Adam Barlow Adam Barlow is the son of the late Mike Baldwin and his former wife Susan Barlow . Shortly after the couple ' s divorce , Susan returned to Glasgow and gave birth to Adam , keeping him a secret from Mike and the Barlows until 2001 . Soon afterwards , Susan died in a car crash , leaving Adam in the custody of Mike . Adam returned to his boarding school in Glasgow before taking up a job at Mike ' s factory Underworld in 2005 , which he later gave up for a job in Portsmouth in 2007 . After living in Canada for a number of years , Adam returned to Weatherfield in 2016 after his grandfather Ken suffered a stroke . Biography . 1988 - 2001 : Early life . When Susan Barlow became pregnant in 1987 , she told her husband Mike Baldwin she had miscarried but he figured out that she had actually had an abortion . The incident caused Susan and Mike ' s relationship to fall apart and Susan moved to Glasgow with the secret that she was in fact still pregnant . Adam was later born in May 1988 . 2001 : Mother ' s death . Adam ' s existence was kept a secret from Mike and the Barlows until January 2001 when Susan ' s brother Peter revealed to their father Ken that Susan had a secret . Susan came down to Weatherfield a few days later and introduced Adam to the family . Word soon got out to Mike and he demanded to be able to see Adam , though Susan was firmly against the idea . She decided to run away with Adam but died in a car crash on the way there , while Adam experienced minor injuries . Following Susan ' s death , a custody battle was waged between Ken and Mike , with Mike eventually being awarded custody . Adam was unhappy at his new school so Mike agreed to let him return to his old boarding school in Glasgow , Borthwick Hill . Adam visited his family a few times later in 2001 and in 2002 and 2003 . 2005 - 2007 : Underworld . Adam quit his school in May 2005 and landed a job in his father ' s factory Underworld . Mike died in April 2006 and Adam conflicted with his half - brother Danny Baldwin over who would inherit Mike ' s assets . Adam was furious to discover that in Mike ' s will most of his belongings , including the largest share of Underworld , were to be given to Danny . However , Danny and his girlfriend Leanne Battersby had actually hidden the most up - to - date will from Mike ' s family and when Danny broke up with her , she gave the correct will to Adam . Adam reached a compromise with Danny and they both became co - proprietors of the factory , although there were frequent disputes between the brothers . However later that year , Adam sold his share of Underworld to brothers Liam and Paul Connor , to the dismay of his family , who felt he was throwing away what his father gave to him . In early 2007 , Adam tried to support his aunt Tracy Barlow after she was arrested and put on trial for the murder of Charlie Stubbs , though Tracy was ultimately convicted of murder in April . Shortly after the trial , Adam ' s uncle Peter offered him a job in Portsmouth opening a betting shop which he accepted . Adam and Peter left a few days later . 2007 - 2016 : New life . In October 2008 , Peter discovered his ex - wife Lucy had recently died of breast cancer and he was subsequently given custody of their five - year old son Simon . Peter and Simon went to stay with Ken and his wife Deirdre in Weatherfield to get support , and Adam continued to run the bookies in Peter ' s absence . In December that year Peter returned to Portsmouth to work out some things with Adam , however the following month Adam informed Deirdre that Peter was on the booze and in rehab . At an unknown point , Adam moved to Canada and became a qualified solicitor . In July 2013 , grandfather Ken travelled there to support him after suffering a shock collapse at work . Adam eventually recovered from his undisclosed illness and Ken returned to Weatherfield in August 2014 . 2016 - : Return . In November 2016 , Adam flew back to England a few weeks after Peter informed him that Ken had suffered a stroke . He arrived in Weatherfield , where he took some whiskey from the Underworld office resulting in a conflict with the factory owners , Aidan Connor and Johnny Connor . After reuniting with Peter and Tracy , he went to see Ken in hospital where he met his uncle Daniel Osbourne for the first time . Quotes . " Hi . " ( First line , to grandfather Ken ) " Cheers dad . " ( First line after returning to Weatherfield in November 2016 )