Morton sat down, rubbed his temples and tried to push back thinking about the letters and his own family history. He opened Barbara’s yellow folder and began to read. She had organised the file in the chronological order of her adoption journey, each piece of paper sitting neatly in its own plastic sleeve.
The first page was the pitiful letter from Mansion House Certificate Centre that had sent the portentous jolt between Barbara’s past and her future. Unfortunately, no trace of your birth entry can be found…I regret that I can be of no further assistance… Then came several letters and emails between Barbara and various support agencies and charities, culminating in a summarised typed document of the circumstances surrounding her birth.
Birth Mother
Your birth mother is Elsie Finch (née Danby) and, at the time that she was involved with the social worker, her address was given as Bramley Cottage, Nutley, East Sussex. She was 21 years old. Elsie’s religion is noted as Church of England. Elsie was married to Lawrence Finch, however, he had been missing at Dunkirk since 3rd June 1940. Elsie’s parents were George and Christina Danby and they lived at Eldon Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex.
Birth Father
Your birth father is named in the records as William Smith (deceased) and at the time that he knew Elsie he was 19 years old. William’s religion is noted as Church of England and his occupation was as a pilot. The records further state that William and Elsie had met at a dance in Hawkinge, Kent.
Circumstances of your birth
You were born at Cliff House, Capel-le-Ferne, Kent on 10th May 1941. You weighed 7lbs and you were bottle-fed from birth. You had no medical issues. Your birth name was Christina Finch.
Early Life History and Circumstances of your adoption
On 19th May 1941 your birth mother signed the adoption certificate, stating that she had read and understood the memorandum headed ‘Adoption of Children.’ This was witnessed by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. You went to live with your parents on 9th July 1941.
Morton finished reading the sheet, as if seeing the information for the first time, but, when he picked up his notepad to jot down the first steps that he would take, he saw that they were already there in his own handwriting. William Smith. Pilot records. Cliff House. He really hadn’t been paying attention earlier. What other crucial information had he missed?
Next in the file was a copy of the original adoption certificate. To be furnished to a Registered Adoption Society by every Parent or Guardian who proposes to place a child at the disposition of the Society, he read. Disposition of the Society—it sounded so cold and matter-of-fact. Re Barbara Finch. To The Secretary, Church of England Waifs & Strays Society, Emergency Office, St Michael’s, Joel Street, Pinner. I hereby certify that I received from you a memorandum headed ‘Adoption of Children (Regulation) Act 1939’ from which I have detached this form of acknowledgement; and that I have read the memorandum and understand it. Below the declaration were the signatures of Elsie Finch and her mother-in-law, Agnes Finch. And that was it, the piece of paper that had signed Barbara over to the ‘disposition of the Society.’
The waitress returned with his latte. He thanked her and continued reading. Next came a copy of Barbara’s original birth certificate, the like of which he had never seen before. The error that Elsie had made in registering the birth was glaringly obvious: the father was recorded as Lawrence Finch and his occupation as private 6404310 in the Royal Sussex Regiment. In the margin, an amendment had been added. In entry no.223 Col. 4 omit “Lawrence Finch,” Col.6 omit “Private 6404310 in the Royal Sussex Regiment.” Corrected on 20th May 1941 by me, T. Robinson Deputy Superintendent Registrar, on production of a Statutory Declaration made by Elsie Finch and Agnes Finch (mother-in-law).
Morton sipped his drink and continued through Barbara’s adoption journey. The file, having dealt with all the records appertaining to her birth, moved into a distinctly new phase: that of tracing her birth family. It was the exact phase that Morton was now in with his own father. How long until he was able to look back over his journey and fill a folder like this one with documents?
Barbara had used The Children’s Society to trace her family. Morton read the letter from their Family Tracing Service, accepting Barbara’s payment of £150 with the promise of a response within four weeks. The answer had come with two enclosures: Elsie Danby’s birth and marriage certificate. Elsie Danby had been born on the 7th August 1919 to Christina Neugebauer and George Danby, a machinist, in the town of Eastbourne, East Sussex.
The file ended with two photographs: one, captioned Me at 5 months, was of a little girl in a knitted white hat and shawl, the other was a black-and-white close up of a smartly dressed man and woman standing outside what looked like a church. Underneath was written The marriage of Elsie Danby and Lawrence Finch, 1939, Nutley. Morton conducted a quick analysis on the photograph, his initial assessment confirming that it had been taken outside of St James the Less church in Nutley. But the more that he studied the minutiae of the image—the building, the clothing, the trees in the background—the more that he felt that something wasn’t quite right. It took a few minutes to find that the root of his disquietude was the melancholia etched on the faces of the bride and groom. Perhaps it had been caused by the looming clouds of war, but something told him that their smiles were not genuine.
Morton studied the picture for some time, then shut the folder and drank his drink, musing once again on the possible contents of his own adoption file. Could there be anything contained within
