I have an instance of informal adoption in my own family in the early 1920s - my granny used to take in boarders to help make ends meet. The family lived in Dunfermline and she often had temporary lodgers who were from touring shows that visited the town. One couple who were musicians used to stay with her whenever they came to the town - then they had a baby, left it with my granny while they went on touring, and never came back! As far as I know there were no formal arrangements, but the child was then looked after as part of the family, my mother's younger sister. I am not sure what records there might be of this, if any. I think my aunt tried to trace her parents at one stage in later years, but without success. best wishes, Sheila Perry (sorry this is a Fife example but I thought it might be of interest in showing how ad hoc these things could be) ________________________________ Put Yourself in the Picture: for a donation of ?50 you can help us complete our project to transform the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and have your picture shown in the new Gallery. www.nationalgalleries.org/yourpicture National Galleries of Scotland is a charity registered in Scotland No. SC003728 Registered address: 73 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DS. VAT No. GB100190482 To be kept informed about events sign up for our email newsletter at www.nationalgalleries.org/ebulletin

Sheila Perry wrote: >I have an instance of informal adoption in my own family in the early 1920s - my granny used to take in boarders to help make ends meet. The family lived in Dunfermline and she often had temporary lodgers who were from touring shows that visited the town. One couple who were musicians used to stay with her whenever they came to the town - then they had a baby, left it with my granny while they went on touring, and never came back! As far as I know there were no formal arrangements, but the child was then looked after as part of the family, my mother's younger sister. I am not sure what records there might be of this, if any. I think my aunt tried to trace her parents at one stage in later years, but without success. > > Parts of the Poor Law continued in force until 1930, although many of its provisions had been superseded before then. I don't know whether responsibility for the care of orphaned/abandoned children was still with the Parochial Board in the 1920s, but if it did, then, even though she was presumably herself not in poverty, your granny might well have made a claim on behalf of the child, and this would have been documented in some detail. The trouble is that, even if the relevant records have survived, they will remain "closed" until 100 years after the date of the claim. Gavin Bell

Thanks Everyone so much. Both of the fostered children I'm looking at are from over 100 years ago, but I expect it's going to mean anaother trip to the UK :-) I suppose it's also possible women took in young pregnant women and then kept the children sometimes as foster children? Ros -- Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. - Martin Luther King Jr.