Genealogy Chat

Does anyone know what the procedure would have been for "adopting" a child who was in a workhouse having been orphaned? Unfortunately the admissions and withdrawals for the workhouse in question for the period in question (1880's) have not survived. However, some other records have. Would the Board of Guardians have been involved , or would the Superintendent have been able to permit it? What record, if any, might have been completed?

The answers would help identify whether any of the records that have survived might contain such detail. Whilst I'm fairly convinced I have identified the right child, it would be good to find proof positive.

Well legal adoption didn't start till 1927 so any adoptions before then would be on an informal arrangement
It's possible a child may be fostered out but it's more, likely they would be put in a children's home .
This depends on what time you are looking at and whether workhouses had started children's homes then
My mums half siblings were put in the Hackney union workhouse in 1905 when their mum died and they were transferred to the Hackney Union children's home

Are you sure that the child was actually "adopted" ?

"Boards of Guardians frequently became the legal guardians of orphaned children until were old enough to enter employment, usually from the age of fourteen. The great majority of girls went into domestic service, while boys usually entered into whatever local employment was on offer or, in some cases, joined the army or navy. Unions had legal responsibility to keep a check on their welfare until they were sixteen, with the union relieving officer visiting them periodically during this period. "

http://www.workhouses.org.uk/education/

http://www.workhouses.org.uk/emigration/

https://tinyurl.com/yxogb26m

Yes, I am aware that formal adoption didn't start until 1920's. In this case the child was brought up by a couple and is described by the "father" as his adopted daughter in his will. She appears with them on the 1891 census as a '"daughter", but not in 1881. Having looked at births with the right forename in the right period, there is only one child not with the expected parents in 1891. In 1881 she is with her widowed mother and siblings, but the mother died. The youngest child is listed in the workhouse in 1891, and the other older ones are "in service".So I am fairly confident I have identified the child.

Oddly enough I also have another case where a child of 6 mths is listed as a visitor on one census - no mother visiting with the family. By the next census she is listed as a daughter. I haven't yet identified whether this is another workhouse case.

It could be very cruel .................. back then someone could go to the workhouse and have a child bound to him/her in service. Often that happened to very young children ......... think of chimney sweeps!

There would probably be no record of an adoption of a child into a family situation.

FWIW, official school leaving age in 1880 was 10, raised to 11 in 1893.

The young lady in this case certainly seems to have been brought up as if she was a blood daughter. She is mentioned in her adoptive fathers will because she received a bequest. She had quite an unusual life as an adult, marrying in Chile in 1898, with her 2 older children born born there. The other 2 seem to have been born during trips back to England, where she clearly travelled when pregnant (that doesn't sound too appealing). The family did settle back in England, having gone backwards and forwards for about 10 years.

I was hoping that some one would be able to point me towards possible records to nail the adoption down, but as with various family history situations that isn't always possible.

Are there any surviving school records where her 'parents' are listed?

If you find records for the correct school, they may show where she has transferred from.