Unless, of course, the Church got involved (which is quite likely in the circumstances) and they kept records of their own. It is quite possible that Frederick could have been adopted via (or even born in) a Catholic institution of some kind. You could try getting back to the Merton Heritage Centre to see if they are aware of any such place in the area, or alternatively, you could inquire directly to the diocesan authorities (http://www.rcsouthwark.co.uk/). Catholic records are some of the hardest to access, but I think that their traditional preference of keeping their records as inaccessible as possible is beginning to change, albeit slowly. Hope this helps Caroline > > Just to say that adoptions weren't formalized till 1927 so there won't > be > any official/legal paperwork as such. Not much help I know. > Cheers > Andy > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "HILARY BLANFORD" <hilaryblanford@btinternet.com> > To: <eng-surrey@rootsweb.com>; <nickyandpeter@bigpond.com> > Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 5:45 PM > Subject: Re: [SRY] Frederick Frank Baptism and Mary DUFFY > > > > Hallo Nicky > > > > Do you know why Frederick was adopted? There might be a clue there - > maybe > a foraml legal agreement or financial allowance as part of the > arrangeent. > It must have been really hard for Mary to give him up after 2 years. > Might > be worth looking at the wills of Mary, her parents and possibly her > grandparents to see if Frederick is mentioned. > Hilary > > > > > *************************************** > Send your List messages using **PLAIN TEXT** and always **TRIM AWAY** > superfluous old messages in replies. > > List Admin can be contacted at: Eng-Surrey-admin@rootsweb.com. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-SURREY- > request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in > the subject and the body of the message