RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => London and Middlesex => Topic started by: Atlanta1 on Thursday 04 February 10 11:14 GMT (UK)
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Hi, does anyone have any information on the above place? I recently found out I have a brother who was adopted in the 60's. Dont know if this site can help - have his birth certificate - but think it was a private adoption - surely though - some sort of legal documentation would have to have been done?
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Do you just want more information on the hostel or are you hoping to ultimately make contact with your brother?
Dawn
(Co-moderator for London & Middlesex)
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both really - am I not allowed to do this?
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We can give you info on St Margaret's but not help with finding living people.
Please see our guidelines here
http://www.rootschat.com/help/posting_guide.php
If you brother was legally adopted, his name was most probably changed. There is an adopted childrens index if you know what his new name is, but it is almost impossible to get a copy of the adoption certificate which shows who his adopted parents were.
Dawn
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Sorry, thank you.
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Hi Atlanta
I think it's much easier to find birth parents when you are the adopted person, than to find someone who was adopted.
I had a baby girl in 1960 who was adopted privately - I worried for years about that - but finally she found me and the adoption had been a success. She got her original birth certificate, then having got my name, searched for a marriage and any children I might have had, and then checked addresses etc. She did come to a halt as we had moved so many times, but as we have a son with an unusual Christian name, her father looked on the electoral roll and there were only 4 in England with that Christian name and the correct surname. They were going to contact them all, but struck lucky with the first one who was my son. He gave them my address (he was just told that it was a genealogist researching family history) and the rest, as they say is history.
Obviously, it's not possible for you to do that, as you haven't got your brother's adopted name and you are not entitled to see his adoption papers.
Good luck anyway in your search.
Lizzie
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For others who may be reading this....
For an adopted child to obtain access to their birth cert, is not easy as they have to undergo an interview with official agencies before information is revealed.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Registeringlifeevents/Birthandadoptionrecords/Adoptionrecords/DG_175567
As an adopted person, you can place our name on a contact register in the hopes that your natural family will want to get in touch.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Registeringlifeevents/Birthandadoptionrecords/Adoptionrecords/DG_175603
Hope this helps
Dawn
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For an adopted child to obtain access to their birth cert, is not easy as they have to undergo an interview with official agencies before information is revealed.
That might be true in theory, but my "daughter" didn't go for any interviews with any agency and nor did I. She and her adoptive father did all the work themselves and then just contacted me by letter. Oc course, it could be that because it was a private adoption (the nursing home arranged it as they did with lots of other unmarried mothers they took), they already knew my maiden name. The adoptive father did send me details of all the searches he'd done, I know he used his local Family History Centre to access electoral rolls etc.
Lizzie
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Thank you for your kind help and stories. I suppose I will never find him -..
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This may help - try Genes Reunited. I know of at least 2 people who looked on there for adopted family under their birth name and found them. In both cases the adopted child was also looking for their birth family. Worth a try and you have nothing to loose. I also posted something on a forum regarding information about one of my friends great grandfathers as I was helping her start a family tree. My friend never knew her father, only by name. Another family member replied to say he was related to the person and now my friend has been united with a family that she never knew. So, you can always post something relating to one of you ancestors and see if anyone replies. You never know.
Good luck!
Lisa
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Thank you so much Lisa .. how (bit stupid on the computer) do I start a post on Genes Reuntied? Do I have to pay the registration first? Money is tight at the moment!
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I'm not sure about that now. Its changed a lot since I last went on, but I'm sure there are plenty of other people on here who maybe able to help you. I stopped my subscription when I started using Ancestry, but I think you can still do some stuff for free. Sorry I can't be of much more help on that.
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Hi Atlanta,
Hope this may be of help as I was searching an adoption last year.
Go to www.baaf.org.uk (British adoption and fostering) site. On home page on the right under red banner click on Adoption Search Reunion, this will take you to another link, on left hand side click on search for location of adoption records. On key words for search enter hackney, scroll down results and to the bottom you will see St Margaret's Nursing home, the address as you gave. There doesn't seem to be much info on records but does give organisation names that may help. Click on St Margaret's and it will show you who may be involved with adoptions, click on each individual organisation name and that will give you contact details.
