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Destroyed Adoption Records

K

katyjinny

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I am trying to find information about 2 sisters who were both adopted, the first in 1947 and the second in 1952. We've been told that adoption records were sent to Birmingham archives and have since been destroyed :mad::( Can I use this forum to ask about specific people? The younger sister stayed in the West Brom area and I guess there is a chance the older one did too.
 
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hi katyjinny and welcome....for data protection reasons we can not allow members to ask about specific people by name if as in your case they could still be alive but maybe someone on the forum could point you in the right direction with your seach

all the best and good luck

lyn
 
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I'm rather surprised that you were told they had been destroyed. I can understand not being available to view, but they should not have been destroyed
 
yes mike that was my feeling and did not know that adoption records were held at the library either..katy my advise to you would be to contact social services in the area where the girls were adopted from..from your post it sounds like that was west bromwich

lyn
 
I believe it can be quite hard to trace records which are not your own because of confidentiality. As Lyn said I would think Social Services would be the best place to start.
 
Thanks all. It was when we originally applied for my adoption record that the Social services said all the records from that time had been transferred to Birmingham archives. The adoption was done at the Juvenile court in Sutton Coldfield. The social worker contacted the archive and was told the records had been destroyed.

Prior to 1975 there was no requirement for records to be retained.
 
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Sorry to hear that. Thanks for letting us know. I am still surprised there is not some record left. How do all these people on "long lost family" manage?
 
pjmburns said:
Sorry to hear that. Thanks for letting us know. I am still surprised there is not some record left. How do all these people on "long lost family" manage?
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It depends on the policies of different councils. I was also searching for a coroner's report in Coventry from the same period and had the same response. They didn't have room to keep all of the records.
 
pjmburns said:
Sorry to hear that. Thanks for letting us know. I am still surprised there is not some record left. How do all these people on "long lost family" manage?
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same here janice i find it very strange that katyjinny has met with the responses she has......just hope she is not being fobbed off..something i have had first hand experience with with regards to the library of birmingham....i would always suggest double checking


lyn
 
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Thanks both. I have emailed the Birmingham archive to double check and have registered parts 1 and 2 of the ACR but that depends on Jennifer also having registered.
 
It seems to be getting harder to find anything in the archives at Birmingham. I think that due to staffing cuts they really can't say what they have or haven't got. I remember that before they moved to the present site it was said that a good deal of material had not been listed. I should imagine though that something as 'new' as 1970's stuff would be available.
 
One used to be able to trace adoptions through the Family Records Centre which used to be situated at Farringdon, London. That building has closed down and now everything is at the National Archives at Kew and I imagine all the records have been transferred there including the adoption records, which whilst doing family tree searches, I was able to examine them and I found what I wanted. Before trekking down there, it might be worth ringing them on 02088763444.
One of the problems with searches at Birmingham is that they seem to direct you on their computers to Ancestry. The first time I visited, the Library was the old concrete one on Chamberlain Place and I was shown microfiche, and record card records as well as books that had a great deal of detail with regard to what I was looking for, the last time I came up went to the new library and all that seemed to be availablke were computers linked to Ancestry to which I already subscribe. For that reason I have never been able to find a marriage, assuming there was one as they did not seem to have any church/parish records available.

Bob
 
Have a look at the following katyjinny. Apparently they no longer hold any adoption records at the National Archives. This page gives you some more information but it may be that it only tells you things you already know.

I do agree with former posts in that these records must be somewhere - they wouldn't just thrown them away and as Lyn says, how do these professional researchers find their information?

