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Tracing WWII orphan origins?

P

PortonEJ

New Member
My apologies if this has already been discussed here, I’m finding myself constantly back at square one tracing my Grandad’s family history.

According to my Grandad, he was born in a London hotel room during WWII, an illegitimate son to an unknown bio-mother.
He says he grew up in an orphanage until about the age of 12 (if I recall correctly) and was adopted by a family with the surname “Porton”.
The times I was able to ask my Grandad about his bio parents, he maintains he didn’t know his mother but that she had other children, he was a war-baby and she probably couldn’t afford another child.
He did mention something about his bio-father possibly being in the US Military when he researched it himself as a young man, but that’s about it.

Porton is my family’s surname now, but tracing the Porton line is largely useless since it isn’t my biological family.
(In any case, it seems there’s little to no results on “Porton”, besides it being the name of a village and military research base? I’ve also never met another Porton. Weird.)

I don’t really know where to start, but I figured orphanages or any info on how to research orphanages in Birmingham/London would be a good start, as tedious as it sounds.

If there are any better methods of research I’d love to hear it. Without any birth certificate it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.
 
If your grandfather was in an orphanage and adopted I would expect to be records of this. As he mentioned his birth I assume he was placed in the orphanage rather than found abandoned?

Other option is to try dna. Even distant matches may lead to someone who has knowledge of your family.
 
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MWS said:
If your grandfather was in an orphanage and adopted I would expect to be records of this. As he mentioned his birth I assume he was placed in the orphanage rather than found abandoned?

Other option is to try dna. Even distant matches may lead to someone who has knowledge of your family.
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That’s what I figured too. When I asked how he ended up in the orphanage from the hotel, he said the staff turned him over to the orphanage after he was found.
Whether it’s the full truth or not I can’t say for sure, though. Unfortunately my Grandad’s since passed so I can’t ask more questions.

AncestryDNA has linked me to some people I have a sneaking suspicion are also descendants of my Grandads father, (seems the guy was pretty busy during WWII if that’s the case lol) so I’ll reach out to some of them and see what info they are willing to provide.

Where would I start with active orphanages in/around Birmingham? Or should I search orphanage records country-wide?
 
I had quick look about adoptions and it says that when a child is adopted they should be issued with a new birth certificate. That is now and I don't know if this has always been so, but again I would have thought that your grandfather would have had/needed one of some description.

As you said, it seems a very difficult task if you can't narrow your search down. And if he was found and it was the staff rather than his mother that handed him over I can't see what useful information they would know. But then again if he was found then I can't see how your grandfather would know about other children of his mother.

In regards to the name Porton, there are over 150 people listed with the name Porton on the 1939 register and that is mainly people born before 1922, most born between then and 1939 won't be shown.
 
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