Adoption in 1900.....

[Scozzie]

I've just found some of mine on 1901 census... Jacques, his wife Helen, and daughter Annie age 1 - that surprised me, because she didn't show up on any birth records. Now I'm not surprised, because she is noted as "adopted daughter", and was born in Greenock. Jacques was born in Hamilton Lanarkshire (as was most of his family, going back to his French grandfather) and Helen was born in Fife, so I'm wondering how the Greenock connection comes into it.

Is there any way of finding adoption records of 1900?

[DavidWW]

I've just found some of mine on 1901 census... Jacques, his wife Helen, and daughter Annie age 1 - that surprised me, because she didn't show up on any birth records. Now I'm not surprised, because she is noted as "adopted daughter", and was born in Greenock. Jacques was born in Hamilton Lanarkshire (as was most of his family, going back to his French grandfather) and Helen was born in Fife, so I'm wondering how the Greenock connection comes into it.

Is there any way of finding adoption records of 1900?

Hi Scozzie

It wasn't until 1930 that a formal legal process for adoption was introduced.

In 1901 it could have been a totally informal, unrecorded adoption.

There's a chance that some local charitable institution was involved, but the problem is where to start, with no guarantee at all of ever finding any record.

Are there any collateral lines where a parents or parents died?, - in other words many such adoptions involved the extended family.

David

[Scozzie]

Hi DWW,

I've searched the whole of SP, no more records for Annie under her adoptive surname - Le Blond - an unusual name for Lanarkshire!

Cheers
Scozzie