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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Skaife on Friday 12 September 25 11:40 BST (UK)
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I am not quite sure where to put this on the board, so please move if necessary.
I understand that foundling births will not have a birth certificate containing the details as we know them. I have read though, that there is a record of babies, without a parents name, which is recorded after the letter Z in the birth records.
Is it possible to look at these records? The time period is 1920/1930's.
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The separate registration of foundlings (in E/W) didn't start until the 1970s ( The Abandoned Children Register). Before that they can appear in the usual birth indexes, but in a number of ways.
You could try searching for the surname "unknown" which will produce quite a few entries in that sort of era ( but not all of which may be foundlings though).
I also have a number of examples of foundlings being registered in 1927 with surnames ( using the name of the street in which they were found), but not until they were 11/12 years old and although they were found in London, they were registered in the Essex district in which they were then living in a children's home.
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Thankyou. I will try looking for surname unknown - an new idea to me.
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Are you meaning Foundlings found left to be found by the general public.
OR
Foundlings brought up in the Thomas Coram Foundling Hospital?
They are totally different ways of them being recorded.
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Where was your Foundling discovered please?
I have a Foundling in my ancestry - although much earlier than yours. He was taken to the London Foundling Hospital and was baptised there. At that time (1750s) - even if they had a name when handed over - their name was changed at the hospital.
In my case I was able to obtain his records from the London Metropolitan Archives. (Very interesting they were too).
Suspect things were different at the time your Foundling was 'taken in' and it will depend upon where of course.
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The baby in the birth I am trying to locate was, we were told, left to be found. So not connected to the Coram hospital. Thanks for the suggestion though.
The baby, in my search, was said to be found in a hotel and had been left safe and warm.
Using the term 'unknown' in the space for surname did reveal a child with a girls' Christian name. I've made a note of the details and may send for the certificate to see if it gives any more clues.
This is because I've now found a birth entry, on Free BMD, which shows the surname I would expect - however, this is as a married surname ( there is an unfamiliar surname given as maiden name). This entry though has the term 'Occasional Copy B' added. I know this is something to do with a correction of an of an earlier entry. I have now sent for this certificate and so will hold on the first find until I see what this one has to say.
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When you see the certificate......if there is anything you aren't certain about, I would be ringing Registrars to see if they can explain fully who, what, why, where, when, how, and who........keep probling to see if you are given any type of clue that you may not be usually be expected to be told.
Contact more than one, you may get lucky....
Be a little like the police when questioning... A. B. C. Assume Nothing; Believe No one and Check everything.....Then double and triple check.
True foundlings could be very hard to impossible to trace years ago. It's only since D.N.A. became available to the masses that things improved.
LONG LOST FAMILY HAVE A SPECIALIST ATTACHED TO THE PROGRAMME ARIEL........ (?) SURNAME ESCAPES ME AT PRESENT, BUT CHECK LISTING....SHE WORKS FROM WARWICK UNIVERSITY.
it could be in your interests to contact her by email. I've contacted her in the past and she was quite helpful- but under a heavy workload.
Good luck with your research. Contact me if you think we may be able to have a mini think tank event and search outside the box for other avenues to explore. Cheers. Doreen PEACOCK.
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Thanks for your suggestions GP. I’ll wait until the certificate arrives and see what it reveals. I’ll post again if there is anything unusual.
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This is an update as I now received the certificate. I am now not sure whether the story we had been told about the baby being a foundling is accurate and I may need to post again under a different title for further help.
The certificate which was in the GRO records listing with the additional note 'Occasional Copy B' does contain extra information. Am now looking for help in interpreting what this might mean.
The informant is the mother, she has the surname I would expect and she has given an address I am familiar with for this family. Also in that same box it says 'per declaration' this is dated 2 days before the date of the registration. Does this mean that the mother sent some sort of note in to the registrar but was not actually present - even though she is 'the informant' ?
Added at the end of the entry is a note that the baby was adopted.
There is a further puzzle in that it names a father - he has the same surname as the mother. However, in the section which asks for the name of the mother there is a maiden name. This name is unknown to me and I cannot find a marriage registered for these two people.
I do have an outlandish idea running through my mind but would love to hear some ideas how others might interpret this.
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If it shows "per (or by) declaration" in the informant column, it means that the informant went to a registration office somewhere outside the registration district where the birth took place to give the information. Instead of signing a register entry they would sign a declaration form, with all the information needed for the register, which would then be posted from that office to the registrar in the correct district.
The two days reflects the time it took for the declaration to arrive at the correct district and the information to be entered in their register.
There is a further puzzle in that it names a father - he has the same surname as the mother. However, in the section which asks for the name of the mother there is a maiden name.
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this - it sounds normal (feel free to send me the details by DM if you wish), but if the mother is the only informant, and the father is named on the entry, then she was claiming that they were married.
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Thank you AntonyMMM - I will send you a DM