Find Ancestors

I AM TRYING TO FIND MY BROTHER. HE WAS BORN JOHN BRODIE IN BEARSTED KENT 1954/55 AND MY MOTHER WAS FORCED BY HER FAMILY TO GIVE HIM UP FOR ADOPTION. SHE HAS BEEN TRYING TO FIND HIM FOR MANY YEARS WITHOUT SUCCESS AND HAS ALWAYS MENTIONED HIM WITHIN THE FAMILY. ALL WE KNOW IS THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BEING ADOPTED BY A COUPLE WITH A CONNECTION TO OXFORD UNIVERSITY WHO MAY HAVE BEEN DOCTORS.

Hello Mary.

I have just seen your ‘Trying to Find’ message with respect to your Brother. I am aware that you posted it about 18 months ago, but in case you have, as yet, been unsuccessful I would like to make a few suggestion. I was in the same position – a long lost Brother (although mine dated back to the early 1940’s).

If you have not already done so, try contacting the Social Services Department of the administrative area in which he was born – possibly Maidstone, Bearstead being a suburb. It is possible that records may still exist.

A second option is to write to:

General Register Office.
Smedley Hydro,
Trafalgar Rd.,
Southport.
PR8 2HH.

This department deals with adoptions, and the Register of Births will be annotated if an adoption took place. You are probably aware that should your Brother be traced, he would have to agree to contact you and your mother.

If this should fail (as it did in my case, my brother was not shown as having been adopted) there is another department of the General Register Office which can help. It is:

Traceline.
P.O. Box 106,
Southport,
PR8 2WA.

Traceline were successful in tracing my Brother, but unfortunately he died about 2 months before I started my search.

The above services do require a fee, the General Register Office is about £30.00, but I cannot remember what the fee is for the Traceline service.

I hope this may be of help to you, I am only to aware how saddening it can be to find that one has a brother but is unable to find him.

Denis