Help required in respect of adoption records

With Brexit looming I though that I would if there is a possibility that I can obtain a "Get out of jail free" card in the form of discovering that either or my maternal grandparents were Irish or of other European stock (which was a rumour in the family) and the access it would give me to an EEC passport.
I have registered and used some of the genealogy sites (and one of them in particular impressed me) but my search has hitherto been in vain. I have found a census that shows that my mother lived with her adopted parents (and having their surname) when she was about 8 years old but nothing before that.
Only only child was born around the same time as her with the same Christian name but that may or may not have been a coincidence.
There is no-one alive in the family who may have known anything about the adoption but I wondered if any of you have any tips, in particular records that may be available in Cardiff.
Cheers

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Originally Posted by Taunton Blue Genie

With Brexit looming I though that I would if there is a possibility that I can obtain a "Get out of jail free" card in the form of discovering that either or my maternal grandparents were Irish or of other European stock (which was a rumour in the family) and the access it would give me to an EEC passport.
I have registered and used some of the genealogy sites (and one of them in particular impressed me) but my search has hitherto been in vain. I have found a census that shows that my mother lived with her adopted parents (and having their surname) when she was about 8 years old but nothing before that.
Only only child was born around the same time as her with the same Christian name but that may or may not have been a coincidence.
There is no-one alive in the family who may have known anything about the adoption but I wondered if any of you have any tips, in particular records that may be available in Cardiff.
Cheers

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Cyclops is your man :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Taunton Blue Genie

With Brexit looming I though that I would if there is a possibility that I can obtain a "Get out of jail free" card in the form of discovering that either or my maternal grandparents were Irish or of other European stock (which was a rumour in the family) and the access it would give me to an EEC passport.
I have registered and used some of the genealogy sites (and one of them in particular impressed me) but my search has hitherto been in vain. I have found a census that shows that my mother lived with her adopted parents (and having their surname) when she was about 8 years old but nothing before that.
Only only child was born around the same time as her with the same Christian name but that may or may not have been a coincidence.
There is no-one alive in the family who may have known anything about the adoption but I wondered if any of you have any tips, in particular records that may be available in Cardiff.
Cheers

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Prior to the social reforms of the post war Labour government, by in large the majority of adoptions were handled by charitable institutions who, along with the records established for legal purposes, also maintained their own registers of biological mother etc. From one example I know, ( and via the Salvation Army) the person was able to fill in the missing gaps to their pre-adoption

In the case of Cardiff, I know a large percentage of adoptions were handled via the sisters of Nazareth located at Nazareth House opposite Blackweir Fields. For anyone from Cardiff of a certain age who was raised a 'left footer' , the back ground to the Sister's work in the community was very much ingrained into their moral compass. Similarly, and as far as I am aware, there has been little or no scandal that has come to be associated with other religious orders.

Best of luck with your drive to get a second passport. Similarly I was looking at the same, but alas I missed the boat as the 2 x 'Irish links' that I had are via great grand parents and as such I did not qualify.

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Originally Posted by Mrs Steve R

Cyclops is your man :thumbup:

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@TBG You may like to pm me with some details.
The Alien asked for some help unravelling his ancestry before he passed - and while it was very convoluted, we unravelled the mysteries.

Hi Taunton! Can I ask do you know what your mother's birth name was? Or is it just the name that her adoptive parents gave her? I'm pretty sure you can find this information out by gaining her adoption file. So even if you only know her adoptive name, date of birth and perhaps place of birth you could get hold of her adoption file. The genealogy sites are fab but very difficult if you have limited information to go off and can make searches very frustrating. The other questions I have is do you know her place of birth and added to that her date of birth is that how you discovered a child that was born with the same Christian name as her?
If you go on the gov.uk website and look for adoption file I'm pretty sure you can gain access to the file but it can take some months. Other things that are helpful is if she was in a childrEns home prior to adoption or if it was a private adoption etc. A good place to start though is put down as much as you know and apply for the adoption file. I have so far found my grandmother's born 1905-1999) file as she as in a national children's Home. They keep files upto 100 years. She was never adopted but the home still had the file of her time there and it contained her mother's maiden name and father's full name nd address! I also found my partners mother's family too as following getting the information I then went on ancestry website which helped me find a family tree! The other good thing you can do is a DNA test! I did a test via ancestry and tells you an ethnicity estimate and a list of people who are related to you via DNA. The closest people I have on there are my 3rd cousins.

Anyway going back to your family - the best thing I would suggest is to contact adoptions@gro.gsi.gov.uk to start with. Good luck with your search!

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Originally Posted by Cyclops

@TBG You may like to pm me with some details.
The Alien asked for some help unravelling his ancestry before he passed - and while it was very convoluted, we unravelled the mysteries.

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Will do, Cyclops. Thanks. I may need to re-register with one particular site in order to access the info regarding the personal details of her adoptive parents.

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Originally Posted by SuperBluebirds91

Hi Taunton! Can I ask do you know what your mother's birth name was? Or is it just the name that her adoptive parents gave her? I'm pretty sure you can find this information out by gaining her adoption file. So even if you only know her adoptive name, date of birth and perhaps place of birth you could get hold of her adoption file. The genealogy sites are fab but very difficult if you have limited information to go off and can make searches very frustrating. The other questions I have is do you know her place of birth and added to that her date of birth is that how you discovered a child that was born with the same Christian name as her?
If you go on the gov.uk website and look for adoption file I'm pretty sure you can gain access to the file but it can take some months. Other things that are helpful is if she was in a childrEns home prior to adoption or if it was a private adoption etc. A good place to start though is put down as much as you know and apply for the adoption file. I have so far found my grandmother's born 1905-1999) file as she as in a national children's Home. They keep files upto 100 years. She was never adopted but the home still had the file of her time there and it contained her mother's maiden name and father's full name nd address! I also found my partners mother's family too as following getting the information I then went on ancestry website which helped me find a family tree! The other good thing you can do is a DNA test! I did a test via ancestry and tells you an ethnicity estimate and a list of people who are related to you via DNA. The closest people I have on there are my 3rd cousins.

Anyway going back to your family - the best thing I would suggest is to contact adoptions@gro.gsi.gov.uk to start with. Good luck with your search!

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I have no idea about my mother's name(s) before she was adopted and I am guessing that she was born in Cardiff as people didn't really move around much in 1930. I know absolutely nothing about her pre-adoptive life. I wondered if she kept her first name and did a search for births that way and hoped for the best. I had been thinking about doing a DNA test for another reason and realise that it may lead to some useful info too.

Once you have followed up on the advice given, get in touch if there is a connection to Ireland.

My partners mother was adopted. We did know her birth name but adoption records will reveal usually a lot more. That usually can be done by just providing an adoptive name (I think) and should lead them to her file and likely will contain her birth name and more than likely details of her birth mother and in some cases father. Don't always assume that if she was adopted or grew up in Cardiff she was born there. She could well have been but from experience I found my grandmother grew up on the Isle of Man, born in Weymouth and was sent to work in London! My partners mother was born up north and grew up in South Wales and also adopted here.

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Originally Posted by Cyclops

@TBG You may like to pm me with some details.
The Alien asked for some help unravelling his ancestry before he passed - and while it was very convoluted, we unravelled the mysteries.

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He was happy with it too, bless him. :-)