Advice on finding a half-brother or sister

[Delyse]

Where to start?

All I have is my mother's divorce papers which state that my father fathered a child by somebody called Clara (not sure of the writing but it looks like Clara) Hoyle out of wedlock.  Divorce took place in Blackpool, Lancs, in 1945.  I do not know sex of the child.  He was ordered to pay support by the courts to the mother. 

Cd you please reply to my email address, just in case something comes up and the person is still alive?

I will do the research work.  I just need someone to tell me where to start.  I live in Australia so can't pop in anywhere to search inhouse stuff.

Many thanks
Del

[CaroleW]

Hi

Hoyle is a very common Lancashire surname so without the name of the child it will be difficult to trace any records.   

Although your parents divorced in 1945 - the child could have been born anytime before that date as divorces could take some time to finalise in those days.

Assuming the mother was unmarried and that the child was registered in the mothers surname - you can search freebmd for Hoyle births with mothers maiden name Hoyle but that will not give you the mothers christian name so you will be unable to determine the right entry without buying every cert

www.freebmd.org.uk

If the child was registered in your fathers surname - then look for that name birth with Hoyle as the mothers maiden name

[Delyse]

Hi CaroleW

Thanks for the reply.  Yes, I can imagine Hoyle is a very common name - just my luck.  I'm from Lancs also.  When you have a moment, could you tell me if it possible to check on the Court Order online - ie when my father was told he had to support the child by weekly payments?  That would have been 1945 as well.  I've obviously tried to do this myself but couldn't come up with any way but I thought I might be able to get at it from a different direction.  Which direction, I don't know!!!!

Del

[cemetery friends]

Family and Youth Courts are not open to the public, only the parties involved or any witnesses to be called are allowed into the room. There is no instance where a decision would be published online and until the very recent time, all records were in handwriting or typed onto reports. Those notes would not be transcribed to go onto the internet.

You must consider carefully whether the offspring in the circumstances would wished to be traced or approached.

[CaroleW]

Hi

You say your parents divorce was in Blackpool but there are no births in that area so there are no actual guarantees that the birth was in Lancashire.

freebmd has 16 Hoyle/Hoyle birth entries between 1942-1944 only 5 of which are in Lancashire

[Hackstaple]

It is more than possible that your half-sibling would not wish for contact. It could be very embarrassing. Rootschat is not a  vehicle for finding living relatives and does not allow the publication of detail concerning them unless their written permission has been obtained.

A great many people born in 1946 would still be alive - probably the majority of them.

[CaroleW]

A great many people born in 1946 would still be alive

I'm one of them - which is why all info given makes no direct reference to names etc.   

At the moment - there is absolutely no way of identifying the child so we are just giving general guidance etc and pointing out the possible problems

[Hackstaple]

A great many people born in 1946 would still be alive

I'm one of them - which is why all info given makes no direct reference to names etc.   

At the moment - there is absolutely no way of identifying the child so we are just giving general guidance etc and pointing out the possible problems

I appreciate that Carole but the point remains that any such approach might be seriously traumatic for the illegitimate person. I contacted a half-sister who had no idea at all that her father had been married and divorced before she was born. She and her brother took it badly and they had not been abandoned by a parent.

[clayton bradley]

If the birth was in Lancashire there appears to be only one birth in 1945 to a mother named Hoyle on LancsBMD and if you go back to 1940 two others. claytonbradley