This document provides information about searching adoption records in England and Wales from 1927 onwards. It explains that the Adopted Children's Register records legal adoptions and includes information such as the court that granted the adoption, date of birth, and adoptive parents' details. The process for adopted individuals to obtain their original birth records is also described. Additional resources on adoption records and family history research are listed.

1. What is your family history?
Adoption Search Service (1927-1969)
This is an index to all adoptions granted by courts in England and Wales since 1927. A birth
entry was made in this index when a court issued an adoption order.
The entry will replace the original birth entry, and also instructs the GRO (General Register
Office) to mark the original birth entry as 'adopted'.
Searching for an adoption and getting the references is just the first stage in the process of
finding the birth parents.
If you are the child you are required to attend an informal meeting with an approved adoption
advisor for confidential guidance, either with your local Social Services, at the General
Register Office or, under certain circumstances, at the agency that handled your adoption.
You can also choose to see an adoption worker at another local authority. The General
Register Office will forward your original birth information to your chosen approved adoption
advisor.
More information can be found on gro.gov.uk or direct.gov.uk
Until 1927 there was no formal adoption process, although the term adoption was often
applied to what we call guardianship or fostering. The legal process of adoption was
introduced in 1927. The GRO holds the Adopted Childrens Register which records legal
adoptions under the Adoptions Acts since 1 January 1927. A special form has to be
completed to obtain a certificate of a register entry, which was made by the Registrar
General after a court made an adoption order. It gives the courts name, the date of the order,
the date of the childs birth and the names, occupation and address of the adoptive parents.
The country and place of the childs birth are shown from 1950 to 1959 respectively. The
register and certificates do not reveal the childs name prior to the adoption.
Ancestral Trails by Mark Herber, click here to read more.
Reference Books
Clandestine Marriages in the Chapel and rules of the Fleet Prison 1680-1754 - Mark Herber
describes the fascinating history of these marriages and presents transcripts of eight of the
registers and four of the notebooks, which include marriages (and some baptisms) from
1678-1679, 1707-1709, 1716-1719, 1726-1730, 1734 and 1736-1754.
He also describes the evidence for Fleet marriages contained in settlement examinations of
the poor. Most people using the Fleet wanted a short legal ceremony without the cost and

2. delay of banns or marriage licences. But some others wanted secrecy - a true clandestine
marriage - like Robert Williams, who married in the Fleet in 1717. The Reverend Henry
Gower performed the ceremony and noted in the register that the marriage should not be
discovered until Robert had completed his apprenticeship.
Ancestral Trails - In association with the Society of Genealogists this book is a complete
guide to British genealogy and family history. Ancestral Trails guides you through the
voluminous British archives, extending back to medieval times, and provides a detailed view
of the records & published sources available. From newspapers & directories, civil, legal &
religious records to personal recollections, photographs & other memorabilia, every kind of
record is analysed & the researcher is guided to the many detailed finding aids or indexes.
(Ancestral Trails is the winner of the Library Association McColvin Medal for Outstanding
Reference Work.)
For our full list of research books with description please see here
Landowner Records
This 19th century tax survey provides an index to all individuals who owned 1 acre or more of
land in 1873. It is arranged alphabetically by County where the land is situated, so their may
be holdings in more than one county. It provides the name of the owner: their address (town
or village only); how much land they owned in the County and its gross estimated rental
value.
Cleere, De Clare