Pre 1927 adoptions

[Smiley Sammy]

Thanks to the new 1916-2005 birth search on Ancestry I have found a twin birth in February 1926. Two boys born to my great grandmother, she was widowed at the time, no father listed on cert.
My mother had mentioned these twins several times during my research but I had not managed to find the birth, apparently they were "red-headed twins" that were given up for adoption.
My g-grandmother had 6 children between 1908-1919.
Another born 1921 that no one seemed to know about. She had another child in October 1927 and kept her.
My question is what sort of adoption procedures were in place prior to 1927?
No mention of adoption on certs but I'm assuming that didn't happen untill 1927, was there any professional intervention at all or did the families help to find homes for these babies?
Does anyone hae any idea?
Thanks so much
Sam

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

There were no official adoption procedures beofr the 1927 legislation, so families/mothers could decide who was going to look after any children without outside intervention. Of course probably some times legal advice was taken, but that would probably be the miniority of cases.

I would think (but don't know) that the lack of the word Adopted on the twins certs would mean that once the 1927 laws were passed the family or families who had taken on the twins didn't choose to legally adopt them.

[Dubonnet lady]

From what I learned, when enquiring about a friend's mother, who was trying to trace the background of a ''little boy who had suddenly appeared'' in the family- children who the mother or father couldn't cope with, because they were so poor or out of work perhaps, were more or less just taken over by other members of the family, or a friend, who could give them a reasonably good life. Nothing official in the way of paperwork at all.... they were just grateful that the baby would get looked after.

[Smiley Sammy]

Thank you both, it makes you wonder about the descendants out there, who are unknowingly related to us.

[Jac]

My grandmother took in her sisters baby and never legally adopted him. He was b 1918 and kept his mothers name.

[Blackberry]

My grandmother was orphaned as a small child, and brought up by her father's sister and her family. On the 1901 census she is described as "Adopted", but on the 1911 she is "Niece" - which is, of course, what she was. Never understood why they didn't say that before.