Searching for my father's birth mother

[CarolineDuck]

hi there,my father was born on 19/02/1921 in Liverpool. He was taken in by the Bruces. We think his birth name was Alan Connor but it was changed by his step parents to James Alan Andrew Connor Bruce. (they incorporated his birth name within his new name). There is no record of his birth that we can find and he wasn't formally adopted until the start of WW2 when he needed a certificate to join the Merchant Navy. Where do I start? His step dad died early not sure when and he was brought up by his step mum at 81 Mount Pleasant which we think she ran as a rooming house or small hotel at the time. Here's hoping for something.

[Brentor boy]

The birth of an Alan Conner was registered in West Derby, January/March, 1921. His mother's maiden name is shown as Conner, which could mean that she was unmarried.

You can apply to the General Register Office for a copy of the certificate, cost £9.25. The reference you need is :- District - West Derby, Volume - 8b, Page. - 558

[CarolineDuck]

Thanks so much. I'm amazed at how quick I was able to get a response. The family always thought he must have been born in Liverpool as he was brought up  there, but we have never been able to find anything, even when we visited the records office in Liverpool. I am so grateful as we live in Australia and research has been difficult. The internet is amazing!

[groom]

Welcome to Rootschat

This is the best place for searching births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

Note that Connor is spelled Conner in the records. If you apply for the birth certificate make sure you use that spelling otherwise they may say they can't find it.

[CarolineDuck]

Thanks I have applied for the certificate and hopefully spelt the name right. When we were n Liverpool a few years ago we thought the spelling was or and they couldn't find anything so we gave up then.

[groom]

Good luck, once you have his mother's full name let us know if you need anymore help and someone may be able to find her.

[CarolineDuck]

Yes  I will thanks again. By the way it must be late in the UK at the moment.

[Blue70]

There's lots of Conners and Connors in the Liverpool area. It's also possible his mother came over from Ireland and returned there after the birth. My first thought when I saw the Mount Pleasant address was that Alan might have been born in Liverpool Workhouse not far from there but the registration district is West Derby so he might have been born at Walton Workhouse it's usually entered on certificates as 107 Rice Lane so if this address appears it's Walton Workhouse it was later known as Walton Hospital. A birth at Liverpool Workhouse or in the Mount Pleasant area would have been registered in the Liverpool registration district.


Blue

[CarolineDuck]

Thanks so much. We had thought that he might have been born in a workhouse or something because my father was told his mother was only 14 at the time. We also thought that she might have come over from Ireland as well and then returned. Anyway here's hoping that when the certificate arrives it will shed some light on the situation.