A child for keeps : the history of adoption in England, 1918-45 / Jenny Keating.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Keating, Jenny.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Adoption--England--History.

Adoption.

Adoption--Law and legislation--Great Britain--History.

Adoption--Law and legislation.

History.

Great Britain.

England.

Physical Description:

ix, 276 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Summary:

This book on the history of adoption in the first half of the twenteth century concentrateson the interwar years and and the Second World war it looks at the growing popularity of adoption after 1918 and the formation of adoption societies during the 1920s. These led to pressure for the legalisation of adoption, which had no official status prior to 1926 did not regulate it and how the 1930's saw a growing campain for reform because of the casual and even abusive practice of some of those organising adoptions Legslation was passed but delayed by the onset of war and the new regutations were not brought in until 1943 when the government could no longer ignore the widespread informal adoption of the illegitimate bables of single women and of wives whose husbands were away the backdrop to the book is the increasing emphasis on secrecy in adoption, providing fresh insights as to why the current system is as ngid as it is.

Contents:

Introduction 1

Secrecy 3

Attitudes to adoption 6

Adoption histories 8

1 Setting the Scene: The Historical and Legal Background 11

Changing familes 11

New views of childhood 18

The developement of child protection legislation 22

Parental rights before 1926 27

Marriage breaknown and custody 28

Illegitimate children and unmarried mothers 30

2 Developements in the Voluntary Sector 39

The beginning or organised adoption 39

The fromation of the first adoption societies 42

The establishment of the National Council for the Unmarried Mother and Her Child 62

3 Pressure for Government Action 67

The first conrference on adoption 67

The Hopkinson Committe 67

The Hopkinson Report 71

The 1920s - an era of legilative reform 87

The years after the Hopkinson Report 89

4 Legislation Takes Shape 94

The Tomlin Committee's report 95

Parliamentary debates on adoption 103

The Adoption of Children Act 1926 113

5 The First Years of Legally Sanactioned Adoption 117

Initial reactions 117

Court procedures 120

In re Carroll 126

Other legal issues 128

Adoption of Children (Scotland) Act 1930 129

The London County Coucil 130

Who were the adopters, the adopted, and the relinquishing parents in the early years? 137

6 Action on the Adoption Societies 144

Concern about the role of adoption societies 144

The Horsbrugh Committee 144

Report of the Departmental Committee on Adoption Societies and Agencies 154

The Adoption of Children (Regulation) Act 1939 167

The death of Miss Clara Andrew 172

7 The Second World War and Its Aftermath 175

Implementing the Adoption of Children (Regulation) Act 177

Servicemen's wives and adoption 180

Unmarried mothers 182

Renewed pressure for adoption refrom 185

Adoption legislation 190

8 Conclusions - And Later Developments 195

Attitudes to adoption 195

The rise of adoption 197

Who was adoption for? 199

Secrecy 201

Adoption and women 203

Adoption since 1950 205

Final conclusions 208.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-265) and index.

ISBN:

9780230517882

0230517889

OCLC:

181600971