Can anybody help with obtaining details of adoption?

[graleystives]

I am hoping to find more information on a relative who was adopted in 1932 but subsequently went back to his birth mother. We do not know any of the circumstances.
I have his original birth certificate. It gives his name in column 2 as John Seymour and then his mother's records (no father). In column 10 (Name entered after registration) it gives his name as John Hugh Seymour. I assume however that Seymour is not his new surname as it is down in column 2 and is I am guessing his middle name. To the right of column 10 it says "Adopted" - Percy C Burley - Superintenant Registrar.
Can anybody help me make sense of this?
Many thanks.

[Glenys]

Name entered after registration is when a child's name is changed or added to after the original registration. Nowadays this can only be done if the name has been altered within one year of the date of registration either by usage or baptism and a certificate has to be signed by the parent or priest. The date and type of certificate is noted in the appropriate column. However, I don't think this was added in 1932.

The fact that the person has 'Adopted' and the Superintendent's name and designation means that this certificate is no longer the official certificate for this person and an adoption certificate, only obtainable from the GRO, is the official certificate.

[MaryA]

The GRO site has some advice http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentc ... /DG_175554

[dickiesam]

Hi,
Official adoption only commenced in 1926. 
The adoption certificate is a copy of the entry from the Adoption Register which is kept by the Registrar General and can only be issued from GRO. This would be the up-to-date certificate for any adopted child and would 'over-write' the original birth registration, i.e., the one the adopted person would use for a passport or to get married. The name would be the one given by the adopted parents. 

The original certificate should only be issued if the applicant can give enough information to the local Register Office to enable the staff to be able to identify the entry, ie. name of child, date of birth and mother's details. If the person had been officially adopted, a note would be made in the margin of the register after the Register General had made the entry in the Adopted Persons' Register. 

With regard to the second paragraph. If the father marries the mother after the birth, the father does not have to adopt his own child. This procedure is known as re-registration after marriage. The parents complete a special form and submit it to the local Registrar together with their marriage certificate. A complete new entry is made and a new certificate with the words "on the authority of the Registrar General" in the date of registration box can be purchased. The original birth entry would have a note in the margin to say that the birth had been re-registered and any future copies would be from the new entry. The original birth entry would never be issued. 

Column 10 is for the addition of any new forenames to be added but only within the first twelve months following the date of registration. The names can be added by baptism or by usage and the parents would have to have completed the appropriate form for this purpose.

Access to Birth / Adoption Records
At 18, an adopted person can apply for a certificate of their original birth registration, via the Access to Birth Records service at the General Register Office. From 30th December 2005 changes to the law enables birth relatives to also apply for access to an adopted person’s adoption registration. However Access to Adoption Records for birth relatives must be done via Intermediary Agencies.

DS

[graleystives]

Many thanks for the information - much appreciated.
The birth certificate I have in my Father in Law's original certificate which we obtained from GRO a few years ago.
We believe he was adopted by a Vicar and had always assumed it was an unofficial adoption but the birth cert would appear to show that he was officially adopted. I understand that at some point when he was about 7 his Mum took him back. Though how this could have happened with an official adoption I do not know. She was from a wealthy family but (I think) estranged from her parents.
Am I right in thinking that without his new surname I will not be able to obtain any records?
Many thanks.

[Glenys]

You don't say what the mother's surname was at the time of the birth but sometime unmarried mother's included the surname of the father as a middle name when registering their child even though the father's details had not been included.

As mentioned on previous postings, when the parents are not married to each other, father's details can only be included if the father attended at the Register Office with the mother and they both signed the register.

So, in this case, the father could have had the surname Seymour, his first name may have been Hugh - but I'm only suggesting these ideas - none of them are definite indicators.

[dickiesam]

Am I right in thinking that without his new surname I will not be able to obtain any records?

If you are trying to discover the circumstances of your father-in-law's adoption and who adopted him, I think it is very doubtful you could access those records even if they were available. What surname did he use when he married? I gather from what you have said he used either his mother's maiden name or her married name if she had later married.

As far as the general public and non-blood relatives are concerned, outside of the 100 year access rule, if your father-in-law is deceased the only person who can access those adoption records would be an accredited Intermediary Agency on behalf of a birth relative, presumably one of his children. They would charge for their services.

With regard to:

I understand that at some point when he was about 7 his Mum took him back. Though how this could have happened with an official adoption I do not know.

It is probable that the 'return' to his birth mother was done on an unofficial basis by the adoptive family if they were satisfied that his mother, perhaps now married and in a stable situation, was able to care for him. I have come across a similar situation before but I haven't come across a 'cancelled' or 'revoked' adoption.

A further thought.. Without proof as to who the adopting family were, there is the possibility that the actual adoption was by the mother's 'new' husband in order to regularise the child's legal position within the family. I have come across that a number of times. The possibility could mean that the 'vicar's family' you mentioned may have been only fostering the child until the mother married.

DS

[graleystives]

Many thanks for your help and suggestions.
My FIL did use his mother's surname. She never married and I understand that the father commited suicide when he learned of the pregnancy.
I know my FIL was in boarding school at one point and that his (birth) mother became a social worker. My husband and I do wonder now if she did actually take him back or whether she just stayed in touch. My husband remembers visiting her as a small child but she was never called Grandma or similar.
I suppose this will just have to remain a mystery.
Thanks for your help.