Tracing Impossible or Birth Family Extinct
Includes, where appropriate, abductees, captured children whose birth identities were deliberately concealed, slaves, foundlings, and feral children.
- Allan, Jani
- Amo, Anton Wilhelm
- Andal
- Anderson, Edward Warrigal
- Argentinian Orphans of the Dirty War
- Bemo, John
- Burnum, Burnum
- Canadian Native Children
- Capitein, Jacobus
- Captives
- Carver, George Washington
- Child Migrants
- Church, John
- Clare, Monica
- Cole, George
- Cugoano, Ottobah
- Dodson, Patrick
- Douglass, Frederick
- Eaton, Peter
- Enkidu
- Equiano, Olaudah
- Evans, Barry
- Feral Children
- Foundlings
- Francisco, Peter
- Hannibal, Abram Petrovich
- Janissaries
- Kinder der Landstraße
- Kitt, Eartha
- Macarthur, Wally
- McNab, Andy
- Michener, James Albert
- Mo Keen, Loki
- Nazi Germany
- Oldfield, Bruce
- Rat-Children of Shah Daula
- Robbins, Harold
- Romulus and Remus
- Sancho, Ignatius
- Semiramis
- Shoah
- Slaves
- Smith, Venture
- Soll, Joe
- Spain, 1936-75
- Thomas, R. David
- Troxler, G. William
- Wheatley, Phillis
- Wilkomirski, Binjamin
- Ystumllyn, John
Carver, George Washington
Carver was born into slavery, to a "good" owner, Moses Carver; his mother was the only slave he had ever owned, and she was well-treated. His father, from a neighboring plantation... [more]
Child Migrants
These are the children sent from Britain and Ireland to colonies and former colonies with the express intention of helping to culturally swamp the native peoples by increasing the white pop... [more]
Church, John
Church was a foundling , discovered on the steps of St. John's Church Clerkenwell, (hence his name) or St. Andrew's Church Holborn as a young toddler, barely able to walk. He was sent to t... [more]
Clare, Monica
Clare was born in Dareel, Queensland, to an English mother and an Aboriginal shearer, Beatrice Scott and Ron McGowan. Her mother died in childbirth when she was seven years old and she and ... [more]
Cole, George
Cole was placed for adoption at 10 days of age but did not find out until he was eight, when he found his papers while looking for Christmas presents. He was raised in a council house, l... [more]
Cugoano, Ottobah
An Igbo born in Ghana, Cugoano was captured by slavers when about 13 and shipped to Grenada in the Caribbean. In 1772 he was brought to England by a new owner and freed. He took the name Jo... [more]
Dodson, Patrick
According to the account given in chapters 11-13 of Chatwin's The Songlines, Dodson (called Dan Flynn by Chatwin) was a foundling, left in a store at Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, by... [more]
Douglass, Frederick
Douglass was born in Maryland to a slave woman and named Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey; his father was white - quite possibly his mother's owner (a common practice). As a young child... [more]
Eaton, Peter
Eaton was born to unknown parents in London and adopted as a baby by a poor family in Rochdale. He left school at 14 and eventually entered the book trade. With his wife he built up one ... [more]
Enkidu
Enkidu is one of the central characters in the Epic of Gilgamesh, a 5,000-year-old poem from Mesopotamia. He was a wild man of the hills (see Feral Children), created from the earth by a go... [more]
