illegitimate baby

[chempat]

I was just about to ask  you to look at the 1939, as the date is different.  We are not allowed to do 1939 look-ups, but you can quote.

Have you searched on 1939 by birthdate? Usually if people make a mistake it is with the year, they usually get the birth day and month correct.

Sorry, do you have the correct fostering family on the 1939?
You know what names the 'baby' used at marriage and death?
You are wondering where she is in 1939, to help confirm?
You know the baby's birth Mother - what confirmation have you that she is definitely the correct lady?

[sylvieme]

I didn't know you could search the 1939 by birthdate – will have a go at that.

All the pieces tie together for the birth Mother, luckily for me she had 3 first names and having and address for where she was when she gave birth I managed to find her marriage which led to some living relatives, who then confirmed details on that side of the family as well as telling me the Mother never forgot the baby she had to give away as well as them knowing the baby's first name.

Yes, I am trying to track where she was between birth and starting work aged 16. The 1939 is the only “census” type of document which is available for location, and at that time she would have been at school so I don't have much to go on.     

I have names from birth and marriage certificate, which are all the same, then at death the only change was to her married surname (plus I'd known her for about 20 years by that point)

The fostering family was a little harder to track as I only had a name and place they lived from about 1955 onwards. Eventually I got a breakthrough and am fairly sure I have the right person, though they aren't big on keeping up with official records like electoral roll or baptisms so it has been a challenge.

[chempat]

Good luck with the birth date search.

[sylvieme]

Thanks. I've just had a go and no luck at all. Which leads me to think her record must still be closed, so maybe I will try sending the death certificate.

[CaroleW]

Have you already checked whether any actual adoption records exist for her?    The fact she uses her birth surname could suggest there was no actual adoption and she could have been raised by her mothers relatives or even her birth fathers?

[chempat]

Just checking - does that birth certificate agree with birth date on death certificate?

[sylvieme]

Thanks for the tip to check dates on both certificates, but yes they do both agree in every detail.

I found that the legal adoption process only came into existence in late 1927 so her birth preceded that by just a few months. But please correct me if I've got that wrong and there is some way I can research it.  Hence fostering is a better term to use, but I hadn't really thought about the technicalities of using the term adoption.

I've searched extensively through her birth Mother's family and can find no record of her anywhere.   

The birth Father is still a mystery as all I have for sure is a name on the electoral roll at the time of the pregnancy – I can't prove he is the Father without some other link, and I can't even find him for sure as I don't know his place or date of birth or occupation. The only thing I can say for sure is that he must have been over 21, and that he had no other family members registered on the same roll. Again – any tips in where to look for a mystery man gladly received.

[chempat]

Normally, with adoption, the name of the child changes completely, and so there is no link to the original birth name/certificate.

Your 'relative' married in her birth name, according to you, so must have known more of her background than many who are not even told they have been adopted.

Did she refer to the lady as her adopted mother, and when did she start to regard her as such, presumably there is no Father's name on her marriage certificate?  If the adoptive mother married in 1941, did the husband have responsibility for her also?

Yes, if a proper adoption, then he would have been her father at marriage.

I have a relation whose father was born in 1926 in Northern Ireland (before official adoption) but was then officially adopted in 1947. 

[aghadowey]

Don't think it's been mentioned here but it's possible the father or someone on his behalf made arangements for the child's care.