Evelyn Mavis (born Dyer -1919

[AlKeallz]

no offence taken. any help in resolving this issue is appreciated.

i have Evelyn's birth certificate. she was born on 13th March 1919 in a private nurses home in Subiaco, WA
.
Ernest Dyer is given as the father but at the time he was still overseas after WW1 and did not return to NSW until late 1919.

I assume, because Lena gave Ernest as being the father they were considered as legitimate and therefore recorded as previous issue.

as there is no adoption records for Evelyn in WA as there was for Edna, and Lena went back to NSW i assume Evelyn was adopted out in NSW.

So in 1919 Lena returned to NSW to reunite with Ernest and have two more daughters, Elsie born 1921, and Elva (my mother) 1923.

Ernest died in 1925. Lena brought up her 4 legitimate children on her own and never remarried.

i have contacted the NSW adoption agency but they have no records as did not record adoptions until 1921. They said that before then there were private adoption options but would be hard to trace.

Hence my joining this forum in the hope that some thing might come about re Evelyn

[giblet]

as there is no adoption records for Evelyn in WA as there was for Edna, and Lena went back to NSW i assume Evelyn was adopted out in NSW.

So born 13th March, what date was the birth registered? And does it say if the baby was present at time of the registration. I'm unfamiliar with WA certificates.

If there is no record for Evelyn maybe they had found someone to take the baby bypassing any records. There are adverts in the newspaper woman looking for people to take their babies or for people looking for babies. Maybe the nurse arranged a unofficial adoption for the baby.

An example from 1919 from Trove newspapers, [not your Evelyn age etc is wrong.]

The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954)
Thu 21 Aug 1919

WANTED, kind person adopt baby girl, healthy, fortnight old. F.M., Post Office.
West Subiao.

[giblet]

I was right, people would have known about the girls, well at least Evelyn anyway.

The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954)
Sat 15 Mar 1919

DYER.—On March 13, at Nurse Lloyd's Private Hospital, Coolgardie-street, to Mr. and Mrs. E. Dyer, of Meekatharra—a daughter. Mother and child well.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/27598454

Ok so we know that the other one was adopted so this article puts a whole other spin on things.

[giblet]

On your mum's birth certificate where it has "other issue" does it state if the child is deceased or not?

Such as is Arthur Jesse on it as other issue with deceased noted?

[giblet]

Where did little Evelyn go. Maybe a birth notice threw people off the scent that Ernest wasn't the father and she then gave Evelyn to someone else to raise. All hypothetical of course.

edited to add.. wonder if Lena has a sibling that had a child a birth reg. cant be found for. Sometime family step in and raise the child as their own.

[AlKeallz]

Mums birth certificate Elva born 5th March 1923, shows siblings living as Ethel 10, Stanley 7, Edna 5, Evelyn 4, Elsie 2 and 1 Male deceased (Arthur "Jack")

I cant see Evelyn being privately adopted out or passed onto family or friends as firstly it would be against WA law and secondly why is there no record of her being recorded in some way or another by the adopting family or friend.

Lena did the proper thing with Edna's adoption, why would she not with Evelyn.

From other family sources Lena's mother Elizabeth Richter was very strict and after Ernest went to war Lena no longer stayed or lived with them or near them in Meekatharra. Hence her letter to the WA adoption agency stating she did not want her parents or husband to know about Edna.

 Around the time of Evelyn's birth, Lena was living near Subiaco and was working as a waitress.

Lena had a younger Sister Ida who with her husband lived in Wiluna, about 250 Km east of Meekatharra. Ida's second oldest daughter Dot who is still alive and who i have seen and spoken to about both Edna and Evelyn, although young herself at the time, cannot recall any extra babies being raised amongst her family.

of the Dyer side families in NSW, there does not appear to be any extra baby addition around this period.

When Lena returned to NSW she very rarely saw or visited her mother or father over the following years. However around mid 1940s Elizabeth is living with Lena in Petersham NSW, as Elizabeth died there in 1947.

Where is Evelyn indeed.

[giblet]

What date was the birth registered and who registered it?

[judb]

Just to clear up the adoption procedures in WA at the time:

https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-communities/past-adoption-information-and-services
Adoptions have been possible in Western Australia since 1896. The legislation has changed over the years and historically adoptions could be arranged either by the Department of Communities or privately through solicitors.

There was an adoption register
https://slwa.wa.gov.au/dead_reckoning/government_archival_records/a-c/adoption
Child Welfare Department. Indexes to Adoption Registers
The Department of Communities is responsible for enquiries about historical adoptions in Western Australia. It has an alphabetical listing of birth names of adopted children, and in some cases, adoptive parents, who were registered by the Department dating from 1908-1966.

However - since time immemorial babies/children have been raised by members of their family other than their parent/s, by friends or by outsiders. As time goes on these children may take on the surname of their carers - remember that name changing is perfectly legal (debatable re minors) and it's only relatively recently that documentation for names has become so strict.

Judith

[giblet]

Thank you Judith