I myself had 4 organisations to contact, all of whom were very helpful and I actually found out the adopted persons file is at London Metropolitan Archives archived under Middlesex County Council. We have registered on the contact register and this year we are going for a search and contact. We do have o use a intermediary service.
Good luck with your search
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Thank you for your help - will give it a go
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We can give you info on St Margaret's but not help with finding living people.
Please see our guidelines here
http://www.rootschat.com/help/posting_guide.php
If you brother was legally adopted, his name was most probably changed. There is an adopted childrens index if you know what his new name is, but it is almost impossible to get a copy of the adoption certificate which shows who his adopted parents were.
Dawn
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Hello Dawn, just seen your message to Atlanta. I was born in St Margaret's in 1963 and am trying to find out more about it. I already have some information from the papers in my adoption file but am interested in knowing more about how the home was run - what the routines were for the young women who came there, any pictures etc. Your message suggested you might be able to help?
Kay
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Hi Kay
Welcome to Rootschat ;D
I can't help personally with your quest, but as you will hopefully find out, the chatters here are an extremely knowledgeable group of people who have a vast amount of information stored collectively. It never ceases to amaze just what they know.
Have a look at reply #12 and also think about contacting the London Metropolitan Archives to see what files they have, if any.
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Records_and_archives/Visitor_information/lma_enquiry_team.htm
They have an information leaflet here
http://217.154.230.218/NR/rdonlyres/FA09DD39-F5B1-41D9-8ED2-CFD1CB839254/0/InfoIncareAdoptionEnquirer.pdf
Dawn
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thanks Dawn.
Well if there is anyone out there who knows anything about St Margaret's please get in touch!
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hi,
I too am very interested in this hostel.. as you have read, my brother was adopted from this hostel.. no records seem to exist!!! No Metro records etc.. most adoptions were done privately... need I say more please contact me! ???
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I have read with interest the postings on this topic and can confirm that from my extensive enquiries there appear to be no records existing from St Margaret's.
I was born at St Margaret's in 1962 and was adopted a few days later. Although I have traced my birth mother, she refuses to reveal the identity of my birth father.
I believe that St Margaret's was a privately run fee paying establishment.
I'm looking for anyone who may have any connection with St Margaret's - having worked there or a parent or sibling perhaps?
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hi, its impossible to get any information about this place - was you adopted by foreign people - surely someone must have more information on this place?
Please contact me via e-mail thanks
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hi im wondering if anyone can help me i recently at the age of 54 found out i was adopted have been in touch with all the relervant people and have obtained adoption cert, orig birth cert etcetc. but i would love to know anything about st margarets home for unmarried mothers in victoria park rd hackney, where i was born, my birth parents were married at the time of my conception but i have an idea they separated when i was born. birth mother is not alive now and i havnt yet found out aobut my father whether he is alive or not
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Hi
This place is certainly somewhere with a history and lost records! Have you tried the Metropolitan Police who use to keep records? Please keep in touch and let me know what you have found out about this 'home'.x
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thankyou for replying yup will let u know if i find anything at all out. its funny because when i found out i was adopted the person that confd if for me was my aunt as i could not ask my mum who lives with us. she said all she knew was that my mum worked for someone who also ran an adoption agency and that is how she got me. but having found out aobut this place i think a little bit of what my aunt told me hasnt been told to her properly all those years ago as she told me it was a jewish adoption agency(my parents are jewish) but st margarets which is on my orig b,cert is defo not jewish lol well the address is the 262 victoria park rd. hackney
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This place, I feel, did a lot of private adoptions and records were not kept. When I contacted the local council, relevant department, she said 'please dont say St Margarets', and was then unable to help me anymore!!!
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Hi Max
What a shock you've had and no doubt a great deal of thinking to do.
After three years of writing I have just published my own personal account of my search for my birth mother, entitled COLEMAN, (Female). I am left without all the answers I need. It is my hope that by reaching a wider audience some information might come to light regarding the mysterious St Margaret's! I too was born there in 1962.
My book also raises issues, that you may or not be aware of, concerning the registration of adopted people in England and Wales and I am currently awaiting a response from my MP relating to this.
We all only have one entry in the birth register, therefore for adopted people we are listed under our birth name. This creates a situation whereby adopted people are left without a complete record of their life and death. i.e. if your future generations tried to trace you there would be no record of your birth relating to the family that you were brought up in and any further family tracing beyond you would be impossible.I believe that adopted people should appear for a second time under their adopted name.
