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Hi Janette,
No, I found out with adoptions in New Zealand there is a 120 year rule, I suppose to make absolutely sure all parties are deceased when applying for the original.
Regards,
Craig.
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That's why I had to apply to the District Court, because it had been less than 120 years since my grandmother's birth.
Craig.
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Hi all, and thanks for your input. I will certainly contact the Salvo's and also BDM for a 'pre-adoptive' birth certificate. Cross fingers.
Again, I will keep this post live to let you know how it eventuates.
Cheers - Bugly
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Great news!! I was successful in an application to BDM for a "pre-adoptive" birth certificate for Ronald Kennedy, which showed that he was adopted at the age of 4 months. Unfortunately (and not unexpectedly) his natural father's name was not recorded. :(
Now, googling his mother Mary's full name shows that after giving birth to Ronald out of wedlock in 1903, she married in 1906 and had a few more children to her husband. Mary's grand-daughter is presently seeking information on a genealogy forum about her grandmother, so I guess in fairness to her family research I should make contact with her and let her know of this skeleton in the closet. I should, shouldn't I? :-\
Now a question to the genealogists ... when recording Ronald's birth (I use Legacy 7.5) how should I record his surname? Up until now he has been recorded with his adopted surname, as I knew of no other. Now that I know his mother's surname (being the name he was originally recorded under) should I change to this one? Unfortunately I cannot imagine that I will ever find his natural father's surname. It will be likely that I can trace back his ancestry on his mother's side. :)
Any advise will be very much appreciated. ;)
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Given that the grandaughter is interested in genealogy it would be helpful to tactfully say you may have a family connection and discuss it off line
there may be some family rumours that she knows of that could lead you to some more answers
re LEGACY, you can use the aka option and add alternate surnames, then select the one that you want the person to be known as..I think I would go with adopted
Legacy has excellent help pages where you can lookj at options
http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/tipsMultiple-SingleParents.asp
also in the help file
Bye
Althea
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Thanks Althea, I shall follow your advice.
An added bonus today was a response from the Salvation Army archives office in Wellington. They were able to provide a copy of the record of Mary's time at the Maternity Home, and entered in the record was Ronald's father's name! Whether this is correct or not is now another avenue of investigation!
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Hi
If you've been provided with the birthfather's name, grab it!!
At that time maternity homes, etc looked for some recompense for looking after young women especially considering that they were usually staying up to 6 months instead of the 10-14 days after the birth.
If the family wouldn't or couldn't assist financially, then the birthfather was usually approached. Mary may have also gone to court to get an order for financial support. If that was granted then the Salvation Army would have recorded his name so they would know who the payments were supporting.
Congratulations on getting the court info - it's great to see successes in this area.
Elli
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Thanks Elli - yes, we were very happy to get this info. The father was shown on the records to be making payment of 7/6 per week, with a signed agreement. I guess this means that the name might be the real one. Mary stayed for six weeks after the birth, and then left the Home. The child was left in the care of a nusing mother, who was the Mary Jane Kennedy who later adopted Ronald. An 'agreement' was signed prior to Mary's admission to the Home ... I assume this was an agreement to give the child up for adoption following the birth. Would this be correct?