Adoption query

[cocinelles]

This is my first post on the forum, and I wasn't sure if this was the right heading to list it under, so apologies if I've transgressed the rules/accepted practice. Hope someone can help.

I've hit a bit of a block in trying to trace family history on my father's side. I discovered from my Grandfather's birth certificate (born in 1900; deceased in 1970) that he was illegitimate. His mother's name is listed and her occupation given as domestic servant, but no father is given. There is no middle name (which I understand is sometimes a clue to the father). I traced the address given as place of birth as the west-end branch of the Glasgow Maternity Hospital and subsequently checked their records to find that his mother was indeed a spinster and that this was her second child. She is also listed as being of Catholic faith. Having checked the 1901 census, my grandfather is shown as being the 'adopted son' of a couple who would not - on the face of it - appear to have any direct connection to the mother (he has also retained the surname of his natural mother).

All of this raises a number of questions for me. Unfortunately my father is no longer alive (and I understand he didn't mention any knowledge of this when he was alive) and the last remaining daughter of my grandfather also knows nothing more than this.

I'm hoping that someone on the forum can shed some light on this type of situation, which I can then pursue to try to find out more about my great grandmother and her ancestors.

I have a few specific questions:

1. Is it correct to assume that there was no official adoption process at this time? If so, then how would the adoption have taken place? Would it have been a private matter between mother and adoptive parents, or would it have been 'brokered' by some body e.g. the hospital, church, etc? If the latter, then are any records likely to have been kept?

2. Is it common for the adopted child to retain the surname of the mother, rather than taking the name of the adoptive family?

3. My grandfather was raised as a Protestant, but his natural mother is listed as Catholic. How common would it have been for a Catholic child to have been given to (presumably) Protestant parents?

4. My great grandmother's occupation is listed as 'domestic servant'. Was it a particular hazard for women working in this area to have children born illegitmately? Is there any listing of domestic servants from this period that would allow me to trace her employer?

Finally, and not directly related to this query, but I have noticed in my family history research that a large number of Births, Deaths and Marriages in my family have dates occuring on the last day of the calendar month. Is this pure coincidence (both sets of grandparents are listed as being married on New Year's Eve in the exact same year), or is there another explanation?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[LesleyB]

Hi cocinelles
and welcome to Talking Scot

I'll try to answer your queries as best I can

1. Is it correct to assume that there was no official adoption process at this time? If so, then how would the adoption have taken place? Would it have been a private matter between mother and adoptive parents, or would it have been 'brokered' by some body e.g. the hospital, church, etc? If the latter, then are any records likely to have been kept?

Adoption was not a legal process in Scotland until 1930.
See also http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/adoptions.asp
I'm not personally aware of any pre-1930 records of this type, dealing with arrangements for an adoption, but there may be some bits and pieces for some areas - it is not impossible, but I think it is unlikely that there are any large collections.

2. Is it common for the adopted child to retain the surname of the mother, rather than taking the name of the adoptive family?

Before 1930 and before adoption was a legal process, I think this varied. I don't think there were any rules about which name an adopted child might use. I expect sometimes it may have depended on how old the child was at the time of adoption and whether he/she was old enough to already know and be known by one name.

3. My grandfather was raised as a Protestant, but his natural mother is listed as Catholic. How common would it have been for a Catholic child to have been given to (presumably) Protestant parents?

I think it would depend on how the adoption was carried out, the circumstances surrounding the adoption, and whether the birth mother knew the intended parents or not and possibly what was known of the child's background by the adoptive parents.

4. My great grandmother's occupation is listed as 'domestic servant'. Was it a particular hazard for women working in this area to have children born illegitmately? Is there any listing of domestic servants from this period that would allow me to trace her employer

?
Yes. It did happen a fair bit I think as it is certainly not the only case I've come across! Young women in a household presided over by a male head of household were in a potentially very vulnerable position. Not that all "masters of the house" behaved this way, but I expect a good number did. The census records would allow you to find a household where she was working, if the census years coincide with the years that you are interested in. There is no list of domestic servants that I know of. Some estates kept records of employees (Manderston for example) but I think many employees of this type and of these times went unrecorded. I think domestic servants would have been a difficult group to keep tabs on in any case as they were quite a mobile workforce in some cases.

Best wishes
Lesley

[cocinelles]

Hi Lesley

Many thanks for such a rapid and helpful reply.

