Possible Adoption Query?

[mewsbe]

Hi, new poster here, looking for some guidance.

I am researching into my great-grandfather's history. I do not have much to go off.
I have his name, DOB (17 DEC 1902) and death date. I don't know anything of his parents or siblings, only wife and children.

I have searched through as many birth records as I can find, and I only found one entry for his name in that quarter and year. (OCT, NOV, DEC 1902)
I purchased a copy of the record through GRO (traced volume and page number from record and entered into GRO and got the image from there) and actually found the birthdate was completely different. (1 SEP 1902), and the Baptist date was Oct 1902. September isn't in the same quarter I found but this birth record is what I found so even that's a little strange.

It's the only record of his name at the time I'm looking at.

So now I am unsure if the record is actually for my great-grandfather. One of his daughters, currently 92, mentioned adoption, but it was unclear if she meant my great grandfather - or a parent was adopted.

Is it plausible that the name we know him as, is not his birthname?
If he was adopted, would a different name been on the birth records?
Kinda at a dead end at the minute, and new at looking into my ancestry, I hope this was clear enough.

Thank you so much for your time, take care.

[Newfloridian]

Hi

A name and a possible place of birth would be of help

Alan

[aghadowey]

Is the date of birth from his death certificate? if so, that's the date given by the informant and it could be incorrect. Equally possible he didn't know the exact date of his birth.
You mentioned GRO so England or Wales? Have you found him in 1911 and 1921 census as well as 1939 register? We aren't allowed to do lookups from the last two due to restrictions from the pay sites that have them online.

[antonymark]

Hi mewsbe,

Welcome to Rootschat. You'll find lots of great help here.

With a December birthdate the birth might not have been registered until the Jan-Mar quarter of 1903. Have you checked for the name you have in that quarter?

I'd then widen the search for a registration for the name you have with a +/- 2 years to see what comes up.

Best wishes, Tony.

[Andy J2022]

Going back to your original question, it is possible that the name you know him by was not the name his birth was registered under, if he was adopted. Furthermore since adoption did not formally involve the state until 1927, there may be no official record which ties together his actual birth registration and the name he was subsequently known by. Usually this linking would be done by means of an adoption order issued by the court, after which he would appear in the Adopted Children Register at the GRO under his adopted name. However getting a court adoption order wasn't mandatory for births before 1927 and so unless he needed a passport for instance, it might never have been done.  You can't search the ACR online, but it is available in microfiche format at various large libraries around the country (eg Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Plymouth etc). Alternatively you can ask the GRO to do a search for you.

[CaroleW]

Lot of questions to enable us to help you 

We need his full name

Are you certain of his birthplace or are you assuming he was born wherever he married/lived?

Who - when - where did he marry?  Do you have a copy of his marriage cert?

Did he give a fathers name & occupation?

Who were the witnesses?

[aghadowey]

To added to Carole's questions-

Is the date of birth from his death certificate? if so, that's the date given by the informant and it could be incorrect. Equally possible he didn't know the exact date of his birth.
You mentioned GRO so England or Wales? Have you found him in 1911 and 1921 census as well as 1939 register? We aren't allowed to do lookups from the last two due to restrictions from the pay sites that have them online.

[trish1120]

You mention a baptism when/where was that?
If you have a bapt you should have Parents names?

[Andy J2022]

You mention a baptism when/where was that?
If you have a bapt you should have Parents names?

Trish, If mewsbe is right about the great grandfather's date of birth being 17 December 1902, the baptism in Oct 1902 must be incorrect, and at this stage at least, should be treated as a red herring.

As others have said, having a name would greatly assist us in pointing mewsbe in the right direction. Personally I would want to look for him in the 1921 Census as this gives the month as well as the year of birth. Unfortunately even if he had been adopted, the 1921 Census won't provide any information about whether the birth parents were still alive because he was no longer a child.