Thank you Belinda for your helpful reply - I have made contact with a gentleman who is vaguely related to me, who was fostered after he was born in 1925 - his mother had him out of wedlock and he was born in the Royal Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh, where he is at present trying to get information from their archives. His mother came from North Yorkshire, so one wonders why she would go to Edinburgh to have her baby? Any further information would be greatly appreciated. Pat Smith, UK Researching SMITH (Wentworth, Yorkshire), HESLINGTON (North Yorkshire, Co Durham) SPARK (Co Durham SHAW (Barnsley, Silkestone) ---------------------------------------------- This mail sent through http://www.ukonline.net