Listers, I would appreciate some guidance here. For background, my great grandmother was an orphan left on the church steps of St. Catherine's Church in Bebington on 20 June 1850. She was Christened on 21 June 1850 as Mary BEBINGTON (named after the town). She is listed in the 1851 census for BEBINGTON as a nurse child in the family of Thomas and Hannah GREEN. In the 1861 census, she is listed as Mary BEBINGTON in the GREEN family. In 1871, she is working for another family and is listed as Mary BEBINGTON. She married my great grandfather - John FARRALL - in 1873, and the marriage certificate has a blank space for the father. Her name is listed as Mary BEBINGTON. The death certificates for two of her sons - John and Samuel- (California) listed the mother's maiden name as GREEN. No official document show that she legally used the name GREEN. My question concerns the adoption/non-adoption procedures in Cheshire/UK in the later half of the century. Were families expected to pay extra monies to the county? Mary did receive a congratulatory letter and cablegram from King George VI on her 100 birthday in 1850. Palace regulations state that proof must be provided. The only proof provided was the christening record of 20 June 1850. She had no birth certificate. What were the adoption procedures like in the 1850 timeframe? Why would the GREEN family not give her the GREEN name? Puzzled. John Farrall Burke, Virginia USA

John, I have experience of such unofficial adoptions with a family from the 20th and 19th century. It would appear a Childs name is unimportant as long as those associated with the child know of the change and any such change is not done to defraud. I do not wish to go into a lot of detail for some of those involved are still alive in the case of the 20th century child. In our case the child was family and wished to change their name to the host family. This was done simply by informing the authorities of that change in writing via an official form. I also have another 'adopted' child from my fathers side, taken into the household at 6 years old in 1881 still resident under her own name in 1891 and 1901. In fact her cousin, my grandmother who was the same age in the host family, was in service and had left the host family home by 1901. I would also think that name association within families was very important in the 19th century and a name change to the host family of a destitute child taken in was rare, in my opinion? There would be a Baptism or Christening Certificate or Church Record, which would give an approximate age for the authorities to work from. St Catherines is still open today so local knowledge BT ----- Original Message ----- From: "john farrall" <jfarrall@cox.net> To: <BIRKENHEAD-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, August 05, 2006 12:05 AM Subject: [BKHD-Wirral] Searching for Information on Orphans and Adoptions c. 1850 > Listers, > I would appreciate some guidance here. For background, my great > grandmother was an orphan left on the church steps of St. Catherine's > Church in Bebington on 20 June 1850. She was Christened on 21 June 1850 > as Mary BEBINGTON (named after the town). She is listed in the 1851 > census for BEBINGTON as a nurse child in the family of Thomas and Hannah > GREEN. In the 1861 census, she is listed as Mary BEBINGTON in the GREEN > family. In 1871, she is working for another family and is listed as Mary > BEBINGTON. She married my great grandfather - John FARRALL - in 1873, and > the marriage certificate has a blank space for the father. Her name is > listed as Mary BEBINGTON. The death certificates for two of her sons - > John and Samuel- (California) listed the mother's maiden name as GREEN. > No official document show that she legally used the name GREEN. My > question concerns the adoption/non-adoption procedures in Cheshire/UK in > the later half of the century. Were families expected to pay extra monies > to the county? > Mary did receive a congratulatory letter and cablegram from King George > VI on her 100 birthday in 1850. Palace regulations state that proof must > be provided. The only proof provided was the christening record of 20 > June 1850. She had no birth certificate. What were the adoption > procedures like in the 1850 timeframe? Why would the GREEN family not > give her the GREEN name? Puzzled. > > John Farrall > Burke, Virginia USA > > ==== BIRKENHEAD Mailing List ==== > Our list Web site with links useful for Wirral genealogy > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~liverpool/BIRKENHEAD-WIRRAL.html > > ============================== > Census images 1901, 1891, 1881 and 1871, plus so much more. > Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx > >