Re: Genealogy and adoption

Roger Mills <watt.tyler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes

My wife has registered in the hope of finding her birth mother. But her
mother hasn't - and may not even still be alive. So we can't go any further.

There are other ways. If her mother's name is known and is not too common you may be able to follow her through the GRO indexes. Get her birth certificate, this will give you the names of her parents. Then search for her in the marriage and death indexes, and probate calendars.

My own birth mother had an uncommon name, I was able to trace her through two marriages, both to men with common surnames. By researching her family I was able to identify her parents, siblings and grandparents. This involved a lot of effort searching the indexes and census records at the FRC and a considerable outlay on birth and marriage certificates, but I did find my mother and eventually made contact with the help of one of her cousins. We met several times before her death a couple of years ago and she was thrilled with her new grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

I discovered my birth father's name in the dossier held by the society who had arranged my adoption. Tracing his family was much more difficult but eventually I succeeded and made contact with my half-siblings [my father had died in the 1980s].

It took a lot of hard work and a dash of good luck, but I succeeded and now have regular contact with members of both sides of my birth family.
--
Chris Newall EMail : chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ealing, London, W5 Website: http://www.rebus.demon.co.uk/
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