• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • record.office@durham.gov.uk | +44 (0)3000 267 619
DRO logo

Durham Record Office

Durham County Record Office: the official archive service for County Durham and Darlington

  • About us
    • Projects
    • What we do
    • News
    • Friends of Durham County Record Office (FODCRO)
    • Governance
    • Policies
  • Our records
    • Coal mining and Durham collieries
    • Durham Light Infantry Archives
    • Information guides
    • Maps
    • Picture Gallery
  • Ask us
  • Family history
    • Birth, marriage and death records
    • Census records
    • Parish registers
    • Place names index
    • Nonconformist Church Registers
    • Wills
    • A to Z of other family history sources
  • Learning Zone
    • The Story of Jimmy Durham
    • Crook
    • Durham Market Place
    • Arts Award
  • Exhibitions
    • ‘Almost too horrible for words’ – the liberation of Belsen concentration camp, 1945
    • ‘Marvellous Diggers’ – The 1st Battalion DLI in Korea, 1952-53
    • ‘Adventurers and Pirates’ – Hetton Coal Company, 1820
    • Looking back at Consett Steel Works
  • Shop
    • Apply for quick search
    • Apply for research service
    • Order and pay for copies
    • Fees and charges
    • Publications
  • Search Options
    • Search the catalogue
    • Search Church Registers
    • Search Durham Collieries
    • Search Durham’s Hidden Depths
    • Search place names
    • Search interactive maps
You are here: Home / Family history / A to Z of other family history sources / Adoption

Adoption

Information about adoption records for County Durham and who to contact.

Adoption before 1927

Before 1927 there was no legal process of adoption in England and Wales. It is very difficult to trace any earlier records of private fostering arrangements.

Adoption from 1927

The Adoption of Children Act, 1926 introduced legal adoption in England and Wales.  It came into operation on 1 January 1927.

Find information about records of adoption which took place from 1927 onwards, and who to contact, on the following websites:

Durham County Council’s support for adopted adults.

The independent DFW Adoption agency, based in Durham, is now part of Adoption Matters. Formerly known as the Durham Family Welfare Association, it has acted as the adoption agency of Durham Diocese since 1926.  It holds the records of around 10,000 adoptions made in the last 80 years.  The records prior to 1976 are very sparse.

Barnardos making connections service has advice about children adopted through the Barnardo’s charity.

Gov.uk: adoption records includes advice on tracing and contacting birth relatives and adopted adults.

The Adoption Search Reunion website provides useful information for adopted people who are considering searching or wishing to make contact with their birth family, including brothers and sisters. Adoption Search Reunion also includes details of locating adoption records.

Durham County Council logo Accredited Archive Service logo

Durham County Record Office
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UL
United Kingdom
record.office@durham.gov.uk
+44 (0)3000 267 619

  • Top of Page |
  • Legal Information | 
  • Accessibility Statement | 
  • Contact Us |

Copyright © 2023 · Developed by Durham County Council