Good luck to you for your continued investigations.
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right here goes i dont know it this is right or the right info but if it is right and someone has better investigation skills than me i may leed to something.
when i firt foun dout aobut my adoption i spoke to my aunt. who said my mother worked for someone in the 50.s who helped run, or ran or was involved with an adoption agency etcertc. the man or men owned a hat factory where my mother worked(adopted mother) the name of the place was markssmith
mr smith and mr marks. i have no idea where this will lead or if anything. but she was defo there in the 50.s and i was born in the 50.s o also made hats for the forces in ww2/ thats all i can find out.. so wil keep digging but have to be carefull as mum lives with me and she dosnt know i know aobut all this as shes 89 now.
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My guess is that up to the 1960s there were lots of places like St Margarets that took in unmarried girls and gave their babies to people by-passing the official system. The girls were probably sent by their employers or GPs. Whether any money exchanged hands I have no idea.
When I got pregnant in 1959, my dad spoke to a friend of his who was a GP and he found such a place for me which was a maternity home. Many of the pregnant girls had to live in and worked as assistants (skivvies) and after their babies were born, they were "given" at 10 days old to couples who wanted babies. I was more fortunate, in that there were no places left for me to work in the home at the time, so I went to stay with a lady and her two young children. She was getting divorced (a famous at the time TV personality) and was happy for the company. I stayed 10 days after I gave birth and then walked out without the baby, who was picked up the same day by her adoptive parents. There was non of the 6+ weeks looking after a baby before giving it up for adoption.
When I went to sign adoption papers a few weeks later I was told not to say anything to the officials (whoever they were, ?social workers) about what had happened, just that I agreed to the adoption.
For years I worried about why a couple would not be able to adopt by the official channels, were they too old or something. However, I've since met the adoptive couple (and my daughter) and they were not too old or anything, just a normal couple who had been married for about 7 years and hadn't had a child. They told me that someone had told them about the home and that they could ask for a baby and just be given one :o However, they went straight to social services (or the 1960s equivalent) the following morning to tell them about the baby and worried until I signed the papers.
Lizzie
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Thank you so much for your message - I believe my mother stayed in lodgings until her baby was due, but I have heard awful tales.
It looks like I will never find my brother and just hope that nice respectable people adopted him from this terrible place.
It seems that this would make great TV invesigation?
x
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that would b a brilliant idea for a tv investigation the bbc are brill at doing things lyk that. there are so many of us that were adopted from there and have birth relative adopted from there that dont know anything or cannot find out, i only found out thru the identity passport service and getting my orig b, cert that the address was on there. maybe we should do something like that
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through the identity passport office i have now found out who my birth parents were and have manged to go back 300 years on birth family, my local adoption counselor is brilliant and has helped sooo much, i have found out i have a brother, and she is dealing with all the paperwork and contact,so now i wait and see what happens next
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There was a program on ITV recently - Long Lost Family - with Nicky Campbell & Davina McCall, which helped reunite families that had become fractured for many resons not only adoption.
http://www.itv.com/longlostfamily/
I would like to add that there are hundreds of very grown-up adults out there in the world that have no idea they have been adopted. They usually discover this fact after both of their adoptive parents have died and they are required to provide a copy of their birth cert for which no entry can be found in the GRO index. They are then in the awful position of not having anyone to ask about their birth cirmcumstances.
These are adults who were adopted as children well before the adoption laws changed so they don't have an automtic right to see their files without having an interview first.
In these enlighened times, there is very little stigma to having an illegitimate child, not so 40+ years ago. Some children were put up for adoption because of family circumstances, others beause they were born as a result of physical abuse.
These mothers gave up their children in the knowledge that they would not be contacted in the future and then went on with their lives. Many have families that have no idea of what happened in the past.
For each story where there is a happy ending with a reunion, there will always be many that do not end in this way.
I would like to remind you all that Rootschat does have a 'no living person' policy, this is one of the reasons why.
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OK the next step - who is up for trying to get a programme/investigation done on St. Margarets?
