Results 1 to 10 of 10
  1. #1
    Knowledgeable and helpful warncoort's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Perth,Western Australia,Australia
    Posts
    640

    Default Unexpected DNA Success

    Folks,
    Over 25 years of research i have learnt to be subjective and thorough and have created a tree which dates back to 1625 in one branch and 1700's in others.My forebears were Quakers or C of E and, apart from the odd child born out of wedlock,i have not found any nasty surprises.
    My wife's family is riddled with stories of bad behaviour within marriages,desertion etc from a mix of Irish Catholics,a Spanish Catholic and Lancashire Protestants.Research has disproved some stories but there are gaps which seem destined to never be filled,particularly our Spanish lady who is nigh on impossible to trace,except for her passing on Mediteranean Anemia to some of her descendants.
    My wife had no real interest in genealogy but enjoyed the odd things i found about her family here in Australia,then a couple of years ago she asked me to order an Ancestry DNA kit for her.The results were hardly ground breaking,87% UK and Ireland and the balance Western Europe and Iberian Peninsula,so nothing we didn't already know.I left things "as is"on that front and planned to pick it up again in years to come.To protect members privacy, Ancestry use initials only for living persons though i had been able to contact other relatives through their profiles.
    A couple of months ago i was contacted by another Ancestry member asking if i knew who "GB" in my tree was as a DNA match,this is my wife,Gail.I exchanged emails with the Ancestry member,Lily,whose DNA included UK and Ireland,Iberian Peninsula and Polynesian.
    Gail's grandfather, "Pop",is not on electoral rolls for several years,left Australia during the Great Depression for New Zealand where,it seems, he was in a relationship with Lily's grandmother which produced a daughter.
    This is OUR success story.
    Gail,Lily &Eric

  2. #2
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Wairarapa New Zealand
    Posts
    10,665

    Default

    What a great success story Eric. It is these discoveries that keep us researching isn't it? Your wife must be more interested in your research than you originally thought.


    One day I will get my act together and do a test. Maybe it will turn up a line for my great grandfather.

    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  3. #3
    Name well known on Brit-Gen
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Cheshire UK
    Posts
    4,863

    Default

    One day I will get my act together and do a test
    I keep saying the same!

  4. #4
    Knowledgeable and helpful warncoort's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Perth,Western Australia,Australia
    Posts
    640

    Default

    I am awaiting my DNA results,had put it off for so long.I don't expect any surprises but you never know.

  5. #5
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Wairarapa New Zealand
    Posts
    10,665

    Default

    Do let us know when you get them
    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  6. #6
    Knowledgeable and helpful warncoort's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Perth,Western Australia,Australia
    Posts
    640

    Default

    Results are in.
    England 58%
    Ireland,Scotland,Wales 21%
    Scandinavia 8%
    Western Europe 8%
    Pretty much as expected,my father's line is from Lancashire,mother's from London and Essex.
    Eric

  7. #7
    Knowledgeable and helpful warncoort's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Perth,Western Australia,Australia
    Posts
    640

    Default

    On Sunday in Sydney Gail,along with her cousin Pam, met their aunt Laurel,her daughter Lily and granddaughter Danielle.$149 might be money well spent when you get to meet family who were previously unknown to you.
    I am pleased that my interest in genealogy has lead to a family being re-united.
    Eric

  8. #8
    Growing old Disgracefully
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, ENGLAND
    Posts
    3,216

    Default

    I've not had my DNA done but a lady in Australia did hers through Ancestry and found out we have a family connection.
    My Grandmother on my mums side and her Grandmother on her fathers side are sisters. She is so glad to have found the family as its such a sad story.
    Her dad was sent to Australia age 8 he did not know who his mother was as he was looked after by another family until age 8 when he was sent to one of those farms to work until he was of age. (not sure 18 or 21)
    We talk on FB every week she calls me her Second Cousin. She was surprised that I knew so much about her dads mum I sent her photos and with ways and means found cousins in Canada which is where his mum went to live, who we are in contact with.

  9. #9
    Knowledgeable and helpful warncoort's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Perth,Western Australia,Australia
    Posts
    640

    Default

    Am i right in thinking you did not know about the 8 yo ?If you Google "Fairbridge Farm" you will find more about the conditions the children worked under,from memory the were turned out at 16 to face life alone.
    Many years back there was a TV program entitled "Leaving Liverpool" which traced the journey of these children.

  10. #10
    Growing old Disgracefully
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, ENGLAND
    Posts
    3,216

    Default

    Nobody in the family knew about this son. We knew about the mother as she was Grandmothers sister, she and her family visited from Canada late 50's - 60's and we have photo's of them one cousin used to correspond with them for years, she married after he was born had another son and went to Canada apparently her son knew he had a brother but not what had happened to him, it was quite a shock to find we had these other family relations. I knew about the Farms in Canada and Australia but never thought anyone from my family would have been sent to one. Yes horrendous places although her dad told her he was not treated badly. The family that fostered him until he was 8 send him Letters and Photos and kept in touch with him.
    Perhaps it was a situation where her new husband didn't want this child, and the reason no one knew was because she had moved from the country to London, was a domestic worker she never told the family about her secret, although cousins dad knew who his mum was as she visited him. We have found the cousins in Canada as well and she his in contact with them and their family's.

    Surprising what a good old Google search and a e-mail can do.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Select a file: