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Before the Adoption of Children Act 1926, there was no formal legal adoption in England and Wales but the care of children in need of support came under the jurisdiction of the Board of Guardians for the respective Poor Law Unions. In some cases, children could in practice be 'adopted' by the Board of Guardians to receive long-term support and fostering.

The Boarding Out Committee (later the Children's Committee) and Adoption Committee were responsible for the fostering and placing in care children within their jurisdiction. The minutes document the type of care given which varied from placing children with foster parents to institutional care (including training ships and industrial schools) and placing teenagers in employment (often including the names and addresses of their employers) as well as providing clothing and even travelling expenses. They occasionally mention medical expenses, including the provision of glasses and dental treatment.

Boarding Out Committee minutes do not mention all the children in their care, and some are only mentioned very briefly but they can give clues as to where children spent their formative years. There are scant records relating to children in local authority care during the early half of the twentieth century so these minutes can be vital to family historians. We occasionally hold minutes up to 1930 in our collections, but these are restricted under the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018. If you require any further help or advice on this matter, please contact us directly.

To search the indexes to the Guildford (), Kingston () , Reigate (), Farnham (1-2), Godstone () and Richmond (-4) Poor Law Union minute books, simply select the filenames below:

Additional minute books of ÖйúPÕ¾ Poor Law Unions are being indexed by our volunteers and will go online later.

Files available to download

• Guildford Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minutes, 1910-1921 (PDF)
  Indexes to the Guildford Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minute books, 1910-1921, with names of some of the children in their care
• Guildford Poor Law Union Children's Committee minutes, 1910-1915 (PDF)
  Indexes to the Guildford Poor Law Union Children's Committee minute books, 1910-1915, with names of some of the children in their care
• Reigate Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minutes, 1910 to 1921 (PDF)
  Reigate Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minutes, 1910-1921, with names of some of the children in their care
• Kingston Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minutes, 1896-1913 (PDF)
  Indexes to the Kingston Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minute books, 1896-1913, with names of some of the children in their care
• Farnham Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minutes, 1904 to 1910 (PDF)
  Index to the Farnham Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minute book, 1904 to 1910, with names of some of the children in their care (in surname order)
• Farnham Poor Law Union Adoption Committee minutes 1904 to 1910 (PDF)
  Index to Farnham Poor Law Union Adoption Committee minute book, 1904 to 1910, with names of some of the children in their care (in surname order)
• Godstone Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minutes 1910 to 1917 (PDF)
  Index to Richmond Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minute book, 1910 to 1917 with names of some of the children in their care (in surname order)
• Richmond Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minutes 1882 to 1905 A to K ( (PDF)
  Index to Richmond Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minute books, 1882 to 1905 with names of some of the children in their care (in surname order A to K)
• Richmond Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minutes 1882 to 1905 L to Y (PDF)
  Index to Richmond Poor Law Union Boarding Out Committee minute books, 1882 to 1905 with names of some of the children in their care (in surname order L to Y)