Adoption Certificate DoB

[Chef_Hendrix]

Good Morning,

I was after some advice/guidance on an adoption certificate for my Gran.

My Gran (Fathers Mum) sadly passed away in 2010 and never knew her real parents. My Dad said she tried back in 70/80s but unfortunately was unable to find any further info.

I understand that due to current laws and such that only the adoptee would be able to request any records and so I can only go off what I have.

I do have an "Extract of an entry in the adopted children register...adoption act 1958"

Entry no. 596
Name and Surname of adopted child: Winifred Jane Clark
Date of Birth, where Adoption Order directs entry of DoB: 1937 May 14th
Name/Address of Adopters: Robert Scott Clark, Jane (Duncan) Clark, Albyn Cottage, Kintore
Date of Adoption Order: 21st Feb 1938 Sheriff Court Aberdeen, Kincardine & Banff
Date of Registration: 1938 Feb 24th


This extract is dated 14th Oct 1976, so probably when my Gran was researching or perhaps she required it as proof of identity.

I do know that Robert Scott was born 'Clarke' and not 'Clark' and in my family research I can only find three instances where it is spelt without the 'e' between 1930 and 1937. the first is a voters list in 1930, the second Robert and Janes marriage entry in 1935 and my Grans adoption certificate in 1937.

I have my Dad and I's DNA uploaded to Ancestry and MyHeritage and we have several links to Scotland and in particular Aberdeen. (More than one person has asked for a link to a Smith in their family, amongst others) However none of these are close enough to actually make a concrete link.

I am able to trace my Grandads side back a few hundred years aswell as my Mums family so the link to Aberdeen is almost certainly on my Grans side.

A story I was told was that my Grans Dad died in an accident and her Mother was unable to look after her and so was put up for adoption. I do know that Jane Duncan was illegitimate and wondered if perhaps so was my Gran before being put up for adoption- I know i'll never know for sure!

So after all that I have a couple of questions!

On the Extract..Adopted Children Registrar, where it has my Grans Date of Birth it says "Date of Birth, where Adoption Order directs entry of day of Birth" Does this mean that this may not be her exact date of birth? The wording had me wondering if it may possibly have been recorded as a different date to her actual birth date.

I have noticed that in my family research that the same names repeat themselves over generations. I wondered if perhaps Winifred was her actual birth name, adding Jane as a second name after her Adoption Mother. Does anyone know what the likelihood of changing her first name as well was? She would have only been about 9 months old, so unlikely to affect her if they did.

Thanks for any help

Gaz

[brigidmac]

Have you put all the Smith connections in 1 group the new colour coding on ancestry helps

We managed to confirm my mothers grandparents via 3rd cousin matches because they all traced back to Russia ...then had to join dots ..the naming system certainly helped ...& yes i do think Winnifred could be her original name ..

Good luck with your search

Are you using the shared match function.on ancestry .sometimes matchrs come up closer to me than my.mum !

[brigidmac]

If you also put all the links to a locality you think he may be from and a group where the adopted family lived maybe

You.ll find a place where the birth parents & potential candidates .

my nana was brought up by an elderly couple ..the father was a workhouse child ...we wonder  if thats what made him take in a child .

[Wendy2305]

Have you researched your gran's adopted parents to rule out the name Winifred in either of their families there were only 20 Winifreds registered in Aberdeenshire in 1937 so not that a common name

[Chef_Hendrix]

Have you put all the Smith connections in 1 group the new colour coding on ancestry helps

We managed to confirm my mothers grandparents via 3rd cousin matches because they all traced back to Russia ...then had to join dots ..the naming system certainly helped ...& yes i do think Winnifred could be her original name ..

Good luck with your search

Are you using the shared match function.on ancestry .sometimes matchrs come up closer to me than my.mum !

No I have not really had a chance to examine the DNA trail yet, I must admit i'm not finding it easy. However I am looking at the DNA help section on this Forum to try and work out how best to understand it. I have looked at shared matches, but I think I need look into it a little more to fully understand how best to connect them all.

[Chef_Hendrix]

Have you researched your gran's adopted parents to rule out the name Winifred in either of their families there were only 20 Winifreds registered in Aberdeenshire in 1937 so not that a common name

Hi, I thought I had, but looking at my tree there are a few gaps left to fill. So that's now my Saturday sorted! I shall hopefully have a clearer picture by the end of the weekend.

Thinking back, (naively perhaps) the reason I didn't pursue this avenue was that in all the DNA matches there were no Clarkes or Duncans.

Thanks everyone for the advice and insight.

[Wendy2305]

If you don't find a Winifred in their families then it's a good chance that was her birth name I would then rule out any Winifred's by marriage or death you can find which would possibly leave a few Winifred's births to check maybe you will find one born on her birth day this could be checked in Edinburgh or one of the family centres where you can view all BMD's up to the present day

[brigidmac]

Or a winifred that could be her birth  fathers mothers name

Look out for  a man called Fred or winston too.   Winnie common diminutive for female equivalent

[MonicaL]

On the Extract..Adopted Children Registrar, where it has my Grans Date of Birth it says "Date of Birth, where Adoption Order directs entry of day of Birth" Does this mean that this may not be her exact date of birth? The wording had me wondering if it may possibly have been recorded as a different date to her actual birth date.

Guz, this rightly is a key question. I don't know the answer but why not contact The National Records of Scotland Adoption Unit. A call or an email will hopefully get you this answer www.nrscotland.gov.uk/registration/adoption

Monica