Did Anglo-Indians in British India ever adopt native children?

Question

I have been trying to trace details on my grandfather Merrill Jacobs for years and I've come to a brick wall. From my DNA ancestry I assume he was nearly 100% native South Asian. His father was called Walter and his brother was Cyril, and they both worked in the civil service in India.

This is entirely a hunch, but somehow I think that Walter was white Anglo-Indian (based entirely on his name and his position in the civil service) and he adopted Merrill from a native family.

Alternatively, Walter was a native Indian who took (or was given) a Western surname and ended up in government service.

I don't really have enough knowledge of the era to know which is more likely. Does anyone have any ideas?

Answer 1

An Anglo-Indian has mixed heritage. Very often where an English man serving in India married an Indian woman. The children would be Anglo-Indian. Very common for them to take jobs in the Civil Service.

Answer 2

I have come across British and Anglo-Indian families adopting native children, but it wasn’t very common.

It was very common for Anglo-Indians to have good job in the Indian Civil Service though. Is there a direct male descendant of Merrill Jacobs that you could have Y-DNA tested?

Answer 3

Matthew, is it possible that Walter married (or "took up with") Merrill's mother when she was already pregnant by another man?