Genealogy Chat

I think my father might have been adopted and so his birth certificate is impossible to trace. All relatives who might have known are dead and my dad Edward Neville Butcher died in 2000 How can I find out?

I take it this is the death?
Edward Neville Butcher 14 Feb 1925 Apr 2000 75 Norwich Norfolk

There were no legal adoptions before 1927; any arrangements before that time were informal so there would be no records

Roy

Jennifer

Did your Father ever have a passport?
If so, i wonder what ID he had to show to get it?

This is so sad to think someone went through life without a birth cert!

I wish you lots of luck Jennifer.

Gerri x

Hi Still Looking,
I got my passport without a full certificate initially by having to obtain affidavits from the Schools I attended, from someone in authority who had known me most of my life and I had to swear under oath at a solicitors office.

If my memory serves correctly I only had to obtain my full birth certificate when my passport had lapsed. Up till that time I had been careful in applying for my passport prior to it expiring. But you know what life is like, I let it slip.
Paul

If he was born in 1925 he would have been 20 when the war ended, but is it possible he would have served from the age of 17/18. If he did then he must have some sort of services record. I don't know how young you had to be to be called up in wartime - I think it was possible to fight at younger than 21. Others will have better knowledge of this than I.

What does his marriage certificate say?

Peter

Jennifer,

What makes you think he was adopted? Could it be he was born before his parents were married?

Just an idea

BW

Jane

There's this birth. Wrong year but correct quarter.

England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index: 1837-1983
about Edward N Butcher
Name: Edward N Butcher
Year of Registration: 1917
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
Mother's Maiden Name: Bone
District: Kingston
County: Middlesex, Surrey
Volume: 2a
Page: 661

Rose

As said above - get his marriage cert to your mother - that should show a fathers name (hopefully) and his residence at the time of his marriage.

Did you have no aunts or uncles?

I have just discovered that my dad was in fact married twice. The first certificate would make his date of birth 1923 and the one to my mother 1925 which is the year my mothers sister thinks he was born. It is possible that the date on the first cert is incorrect as he may have lied about his age in order to join the army. I will try army records; so fingers crossed but I feel that it may very well remain a mystery. Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

How do I trace his army record, he was in the Special Air corps branch of the army as a glider pilot.
I am such a novice at this.

Jennifer,

What was his father's full name? Isn't it more likely he was registered under his mother's maiden name?

Rose

Thanks to all for help, I now have three possible birth dates for my father from various records, so I think I will visit the church he attended as a choir boy perhaps he was christened there, that might give me a clue.