Find Living Relatives

Trying yet again (with the help of a researcher) to trace Stephen Sutherland born in the Thelma Nursing Home in Torquay to Vera in January 1948. He was one of twins who were separated shortly after birth. No one seems to know anything about Stephen but does anyone know anything about the nursing home which I believe closed down. I know it was open in 1953 so not sure when it closed. It's possible there may be someone still around who knows something about the birth. Thank you in advance. Lynne

when you say 'trying yet again' ... does this mean that you have posted threads at this site about this before ?

if so then the proper thing to do is add to the existing thread rather than start a new one ....... other members have no way of knowing what information or suggestions have been provided in the past

have you contacted local authorities to enquire about the nursing home ?

it is not likely that you would be able to access another person's medical records in any event I would think.

from an internet search and finding a message you posted elsewhere it seems you know Stephen was adopted

has a family member talked with the social services office about leaving a message in his file seeking contact ? which I believe is possible.

In that message you are looking for poeple who worked there or a solicitor who handled the adoption, I think all such people would be bound by professional confidentiality.

Another thread started before replies could be given on the thread

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards.page/board/living_relatives/thread/1271010

not seeing a middle name on the birth reg?

Vera's name was the same at birth and death

Name: Vera O Sutherland
Mother's Maiden Surname: Owers
Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1916
Registration district: Sunderland
Inferred County: Durham
Volume Number: 10a
Page Number: 1096

Name: Vera Owers Sutherland
Birth Date: 6 Dec 1915 ( registered 1916 )
Date of Registration: Apr 2001
Age at Death: 85
Registration district: North Yorkshire
Inferred County: North Yorkshire
Register number: L6
District and Subdistrict: 6501L
Entry number: 15

has any of her family been traced ?

Edna L Sutherland Jan-Feb-Mar 1920 Sunderland Durham
married surname Gordon, no death to 2005 ?

Frederick J Sutherland Jan-Feb-Mar 1920 Sunderland Durham
death
Frederick John Sutherland 1919 Aug 1995 Bournemouth Hampshire


... not likely that any of the generation living today would know about her life ...

there is no information on her death certificate about any family ?

Ancestry has mistranscribed the surname for both children.

you can correct the record there ( a 14-day free trial will let you do that ) and include an email address in your notes

you can also attach a postem to the birth records at FreeBMD also including an email address

that way if he or a family member looks up his records they will see your notes and be able to contact you

it is best to use a permanent email address for this purpose, one that is on-line like gmail or hotmail, so you always receive messages in future

as I said early in the thread ...

has a family member talked with the social services office about leaving a message in his file seeking contact ? which I believe is possible.



I am not sure how it could be claimed that the twin is his KNOWN next of kin since the man probably has a wife and children ............ I had not understood 'next of kin' to be the issue for a living person, it is the adopted person who controls who has access to their file .............


there may be a contact register that the twin can register with ?


http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspages.nsf/LookupWebPagesByTITLE_RTF/Access+to+your+birth+records?opendocument

GRO Adoptions
Smedley Hydro
Trafalgar Road
Southport
Merseyside PR8 2HH

The General Registrar also maintains a National Adoption Contact Register for adoptions that took place in England and Wales. The purpose of this register is to enable adoptive people and their birth relatives to register their contact wishes. Those registering can specify individuals with whom they do or do not want contact. However an adoptive person must know their birth name, their date of birth and their birth mothers name in order to complete the application form.

source ... you probably know this ...

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Registeringlifeevents/Birthandadoptionrecords/Adoptionrecords/DG_175603


What and who is on the register

You can only find the whereabouts of an adopted person or birth relative if they have chosen to be entered on the Contact Register. Applicants can also record a wish for specific or no contact with a named individual.

Contacting a birth relative if you are adopted

You can add your details to the Adoption Contact Register if you are over 18, your birth was registered with the General Register Office, and you know:

your original birth name
your date of birth
the full name(s) of your birth mother (and birth father if known)

If you do not have all this information, you can apply for access to your birth record.

>>>>>>> Looking for siblings who have also been adopted

It is possible for an adopted person to be linked with adopted siblings, but be aware you need to register on both parts of the Adoption Contact Register – in part 1 as an adopted person and part 2 as a birth relative.

Contacting an adopted person if you are a birth relative

If you are a birth relative, you need to be 18 years of age and provide satisfactory documentary evidence to prove your relationship to the adopted person you wish to contact.

To find out what documentary evidence is required, depending on your relationship to the person you are looking for, download the table of evidence below. ...



with more instructions there

Fairthorn perhaps you could explain more clearly ..........

is a next of kin entitled to access an adopted person's adoption records ?

I had understood quite clearly that this was not the case ......... not even for the children of deceased adopted persons

in fact that an adopted person's birth parents may not access the records so it would not matter that the birth parents are deceased

the info from the GRO seems quite clear

"You can only find the whereabouts of an adopted person or birth relative if they have chosen to be entered on the Contact Register. Applicants can also record a wish for specific or no contact with a named individual."

"It is possible for an adopted person to be linked with adopted siblings, but be aware you need to register on both parts of the Adoption Contact Register – in part 1 as an adopted person and part 2 as a birth relative."

Many thanks for the responses. We had a professional researcher trying to find Stephen in the 1980's without success. We know that twin boys were born in the Thelma Nursing Home and, as was common in those days, one boy was adopted privately through a solicitor.

The researcher traced the other boy to the NCAA (now defunct) but the records had not been cross-referenced correctly so the trail went cold.

We have tried all avenues but to no effect.

Lynne

one thing it would be useful to rule out is a death at a young age ...

the deaths index at Ancestry is searchable by date of birth ... even without a name, on an 'exact search' ... up to 2005

you could identify the deaths of all deceased persons with the birthdate in question and then search births to locate matching birth records for the male deceased persons ... if all deaths could be matched to a birth, that possibility could be ruled out, if not you would be left with possible adopted persons to investigate further


... I tried a sample search, deaths of persons born on 1 jan 1948

there are 233 results, so that would be about half that number for male persons

probably names of other ethnic origins could be ruled out, and there are also occasional duplicates, so there might end up being around 100 names to investigate

Have you been in touch with....

http://www.norcap.org.uk/

of course there is a fee payable if you require them to act as Intermediaries

Good Luck

Misty x