Genealogy Chat

I have a problem! I have an aunt who was born in 1923 and adopted shortly afterwards, I now know that she was formally adopted when the adoption law came into force. I also know that the Superintendent Registrar who annotated the birth certificate held that job between 1931 and 1945. I'm now trying to work out the latest that my aunt could have been adopted, so it will narrow down even further the period of time that I have to research. If the oldest that she could have been for adoption was 16, then I'd only have to research between 1931 and 1937. Can anyone help?

I think youve worked it out for yourself. 1927-adoption became legal.The only alternative i would guess is extending the period 1931-1941,but no later. Do you have the original reference for 1923-I'll have a look at it on 1837,see if there are any clues.

Sheila Since one did not come of age until 21 at that time, I would have thought that an adoption could take place up to that age. Under that age parental consent was required for such things as marriage, so one can imagine that there would be some point to going through the adoption process even for someone over 16. Tina

I always understood it was 21 too.

Formal adoption began in 1927. The registrar started in 1931, so I'd start there and work forwards. nell

i never really understood this formal adoption began in 1927. My mum was born in 1922 and i have her cert as adopted in 1926, then again it was her birth father and his wife who adopted her so there may have been different rules...MOE!

I know (through the family grapevine) that she was adopted at birth and from what I can find out, the annotation at the side could only have been made if she had then been formally adopted after the act came into force. I must admit that I was surprised that the annotation could only have been made after 1931, when the person who made it became Superintendant Registrar. My grandmother gave birth to my aunt in 1923, but didn't marry until 1937. There are possible reasons for me to believe that the legal adoption was more likely to have taken place before the marriage, so that there wasn't any possible connection between my grandmother and the child anymore. Does that sound likely or fanciful? Help me!

I did ask you for a name so that I could check the entry.

Oops, sorry! The mother was Dora Isabella Cordy and the child was called Olive Joyce Cordy, the exact date of birth was 02/10/1923.

The birth reference is just normal-no ammendments or notes relating to any rerregistration. Norwich 4b 233 OND 1923. Have you gone through the channels of applying for an adoption certificate? If you are next of kin to this person and she has died I think you are allowed access to her file,otherwise ,if she is still alive she can apply for it. If I'm incorrect in anyway,there are others that will put you straight,namely jess or sheila .

Can I apply for an adoption certificate, if I only have the original date of birth and birth name? I have written to the Clerk of Petty Sessions in Norwich, where I think the adoption to take place to see if there is anything on publice record that would be of use to me. I've gone through the Norfolk county records to see if there's anything there, but there wasn't. I'm now contacting the place where the records are held in Norwich, to see if they hold anything. Is there anywhere else that might be able to help, has anyone got a useful suggestion? I think that I'm not ever going to find the answer, which is really depressing.

I may be wrong but i believe the adoption record is destroyed following the persons death. There is no way that you can really find out someones name post adoption, unless luck is really on your side until the law changes. Jess

Hi, The only alteration to the birth certificate is to show as adopted and the name of the Superintendant Registrar who did it. Families can be damn annoying sometimes. The person I'm trying to trace is probably dead, but if they were alive it would be very special. The longer this goes on the less likely that we'll be able to trace my aunt. The problem I've really got is that there is no one left of my nanna's generation who knows anything about my aunt. It wasn't particularly well known from what I can tell in the first place. My mum doesn't have any info, because she wasn't even told that she had a half-sister until after my nanna died, which is a few years back. Wish me luck!

Just to finish off this thread, I've had confirmation from the NRO that the upper limit at which people could be adopted under the terms of the 1926 Adoption Act was 21.