The Federation of Family History Societies has added a page to its website about researching people who have been adopted.
The new page provides information on the Adopted Children’s Register, the Adoption Contact Register, the Adoption Search Reunion (ASR) website, the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA), and Barnardo’s Family History Service.
What the page doesn’t mention, but the ASR website does, is that descendants of adopted people who have died are not allowed to see the adoption papers of their parent or grandparent. On the Prime Minister’s website, there’s a petition to change the law to make this possible.
I am searching for two siblings born without my knowlegde untill just a few weeks ago. My grandmother told me that my mother boor two children after me, a boy and a girl, who were given up for adoption as soon as they were born. I think that adoptions are private but sometimes through no fault of the individual that has been adopted, there is no way to obtain their family history or make contact with their family. I have come across a lot of problems in trying to find my siblings, I believe that people adopted should be protected but not when they themselves are trying to find their parents?
This is a difficult topic and one that should be looked into deeply before any new laws are pasted.
I am tring to research my NZ family tree.
We know our grandfather was adopted.
We know our great grandmothers surname, & our (adopted) great grandfathers name.
But I can not find anywhere our grandfathers birth.
This would be between Jan & Nov 1900 In Christchurch or New Plymouth.
Where could I find this information?
I can not pop down to a NZ Library as I live in Australia.
Hi Alan,
I am looking for my Grandfather’s side of the family. I have limited info: James Davies was born 1879/80, he was married in Sheffield in 1905 and the marriage cert names his father as Thomas Davies.
On his WW1 service record, Thomas appears again as does Elizabeth as his mother. Have tried the 1901 census without success. Looked on birth records without success. Found him and the family on the 1911 census in Sheffield. Birth place given as Glamorgan; he was Welsh.
Don’t know where to go from here.
Any help from anyone would be much appreciated.
Joyce Davies
Hi Joyce
Davies is a common name in Wales and the county of Glamorgan (which included Cardiff and Swansea) had a large population, so it’ll help if you can find out in which parish he lived (from the 1901 or an earlier census). Find My Past UK has just finished putting images of all the Welsh parish registers online, so you may find him there – once you know his parish.
Best wishes
Alan