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definitely, if it comes up with something that helps people then im all for it cant hurtx
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great can you send me a private message with your email address - don't quite know how we can go about this, but it will be fun trying. First thing I suppose is to get as much information about the place IE when built / closed - pictures etc what do you think? maybe we should also try and produced a website specifically for this place and people with an interest in it?
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Hi
By 1943 there certainly was a list of registered adoption agencies.
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1943/dec/08/adoption-of-children-registered-societies
St Margaret's Nursing Home seems to have been nursing the elderly as there is evidence of their deaths at the home, so it is likely there was an attached small unmarried mother's hostel at the same institution. They would not be registered as an adoption agency like other similar small institutions at the time. There is no reason to necessarily believe that adoptions from this hostel were not applied for through a registered agency (though records are likely to be much more scant when not handled directly through the registered agency itself and much more likely to seem 'unofficial' and like many other similar small 'hostels' probably were) which is why the 'Adoption Search Reunion' website suggests checking with Barnadoes and the National Children's Home to see if any 'paper trail' at all still exists.
http://www.adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk/search/adoptionrecords/homeDetail.aspx?id=15
It seems from some of the replies to this topic that it is variable whether paperwork has been possible to find or not.
If the adoption was done through the London County Council (Hackney council did not exist until 1965) the London Metropolitan Archives will hold the files. They also hold court adoption proceeding files for some London courts.
http://217.154.230.218/NR/rdonlyres/FA09DD39-F5B1-41D9-8ED2-CFD1CB839254/0/InfoIncareAdoptionEnquirer.pdf
The scandal of the way adoptions were handled in this country until relatively recent times is the 'scandal'. St Margaret's itself is unlikely to be unique in this and was probably viewed at the time as doing 'good or at least necessary work' though of course this was the sort of work a small private organisation gained an income from. The income may have been in part used to help maintain the nursing home.
Searching the internet doesn't seem to give any evidence that the nursing home existed after 1965 but it probably lasted longer than that. With adoption regulations tightening and the arrival of a local council that would increasingly have responsibility for the legalities, the hostel may have ceased to exist before the nursing home which may have been in existence before the hostel (the internet gives evidence of births there from at least 1943 up to the early 1960s). By the late 1960s attitudes and with it legislation were changing signalling the end for unmarried mothers' private hostels such as St Margarets, which was an institution from an earlier time reflecting the prevailing atitudes of society at the time. There seems no evidence that it was any worse or better than any of the others.
Regards
Valda
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Thank you for all the information.
Best wishes
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hi. i have posted on here before inquiring about 262 st. margarets, i have since found my birth brother two step brothers by my mother and a step brother and step sister by my father... but..
i have a reuqest. if anyone was born at st margarets between bed.50,s to very early 70,s and new for certain that their mothers maiden name was wharam please contact me, as there seems to be rather lot more out there that belonged to her. one being a (*)wharam born in 1951 and poss a (*)wharam but others aswell beside these
Moderator comment: Names of potentially living people removed in accordance with Rootschat policies.
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Hi
To ensure you are not barking up the wrong tree, you can apply to the General Register Office at Southport for a copy of the birth certificates for these people.
As they are over 50, you won't need to quote any other information on the application apart from the name and registration details from the GRO index.
Once you receive these certificates you will know whether they are relevant to your enquiry as the mothers name should be recorded.
Their birth certs may be annotated to show that they have been adopted, but not the name they were adopted as.
Dawn
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thankyou hunix
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opps sorri do u gro index or the bmd index
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wouldnt let me do it i had to know the surname and names of parent snow lol adoptive parents names and i have no idea only what they were before and if she was adopted
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If you have all the details about the registration district, volumn and page number, say yes to 'GRO reference known' when you start your online order and then you shouldn't be asked for any further information. You only fill in boxes marked with a red *'
Dawn
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I am having the same problem locating any info on St Margarets Nursing Home, 98 Beverley Rd, Hull. In my case, birth mothers address on the birth certificate was in Islington, London so why get sent to Hull? 1946. Any help would be appreciated! I have adoption court papers now but no info.. no agency or report. Must have been privately arranged.
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Hi my name is avril I born in st margrats in 1952 I have now got my birth mothers info know my mothers name now but can't find coute pappers or any info on hervdate of birth I was a privet adopton if I find any info for to help you I wll let you know have you got a case worker helping you I have may be ifvyou want I can give you there number
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thanks Avril. If yours was a private adoption too there will prob be nothing in the court papers to help you either as there will be no report. I don't even know my birth mother's Date of Birth, just her name so have a tough search..Good luck with your search..
