Is there any archives on illegitimate births from 1900 onwards
Orphanage records, probably State and Territory by State and Territory? Also child migration records from Britain in the NAA. It all depends on what you want. Do you have a particular person in mind?
Yes, my mother Betty Dale Harmer , born 1918 Wagga Wagga
I assume that this does not concern anything like an adoption or any other special circumstances, so I’m not sure why you would think that there were archives specifically for children whose births only had a mother listed?
In this case there is a normal birth certificate available:
Name: Betty Dale
Registration: number 29092/1918
Mother’s given name: Margaret
District: Wagga Wagga
Thank you so much for the reply, I now have a copy of the birth certificate, would there be a adoption certificate available as Betty was adopted to Walter James and Ethol Maude (nee Stockton) Harmer about 1919.
Kind Regards
Trevor Smith
I’m not a specialist but I believe that NSW official adoptions didn’t start until abt 1923 and that earlier"adoptions" would have been an unofficial process.
However, if Betty had been e.g. a neglected child , NSW archives might have a file on her. (I can’t see anything online, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything in the physical archives for her)
Maybe somebody else here knows more regarding this subject …
Can you recommend someone else to contact?
My grandfather was illegitimate - born in 1912. I found records of his birth by looking up the address given on his birth certificate. This revealed that the address was formerly " Home for Fallen Women" (how awful that these poor girls were vilified in this way). Which upon some more research became a Salvation Army. I contacted Salvation Army and they sent me two pages of entry details which recorded the details of the birth mother and some details of her time spent there at the home (until the birth). She actually named the father, but Salvation Army took it upon themselves to redact the name to “protect” the innocent as they were unmarried. So now I still dont get to solve the puzzle of knowing the name my grandfathers biological father. I would also like to know how he ended up with his adoptive mother (who was wonderful with him). However there doesnt seem to be a record.
Can I suggest a dna test through Ancestry or one of the other family history sites. By making a small tree with the information you do know and your DNA could get you some results.
Hi Julia
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to this.
Yes, my dad has decided that he is going to do a DNA test.
There is seemingly a record of a possible father to my grandfather, but the document was redacted before it was sent to me.
So disappointing. Thanks again. M
Had a recent experience with NAA records whereby was unable to access ww2 war records for my god father despite having all necessary info including service number, his 1st name was Percival it turns out that when he enlisted he used Percy as his first name this was enough to produce a No Record response to record search.
