adoption agency in Knightsbridge (London)

[queencorgi1]

This is a long shot, but any information would be welcome. In the 1970s my mother worked at an adoption agency in Knightsbridge near Harrods. I remember distinctly going with her on a number of occasions when she would disappear inside a building and come out with a baby. My job, sitting in the back of the car, was to hold the baby while we then drove to somewhere else and handed it over to 'its parents'. Being very young I simply thought how nice it was to see how pleased the people were with their babies: I don't remember ever wondering where the babies had come from and I'm not even sure I knew what 'adoption' meant! I can't remember the name of the agency and I don't know what my mother's role was apart from this transportation of the babies. If anyone knows anything more I should be very interested. I should also like to add that I now feel deeply sad for the mothers of those children, many of whom may never have seen them again. A memory very much of its time!

[dawnsh]

I had a quick look in "Where to find adoption records" by Georgina Stafford.

One entry stood out.

Listed as The Knightsbridge, but that's a colloquial name for the National Childrens Adoption Association. They operated from 1917-1978 at various addresses including 71 Knightsbridge.

I googled "National Childrens Adoption Association" and not surprisingly there were several hits.

[queencorgi1]

Thank you! Yes, it was 71 Knightsbridge! So now I know it definitely was the NCAA. Most grateful.

[Jwatt1975]

Hi There

My Mum had a baby on 13th July 1966 (before she met my Dad and had me and my brothers) and the baby girl was adopted through this agency. I found all the paperwork after my Mum passed away and I would love to find my half sister.

[queencorgi1]

Dear JWatt

Thank you for replying and I am so interested to hear about your half-sister. Yes, I do remember distinctly that the boss was Mrs Halpin, so this is the agency my mother worked for.

I do wish you every success with finding your half-sister. It is a painful situation for everyone concerned.

[Romilly]

Hi Jwatt1975,

Your best bet is to take a DNA test.

If your half sister is looking, she might have already taken one.

Ancestry have a 25% Mother's Day offer on at the moment, and so worth a try.

Best Wishes, Romilly.

[dawnsh]

Hi Jwatt

Welcome to Rootschat 

Our guidelines for posting contains links for finding living people

http://www.rootschat.com/help/posting_guide.php

However, unless you know her name after adoption there is no way of finding her by the normal methods.

If you haven't done so already, register with the GRO in the hopes that she is looking for her birth family

https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records/the-adoption-contact-register

or here

http://www.adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk/default.htm

or here

http://www.missing-you.net/categories/adoptions.php

The chatters here aren't trained intermediaries and adoptions were usually of a sensistive nature, any advice we give can only be general.

It might also be worth asking the adoptions team at your local council if they can give you any advice.


Dawn

[lulalula]

I was adopted through this agency.
The letter (above) is almost identical to one that my dear birth mother received some months after I was relinquished.
Sadly, despite words to the contrary, no photograph was included.
She had to wait for nearly fifty years before I was able to locate her and reunite.
She lived her life feeling guilty for what she had been encouraged to do.
My adoptive mother, now approaching 100 years of age, still remembers collecting me - a smartly dressed nurse, carrying me, emerged through a door into the 'waiting room' and handed me over.
She remembers having to send in photographs of me during the first nine months, until the adoption was formalised, but presumably they were destroyed rather than being shared with my birth mother as promised. There were certainly no such photographs amongst my records.

[Nicky1954]

Hello,
I too was adopted through the NCAA IN Knightsbridge in 1954. My parents kept all the letters from that time, they were passed onto me. Sadly we had a flood and some were water damaged but of course still remain a precious link to my past.
My parents went to the office to (check me out )haha. Apparently a nurse carried me out to them, I was told I gave my dad a big grin and that sealed the deal. I had the best parents I could have ever wished for.
I did a TV documentary programme for the BBC IN 1974, it was called “Who was my mother” the programme helped to change the law in parliament that now’s allows adopted children easier access to their birth records.
I did trace my birth mother, but she had remarried and hadn’t told anyone about me and wanted it left that way. She did have a 14 year old son when I was born so I knew I had a half brother somewhere.