I have permission from the YORSKGEN subscriber who sent the following reply to me off list to forward it to the SHEFFIELD list. An enquiry was sent to the YORSKGEN mailing list asking if any one had a Frederick Warburton, born 1873 Ecclesall Bierlow on their family tree. My husbands grandmother had a brother who matched the details. I answered and the following is the reply to me off list. It is referring to children who were in orphanages and children's homes who were sent to Canada and Australia, some without their parent(s) knowledge. Subject: Re: [YKS] WARBURTON, Ecclesall Bierlow. I have a friend here (Canada)whose father was one of these children - he came here in 1923 age 13, was told both his parents were dead, and given a false birth certificate. He did remember he was born in Cheshire and had a sister called Mary Alice, who went by Alice. He tried all his life to find his family in England but was always blocked by the authorities in both countries - but now the story of these kids has come out and the records have opened up. My friend has found the whereabouts of her dads sister Alice - or at least her granddaughter, Alice died in 1999. It appears she too was sent to various childrens homes in England and also given a false birth certificate. It states she was Alice Warburton born March 14, 1910 to Frederick and Lydia (nee Wood). There is an actual birth entry for Alice, and I found Frederick and Lydia on the 1901 census. Not that it matters now, but I was curious as to what made the local authorities give "my" Alice that particular birth certificate - did Frederick and Lydia's Alice die? Was she too put in a home? I am a keen family historian (not in Yorkshire though), and thought I'd just join the list to see if there were any connections. So if you have any idea about the rest of your family I'd be extremely interested. If not, sorry to have rambled on! SIGNATURE DELETED----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have searched the free BMD and found baby Alice Warburton, she was born and died on the same day. Alice Warburton age 0 March qtr. 1910. 9c 215. Ecclesall Bierlow. My enquiry is- is it possible to find out if baby Alice was the daughter of Frederick & Lydia Warburton without me having to send for a copy of the death certificate ?. To say that I am upset to think that her identity was possibly stolen is an understatement. Was this practice widespread ?, and if so it takes searching for ancestors to many brick walls. Thanks for reading all of the above, Audrey, Canada. Ex Sheffield. :