[WilmaM]

I'll take the last question

both sets of grandparents are listed as being married on New Year's Eve in the exact same year

In Scotland, until relatively recently, only New Year's Day was a Public Holiday,
so by marrying on Hogmanay the couple could enjoy a 'honeymoon' of sorts before back to work on the 2nd of Jan.

[nelmit]

Since you know a wee bit about his mother have seen her medical records when she gave birth?

Always worth a shot are the Poorhouse Applications. If you are not near enough to go yourself I could have look next time I'm at The Mitchell Library.

Regards,
Annette

[Montrose Budie]

.............snipped..........

I have a few specific questions:

1. Is it correct to assume that there was no official adoption process at this time? If so, then how would the adoption have taken place? Would it have been a private matter between mother and adoptive parents, or would it have been 'brokered' by some body e.g. the hospital, church, etc? If the latter, then are any records likely to have been kept?

See above re the 1930 Act of Parliament.

Earlier adoptions were often arranged, and, if involving other family members, informally.

Where a charitable organisation was involved, including churches, or a town council, and if the records have survived and can be tracked down, then it can be possible to locate info.

2. Is it common for the adopted child to retain the surname of the mother, rather than taking the name of the adoptive family?

No, more often the case that the adoptive family surname was used at first, but when the person became an adult, or were old enough to understand the situation, and were told that they were adopted, it's quite common to find that either the birth mother's or the father's surname was adopted.

I assume that any later records, e.g. marriage and death give no relevant info.

3. My grandfather was raised as a Protestant, but his natural mother is listed as Catholic. How common would it have been for a Catholic child to have been given to (presumably) Protestant parents?

That scenario would be not be common.

4. My great grandmother's occupation is listed as 'domestic servant'. Was it a particular hazard for women working in this area to have children born illegitmately? Is there any listing of domestic servants from this period that would allow me to trace her employer?

[/quote]

Yes to the first part, and, apart from census info, No to the second.

.....snipped..........

mb

[killearnan]

2. Is it common for the adopted child to retain the surname of the mother, rather than taking the name of the adoptive family?

3. My grandfather was raised as a Protestant, but his natural mother is listed as Catholic. How common would it have been for a Catholic child to have been given to (presumably) Protestant parents?

4. My great grandmother's occupation is listed as 'domestic servant'. Was it a particular hazard for women working in this area to have children born illegitmately? Is there any listing of domestic servants from this period that would allow me to trace her employer?

A few bits from my experience:
1) My great grandfather, born in 1861 in White Horse Close, Edinburgh, to [married] Irish Catholics, was adopted in the late 1860s by a Scottish Protestant family (1861 census in Loanhead, 1871 Lasswade, 1881 to 1901 Leith ) after his mother died and oldest (and only surviving) sister married [father was still alive but likely not able to care for a 6yo boy]. On the 1871 census in Lasswade, he was listed as a boarder, but in 1881 in Leith and on his adopted father's death certificate he is listed as an adopted son.

2) Except for the 1871 census, where he is listed as a boarder with his birth name, he used his adoptive father's family name after the adoption for marriage, children's births, census returns, and as a witness to family events, but seems to have kept his birth family name as his middle name. (It's my straight paternal line, so I still use the adoptive father's family name.....)

3) The mid/late 19th century Scottish women in my family with children born out of wedlock tended to be working in mills, rather than domestic servants, but the sample isn't large enough (5 mill workers, 1 housekeeper -- although the housekeeper accounts for 4 of the 9 children I've found....) to draw any definite conclusions.

Hope this helps!
BJ

[cocinelles]

Gosh! Thanks to you all for your replies.

Nelmit - I'd love to take you up on your offer to do some checking on my behalf. I only had access to the patient register for the hospital (held at the Mitchell), but no other records. Anything you can do to check other sources would be great (I'm living in Surrey). Let me know what info you need.

Thanks again.

Craig

[nelmit]

Gosh! Thanks to you all for your replies.

Nelmit - I'd love to take you up on your offer to do some checking on my behalf. I only had access to the patient register for the hospital (held at the Mitchell), but no other records. Anything you can do to check other sources would be great (I'm living in Surrey). Let me know what info you need.

Thanks again.

Craig

Hi Craig,

If you give me the mother's name (and any other info you have on her - year of birth would definitely help if it's fairly common) along with your grandfather's name and date of birth. I know you say he was born at the maternity hospital but did the mother give a usual residence?. You might as well throw in the adoptive parents names too.

You can post the info here or pm me if you prefer. It will be about 2 weeks before I can get there and I can't promise anything but it's definitely worth a try.

Regards,
Annette