Ronald Kennedy, adopted child

[Bugly]

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 ... 

[Thamesite2017]

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

[Janette]

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

[craigt]

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.

[Janette]

Hi Craig,

I thought the 100 year thing might make it easier to get the original birth cert

Cheers Janette

[craigt]

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.

[craigt]

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.

[Bugly]

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

[Bugly]

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.