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I was born in London city hospital ,my mum was a nurse , allegedly at st Margaret's in hackney,and put me up for adoption ,I have a certain amount of info ,dob feb 1961 ,natural mums name but not much else , the name I'm sure is classical Irish ,but have no other info ? Any help ideas etc ? Thanks all
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Thank you so much for your message - I believe my mother stayed in lodgings until her baby was due, but I have heard awful tales.
It looks like I will never find my brother and just hope that nice respectable people adopted him from this terrible place.
It seems that this would make great TV invesigation?
x
i dont know if i am your brother it is a long shot iwas born at st margrets in 1967 my mothers name was downes IM ON FACE book my email address is (*)
Moderator comment: please see my reply
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Thank you so much for your message - I believe my mother stayed in lodgings until her baby was due, but I have heard awful tales.
It looks like I will never find my brother and just hope that nice respectable people adopted him from this terrible place.
It seems that this would make great TV invesigation?
x
i dont know if i am your brother it is a long shot iwas born at st margrets in 1967 my mothers name was downes IM ON FACE book my email address is (*)
Hi, does anyone have any information on the above place? I recently found out I have a brother who was adopted in the 60's. Dont know if this site can help - have his birth certificate - but think it was a private adoption - surely though - some sort of legal documentation would have to have been done?
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Hi Stephen
Welcome to Rootschat ;D
If you haven't done so already, please take a moment to read our guidelines for posting here
http://www.rootschat.com/help/posting_guide.php
In accordance with Rootschat policies, I've removed your email address. Please exchange this information on the personal message system.
Dawn
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Its definetely worth registering your interest with the GRO adoption site as previously mentioned because if your brother makes contact with them they will let you know. GenesReunited is a good idea too.
I was also adopted in the 1960s and found my mother's siblings quite easily. Social Services then wrote to her brother on my behalf and he passed my info. on as my mother was no longer living in the UK. Don't give up hope -with so many programmes on the subject now being broadcast I'm sure its just a matter of time. Good Luck.
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Thank you so much for your kind reply - waiting in hope :)
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Hi, I too am looking for information on this place. My Mother was forced by my Grandmother to put my younger Sister up for adoption in February 1961 (she was born Jan 22)and all I get from Hackney Council is a cold shoulder. My Mother and Father were still married at the time but were having difficulties.
It's beginning to look like I might not be able to trace her, given the stories on this forum.
I have already traced two half Sisters using GR and FB, inquired at NORCAP before it went belly up and am now looking at After Adoption to help me trace not only my Sister but also my Brother who was adopted out a year later in Barnet.
They are so dam expensive, so I'm looking for anyway I can short circuit the system and do most of if not all the work myself. I wouldn't contact them directly as they may not know they are adopted or want contact for that matter but I got that covered.
So if anyone knows where I can get some information I would be eternally grateful. Regards Phil
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Hi Phil
Welcome to Rootschat ;D
Without knowing the name your sister was adopted into, there is virtually no chance of finding her without using official agencies.
Have you tried the General Register Office Contact Register?
https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records/the-adoption-contact-register
Dawn
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Hi Dawn, I have registered with the contact register but as yet nothing has come of it. The only good thing is they are probably alive as I have heard that if an adopted has since died the GRO can now inform you, So perhaps there is still time to find them.
Phil
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I didn't know that, I wonder how they know?
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I assume if the death is registered it flags up somewhere and gets attached to the file, just a guess. It came up in one of the lost Cousin's news letters, if I can find the article I post it on here, don't hold your breath though it was a bit back.
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I would have thought that to be highly unlikely knowing that birth, marriage and death registrations are not linked in anyway by computer at the GRO.
If that were possible, those of us doing our family trees would have no problem finding the relevant registrations of our elusive ancestors.
It might be feasible if the deceased adopted person's family advised the GRO at the time of death and the information is noted on the files they hold.
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Just a quick look about but didn't find the original item, if I can find I will repost here.
It looks as if it may come into force later this year, have a look at this and see what you think.
http://www.adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk/search/dap/
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I think plans are underway for the children of deceased adopted people to be able to access the adoption files so that they can trace their family history/heritage.
