Author Topic: Adoption Birth Certificates in 1918  (Read 658 times)

Offline Johnsdaughter

  • RootsChat Extra
  • **
  • Posts: 29
  • Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
    • View Profile
Adoption Birth Certificates in 1918
« on: Wednesday 31 March 21 19:13 BST (UK) »
Good evening

I have a copy of the birth certificate of a baby girl born in 1918 in Middlesbrough. She was given up for adoption which is noted on the certificate.
Would she have been issued with a new birth certificate after adoption and if so what information would be on it?
 In particular would it give the address she was born so that I could match it with the certificate I have?

Online KGarrad

  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • *******
  • Posts: 26,084
  • Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
    • View Profile
Re: Adoption Birth Certificates in 1918
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday 31 March 21 19:28 BST (UK) »
Adoption didn't become legal until 1927?
Garrad (Suffolk, Essex, Somerset), Crocker (Somerset), Vanstone (Devon, Jersey), Sims (Wiltshire), Bridger (Kent)

Offline Johnsdaughter

  • RootsChat Extra
  • **
  • Posts: 29
  • Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
    • View Profile
Re: Adoption Birth Certificates in 1918
« Reply #2 on: Wednesday 31 March 21 19:46 BST (UK) »
So the baby would only have the original birth certificate even if her name had been changed?

Offline Guy Etchells

  • Deceased † Rest In Peace
  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • ********
  • Posts: 4,632
    • View Profile
Re: Adoption Birth Certificates in 1918
« Reply #3 on: Wednesday 31 March 21 19:59 BST (UK) »
Adoption didn't become legal until 1927?

Whilst it is correct that there was no statute creating adoption law until after the Adoption of Children Act, 1926, that did not make the adoption of children before that illegal, there were many adoptions under the Poor Law system, I would recommend Jenny Keating's book "A Child for Keeps: the History of Adoption in England, 1918-45".

However in answer to the original questions.
No, if the adoption was before 1927 the child's birth certificate would record the details at birth, what normally happened would be that only a short certificate would be obtained rather than a full certificate.
After the 1926 Act a full certificate could also be supplied showing the adoptive parents names (noted as such) and the date and name of the adoption court. Having said the be aware that informal child adoption continued well into the 1930s.
Cheers
Guy
http://anguline.co.uk/Framland/index.htm   The site that gives you facts not promises!
http://burial-inscriptions.co.uk Tombstones & Monumental Inscriptions.

As we have gained from the past, we owe the future a debt, which we pay by sharing today.


Offline Johnsdaughter

  • RootsChat Extra
  • **
  • Posts: 29
  • Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
    • View Profile
Re: Adoption Birth Certificates in 1918
« Reply #4 on: Wednesday 31 March 21 20:24 BST (UK) »
Thank you Guy.

Online Gan Yam

  • RootsChat Veteran
  • *****
  • Posts: 583
  • Going Home - exploring my past
    • View Profile
Re: Adoption Birth Certificates in 1918
« Reply #5 on: Wednesday 31 March 21 21:36 BST (UK) »
Even though the child was 9 in 1927, the adoptive parents could have sought to legalise the adoption of the child following the implementation of the act, many adoptive parents did, and could be why adopted is noted on the birth certificate. 

I have a similar case in my own family of a child born in 1918 being informally adopted at birth by his aunt and her husband and the adoption being legalised in 1929 when the child was 11.
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline Johnsdaughter

  • RootsChat Extra
  • **
  • Posts: 29
  • Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
    • View Profile
Re: Adoption Birth Certificates in 1918
« Reply #6 on: Thursday 01 April 21 17:22 BST (UK) »
Thanks Gan Yam

Offline Johnsdaughter

  • RootsChat Extra
  • **
  • Posts: 29
  • Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
    • View Profile
Re: Adoption Birth Certificates in 1918
« Reply #7 on: Tuesday 04 May 21 17:40 BST (UK) »
I thought I’d update you on my search for the adopted baby I was seeking. I put her birthdate but no name, female, into the 1939 register and Yorkshire as this was where she was born. Approximately 75 names came up. I checked the names against the General Register for births until I found one that did not appear. This girl still had the Christian name given to her at birth. She had been adopted aged 10 although had been with the adoptive parents since birth.
Thanks again for everyone’s help.