1939 register - marked as "Adopted"

[Jill on the A272]

This came as a surprise - well not a complete surprise as I knew she was adopted, just that it was marked as such. My family always called her by her birth name (she is in my mum's birthday book on the correct birthdate) but she is on the register with the name given by her by the lady who adopted her.

The actual note reads ADOPTION EGA

Should add that this lady died in 1990.

[Jill on the A272]

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, this was an official government document and not expected at the time to be seen by the public.

[Guest]

seems not right to me to be able to see that, maybe some of her family may have not known, :(must say I am surprised.

[Jill on the A272]

She was 6 in 1939 and looking again she was in the register with her birth name. I asked about her on the family facebook page and one of my cousins was able to tell me more, as she had known the lady concerned and her children, and they know about her circumstances.

[Olde Crone Holden]

I too am very surprised about this, but I suppose it was done to record a name change, not to flag up an adoption. Obviously the adoption took place years after birth.

As you say, it was never envisaged that this register would be made public

OC

[Caroline]

It might have been recorded as a medical note since it was used for the NHS - saves asking about family medical history all the time if the person hasn't any idea of theirs.

[Jill on the A272]

The woman who adopted her was a retired former district nurse (though it doesn't say that on the register), and lived in a cottage owned by her sister who was my granny's stepmother - my grandparents had lived there and it was there my mother and her sister were born in 1930 and 1931. From a bit of further digging it seems the child's mother died shortly after her birth. The elderly nurse took her in and paid for her upkeep, my aunt says she would take in washing to earn the money to keep her.