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/adoptions/
 
pen i find it all very strange...about 6 years back i dealt with adoption within my family...a rellie was adopted in 1953 and his sister in 48 and a brother was sent to banardos in the 40s....he had no trouble gaining access to his adoption records via social services and banardos also helped him find his brother who lives in canada....in the end all siblings met up for the first time ever...neither of the 3 knew of each others existence..they all assumed that they were only children...

lyn
 
katyjinny said:
It depends on the policies of different councils. I was also searching for a coroner's report in Coventry from the same period and had the same response. They didn't have room to keep all of the records.
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Sounds like a fob off to me.
The Coventry archives are being transferred on to databases I believe but they still did have items on microfische. The whole point of this being they don't have room. Solihull is/was on both depending on what you are looking for. Depending on which employee you get can depend on the response. Which shouldn't be, but it is.
Saying that, I was told my birth records had been destroyed in a flood in Birmingham, but they hadn't as they were in Coventry. And they initially gave me someone else's in error. Our library used to hold records, the Archives have relocated more than once. Some records I got from London which took an age, me writing a letter, proving I was me, for several attempts and that they said they lost my letter twice. And they were way up themselves. We had to grit our teeth many many times in various places.
 
It's very strange that the papers have disappeared. Foster homes should always have copies of personal and adoption documents. If anyone has encountered such a situation, here are some tips. If your adoption was finalized through a court, contact the court where the adoption was finalized and ask if they have a copy of your adoption papers. It's important to note that depending on the circumstances of your adoption, it may not be possible to locate your adoption papers. At https://fosterplus.org, you can read more about the adoption paperwork process.
 
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The DNA testing might help but it is linked with Ancestry. But I am sure you can do it without biu that wouldn't give you names just matches. You could contact The Long Lost Family TV site. They use DNA. I have old numbers probably defunct now. There is an Alive or Dead register, sounds horrible , who told me my birth mother was alive. And to look abroad so they knew but wouldn't tell me more. Long Lost Family state they have specialist adoption researchers everybody has a price. Gro Gov were very helpful. I will see what I have of my old contacts.
 
katyjinny said:
Thanks all. It was when we originally applied for my adoption record that the Social services said all the records from that time had been transferred to Birmingham archives. The adoption was done at the Juvenile court in Sutton Coldfield. The social worker contacted the archive and was told the records had been destroyed.

Prior to 1975 there was no requirement for records to be retained.
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Katyjinny this was exactly what I was told. My adoption in 1950 was done at the Juvenile Court in Sutton Coldfield. I was told that they had been destroyed.
 
https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records
Might be useful.
https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/tutorials/adoption/

Lots of people join Ancestry, so here are their pages.
You can think about what DNA might or might not tell you. I'm not adopted myself, but I knew my grandfather had two families who overlapped. My father died when I was a baby. I've been in contact with relatives who had missing personal history. Both personal and painful to the people involved. Keep digging if you want to know.
 
My daughter came to us via the care system. We were long term foster parents, and although we were once very far along the adoption route for various reasons it did not happen.
My daughter always had contact with her birth mother who unfortunately died in her 40’s.
The one thing that struck me as odd it appears her mother’s file could not be accessed for years by my daughter, and even only limit access.
This was over 30 years ago and looking back I am not sure that I’m correct.
Perhaps it to do with data protection Maybe the decision to take her into care.
All I know is that trying to obtain any information is difficult especially if you only have very little or nothing to go by.
I really believe that knowing the truth about your adoption or being in care is vital to a person well-being. Some adults who have been adopted have a strong desire to know their biological beginnings, likewise some in the care system need to also have some idea why they were placed in care .
 
Pum said:
Katyjinny this was exactly what I was told. My adoption in 1950 was done at the Juvenile Court in Sutton Coldfield. I was told that they had been destroyed.
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Hello Katy
My mother was born in 1950 at Marsden Green hospital then placed in a mother's and baby unit for 8 months before being adopted through the same juvenile court in Sutton Coldfield. Her name is Jennifer but we never received a birth certificate only adoption papers. We are trying to trace more details
 
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Hi all I learned in 1989 that I had a brother who was adopted in 1941, I went to the Register office and gave them what scant info I had and they said they would look for me. About half hour later an official called me in to a back office and asked in a kind manner if I knew that he was adopted, I said yes and he gave me his birth certificate there and then. Regards Acklam19
 
I have an adopted daughter, now in her 50's, I did a search on Ancestry and her original birth record was there. The original birth certificate reference had a line though, but it could be read and another reference was written alongside, no idea what this referred to but It wasn't the adoption cert number. Obviously to do this I knew the details of her birth mother.
 
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