Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Hello everyone,
I am new on this board, I was very pleased to find this association. I am originally from Birkenhead and now live in France, near Rambouillet. While chatting to the owner of a tea and coffee shop in a nearby village, I discovered that this lady's grandfather, aged 102 (!) had an English mother named May Sue Gregory from Liverpool. She was a teacher and had this boy baby in Bordeaux in 1912, presumably illegitimate , and abandoned him there. he was brought up as a "pupille de la nation " (ward of the state?)
According to French law the child has to wait 99 years before receiving the identity of his mother. This gentleman was fortunate enough to live that long and so went and claimed the information.
I'm afraid I know nothing whatever about genealogy so I would like to know if anyone would be kind enough to follow up this information and see if any family links to present day people or perhaps a clue to what became of this young teacher could be found. Many thanks in advance if anyone has any information which I will pass on to the lady in question who bears her grandfather's name of Gregory . Kind regards, Jennifer (jendel)

Hi and welcome to the forum.

This is not such an easy task without more clues, I have checked for any births or deaths anywhere in England by the name May Sue or May Susan without success, although there was more luck with "Susan May" nothing by the name of Gregory.

I'm thinking that if she married she might have used another name to cover up.

Is "Liverpool" the only clue on the paperwork? not even narrowed down to an area?

PS well done to the gentleman reaching the grand age of 102!!

Hello Mary,
Many Thanks for your rapid reply! at this point I have no more info than what I posted. The lady concerned is going to send me a mail so I'll see if she has anything more precise in which case I will come back and post. I presume no one in England would have known about this child since he remained in Bordeaux. Perhaps she remained in Bordeaux too, maybe I should start looking there too. Quite a puzzle! kind regards, Jennifer

Just wondered if there was a birth certificate giving the mother's name?
From another ex-pat in France (Charente)

Hello Barbara,
Thanks for your interest! Can't give you an answer on that, still waiting for more info from the lady concerned. Will get back to you when I get it.

Hi and a warm welcome. What an fascinating post!!
Good on you trying to help out.
How lovely the gentleman lived to a ripe old age.