I think that this will still rely on the deceased adopted person's family coming forward and explaining that the person has died and they would like access to the files, which currently they cannot have.
I also know of several examples where living adopted people didn't know they were adopted until their parents had died. During the legal process of sorting out the estates, they find they don't have a full birth cert and try to obtain one, only to find there is no entry for them in the birth index but there is one in the Adopted Children's Index.
There was and still is a lot of sensitivity surrounding adoptions prior to changes in the 1970's and 1980's.
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Not sure how it will effect things but your more than likely right.
It did occur to me that my Sister and Brother may not know they are adopted, or if they do, out of respect may not think it is the right time to go looking if their adopted parents are still alive, can't blame them for that can you.
Still I live in hope that it will happen, if it's meant to be it will happen. It dose vex me though that when they changed it in 2005/6 that they didn't put something in place instead of leaving it to the private sector, councils could and should of been forced to have an intermediary service but hey ho.
Better shut up, I'm a bit off topic. Like the idea of a TV documentary mentioned earlier though. Thanks for your input, Phil
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This could be helpful
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visiting-the-city/archives-and-city-history/london-metropolitan-archives/Documents/visitor-information/2012-adoption-in-care-guidelines-for-enquirers.pdf
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I've not seen this before, I'll have a look later when I've finished all my jobs or I won't get any brownie points from "She who must be obeyed". ;)
Many thanks Dawn, regards Phil
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I was also born at St Margaret's Nursing Home in 1967. My adoptive mother had been a midwife and then a health visitor in the East End during the fifties and early sixties and I think this meant they were able to arrange a private adoption by "pulling string" via her contacts. I think she also knew the matron a Mrs EW Eldridge. This was probably the only way my parents could adopt as my adoptive mother was 46 at the time.
When I started searching for information about my birth mother about 12 years I had to go via an adoption counsellor in my borough. She was very helpful but as St Margaret's was not an official adoption agency she was very unsure where my adoption files would be kept . Eventually after 2 years they were found by Leicestershire County Council which is where my adoptive parents were living at the time. Later when we moved to the London area in the mid seventies we drove to see where I was born but my mother said the home had been knocked down and the area redeveloped. Though my adoptive parents didn't meet my birth mother they did meet a close relative of hers at the nursing home who I guess was there to vet them.
It took me another 3 years of extensive searching to find her, which was eventually through Genes Reunited. At the time she was working less than a mile from where I was living which came as a bit of a shock. For various reasons I haven't contacted her due to a few extraordinary circumstances.
I don't know if my adoptive mother ever worked at St Margaret's as she died when I was 11 and can't recall her mentioning it but I am fairly sure she would have known if its reputation was poor, and at least it may not have been as regimentated and judgemental as many homes run by Catholic orders at the time.
Interestingly I know my birth mother wasn't living close to Bethnal Green so I am keen to know why she ended up here. I hope I'll be able to ask her one day.
I have found a couple of links which indicate the home was primarily an old persons home with a few beds for mothers and babies.
http://wellcomelibrary.org/moh/report/b1988588x/55#?asi=0&ai=55&z=-0.4241%2C0.5199%2C2.0256%2C0.6828 page 40
http://wellcomelibrary.org/moh/report/b19885957/#?asi=0&ai=57&z=-0.663%2C0.3318%2C2.7435%2C1.1279 page 44
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Wow how fascinating - thank you for the information..
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I am trying to trace my half-sister who was born at the hostel. Do you know if there are records from the hostel anywhere that I would be able to view i.e. at the London Metropolitan Archive or a similar venue?
Thanks
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Hi BMCParka
Welcome to Rootschat ;D
The records at the London Metropolitan Archives may be closed to you but it is worth your while contacting them to see what help & information they are able to give you.
If your half sister has been adopted out, you may get more want to consider the GRO adoption contact register
https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records/accessing-your-birth-records
Dawn
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I was born at this home in September 1945 to a trainee teacher after a liaison with an American serviceman. According to my adoptive mother I was handed over two weeks after my birth on East Croydon Train Station. Paperwork appears to have been sparse or non-existant as my adoptive mother was unmarried and relied on her parents for my upbringing. I managed to trace my birth mother and my birth father's family in America. I would like to have more information on the running of this home and the policy, if any, for assessing adoptive parents. Thanks.
