I was recommended to this site by a friend who reckons you guys are magicians! I wonder if you can help me, please?
I was adopted in 1954 from the Barnados home in Barkingside, Essex. Out of deference to my adoptive parents, I didn’t attempt to find any information regarding my birth mother and family until very recently, but finding information is proving very difficult. So far, I’ve discovered that:
I was born at Ballymena Cottage Hospital in Northern Ireland on 8th July 1947 and given the name Mervin Stoddart (also seen as Mervyn in records). I was later baptised into the Presbyterian Church of Ireland. My mother’s name was(*) (born 1931+/-1yr), and her family’s home was at a smallholding - given address Tyanee, Portglenone, County Antrim. (*) lived with her mother, Mary (born 1903+/-1yr), stepfather William Morris (born 1875+/-1yr), and sister (*) (born 4th July 1933). Mary’s first husband had died around six years before I was born, and sadly I don’t know her maiden name (or her 1st husbands given name). Since I cannot trace any details re the farm it is impossible to learn from which of the three lines it was passed down. My putative father worked on the farm as a labourer - (*) (c1927). He was dismissed (and ejected from his cottage) as soon as the pregnancy was discovered.
Both the Salvation Army and Barnados have attempted to trace my family, without success. Both William and Mary are obviously dead by now, and I know that (*)’s sister (Joan) was both resident in Belfast in 2002-6 and died in the same locale in 1st August 2009. My mother briefly returned to the farm in 1950 (having previously been banished by her stepfather) leaving to go to “the city”. It is unclear whether this was to Belfast/ Dublin or further afield in the UK, but we do know that she acquired a passport in 1951. Since she could not be found by adoption services, it is presumed that she too is dead.
Any information would be very gratefully received as all my research with Ancestry, Genes Reunited & Findmypast has proved fruitless.
Kind regards, Mervyn.
(*) Moderator Comment:
Edited in accordance with RootsChat policy of not publishing details of living people here, or details of people who may still be living. This is to protect all concerned from spam, identity abuse, internet abuse, etc.
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