Hello everyone.
This is my first post here
I'm relatively new to researching my family tree although I have been interested in it for some time.
My paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother were both fostered as babies (both now deceased). I have been successful in discovering my maternal grandmother's family using Ancestry and have managed to speak to a cousin and get photos of family we've never seen. It has been amazing.
I am struggling somewhat on my grandfather's side. I know his mother's name but the father is unknown, although we suspect the surname of his father could be his middle name. They were unmarried and apparently his mum was Catholic and his father Protestant.
He was seemingly placed "in a convent" as a baby and I have been trying to find records of him in children's homes at the time. I've been in touch with Smyllum Orphanage but they have no record of him, nor do any of the Nazareth Houses.
He was born in Clyde Street, Old Kilpatrick in 1922.
I looked at old maps to look for any churches in that area but drew a blank on Roman Catholic ones and then got myself tied in knots about what I was doing
I had thought I could contact a nearby church for their advice. I think St Patrick's may have been one I was going to contact.
Can anyone provide me with suggestions?
Also, I was considering trying to get to the Mitchell Library in Glasgow to see if I could see anything in their Infant Registers as part of Poor Law to see if anything was recorded for either of my grandparents when they were fostered. Due to the 100 years closure of these types of file, would it be worthwhile me going to see as it has only been 100 years this year as they were both born in 1922, and I would like to see all years available if they were fostered "officially".
Finally, can anyone tell me what would generally have happened in 1922 with unmarried pregnant mothers across the religious divide? On my grandfather's birth certificate, he was registered almost 3 weeks after he was born and was signed by his mother. I was quite surprised to see this as I presumed he was given up/taken away immediately after birth.
As an aside, I have found some of his birth family and there are photos of him as an adult with his Mum and his daughter, my Aunt. The fact he was fostered only came out when he died. And the same with his birth family. It was all hush hush and not talked about so now we're trying to fit the pieces of the jigsaw together.
Thanks for reading