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Hello Dawn, just seen your message to Atlanta. I was born in St Margaret's in 1963 and am trying to find out more about it. I already have some information from the papers in my adoption file but am interested in knowing more about how the home was run - what the routines were for the young women who came there, any pictures etc. Your message suggested you might be able to help?
Kay
I lived there in the 60's, we were placed at 54a Cawley Road, a large Victorian three story house in the next street, to await the birth of our babies. Three months in my case. No heating except one oil stove in one room, no sheets on the beds and one blanket.
When I lived there, there were about twelve girls sharing rooms, one bathroom and the kitchen was in the basement. We did all our washing by hand and hoped it would drip dry in the yard, it was winter and we used to bring the damp clothes in doors to dry.
Food was brought to us daily from 262 and between us we would cook a meal to share. On Sundays Mrs Eldridge cooked a meal and we all sat around her dining table with her and her husband
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Having just registered on this site - I hope this is the right place for this posting.
I've read all the postings for this thread (and the other very similar one - 'St. Margaret's Hostel') and was pleased (that I wasn't the only person looking), saddened (by so many people having the uphill struggle of looking for siblings and/or birth parents) and disappointed (that records don't appear to exist).
I was born at 262 Victoria Park Road in 1950. My parents were married but as I was their third child I guess either I wasn't wanted or they couldn't afford another child - and so was going to be adopted. Apparently (fortunately?!), I was a good-looking baby boy (not so much now I'm afraid!) and my parent's changed their mind at the last minute and decided to keep me !!
Naturally, I'm very interested in finding out as much as I can about this place (history, photos, etc.) - and whether I can find out the names of the couple who must have been all lined up to adopt me.
I was told that it was a private nursing home - and so found the "Unmarried" part of the name confusing!
If anybody knows or comes across any relevant information on St.Margaret's Hostel (262 Victoria Park Road, Hackney) - please let me know.
Many thanks - and 'Good Luck'.
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Hi Nude!
Welcome to Rootschat ;D
As you can see from this topic, people find it, post once and don't reply again.
If they don't return to the topic, then they won't get notifications of more replies as people's notifications are generally set to 'instantly but only for the first reply' rather than 'instantly.
Also as their post counts remain at 1, they can't send or receive personal messages, they need a higher count - 2 or above.
You could try contacting the London Metropolitan Archives to see if a file exists in your name.
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/london-metropolitan-archives/Pages/default.aspx
Dawn
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hi im trying to find out about my half sister who was also born in St Margarets and I have not got very far at all so no nothing about the place apart from she was born there in march 1949 and adopted and a boy was also taken on the same day as her, I would just love to know all about her and to know that she had a good life. Her mum (my mum) never wanted to give her up was made to by my grandparents,she wanted to keep her and never ever forgot her.i have a copy of her birth certificate and that's about it.If anyone can help I would be very grateful.
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Hi Trisha
Have you looked at the replies on your other topic?
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=752967.0
Dawn
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I was born in St Margarets in Feb 1962, I still live nearby, I am interested in knowing more about it, how it worked etc...
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Hello, i am writing an article about this subject, if anyone has any information and would like to reach out to me please do not hesitate to do so.
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Dollylegs. The book is called FEMALE COLEMAN. and it’s by Karen Leslie. It tells the story of her adoption from St Margaret’s.
It’s a great read.
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I was born in 1960's in Hackney London. I have my birth certificate and a note that states that i was born at 262 Victoria park road and the Matron was Mrs E W Eldridge. My mum was a nurse from Aberdeenshire.
My mum died last year and during all this time I never asked who my father was.
I am looking for the following information as i am travelling to london in November.
I would like to go to the site if it still exists and visit my birth place.
I have found out that my mum was going to put me up for adoption but after i was born she decided against that and my Granny took the train down to london and took us home.
I have a lot of the puzzle to find out, is it a hospital or a home, Did she travel down before i was born or was she working in London at the time- I have read on some sites that sometimes there is a "girls statement" which includes the fathers name, how would i find this if available?
Any replies would be much appreciated
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Hi, I was born here on the 7th October 1962. I have traced my birth mother and I I know my birth Farher is A C but I have not been able to trace him.