RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Jedi James on Tuesday 31 May 22 14:41 BST (UK)
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Hi All.
I have a problem that i need advice on.
Hope this is the right place for it.
Well i will start at this point.
My Mother was born in 1942 out of Wedlock, She was Given the surname of My Nan, My Mother was later adopted by Her StepFather and her Mother. Tgyhe Adoption became complete in 1953.
How can i trace my Mothers fathers Side of the family. My Mother has done a DNA Test, it is on the Ancestry Web Site.
Look Forward to your replies.
Regards
Jedi Jamsa
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Unless you mother knows the name of her biological father - where do you start?
Until somebody responds with a DNA match to her you have no basis on which to research.
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dna matches dont have to be close to set you on the right trail
for example im a distant match to a war baby and we managed to work out who her father was by looking at shared matches
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Hi CaroleW.
Thanks for your Message. My Nan would not tell her or any of the Family the Name of the Father of my Mother. Sadly my Nan has now passed away. Just have to wait to see if any Body has a match to my Mother.
Keep up the Good Work.
Regards
Jedi Jamsa
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Don't give up hope
My cousin born 1948 & now living in Australia found out last year that her father had an illegitimate son in 1936. The birth cert showed he had acknowledged paternity by attending the birth registration & signing the register. Nobody in the family knew about him.
Unfortunately my uncle had a very common surname & was in the army in a different area to his home at the time so tracing him was not an option.
However - my cousins daughter had put her DNA on record a couple of years previously & when the son's grandson also did a DNA test - bingo!! Heck of a shock for my cousin & her brother to find they had a half brother (who was by then deceased)
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are your mums dna results linked to a public tree ?
that always helps with searches .include all her known aunts, uncles and great aunts etc to broaden the search .
you will be able to see which matches are from your nans side
and which from birth father
it actually helps if you get a test too .
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the war baby i helped knew her mothers name our mutual great grandfather was a Smith
im currently helping someone who hasa mutual great great grandfather JONES weve narrowed
down the identity of his grandmother but dont know which of her children was his parent yet .
it would help if more people had public trees linked to their dna results
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does your mother have adoption records ?
i suppose fathers name was blank on birth certificate .+he was not included on baptism.
have you started colour coding her dna matches by names and location ?
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hi Brigidmac.
Thanks for your message.
This might sound Dumb, What is Colour Coding and can you explain to me.
I have not come across it before.
Thanks again and keep up the good work.
Regards
Jedi Jamsa
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There doesn't seem to be a topic about ancestry colour coding on the DNA forum
I.ll have to start one
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https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=862688.0
Basically it's putting your matches into groups
Using the colours provided, and giving titles to your groups : could be surnames .locations .ethnicity professions or anything else you feel is significant to link your matches .
I have emailed you .jedi
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Deleted...posted to wrong thread, had both open at the same time ::) ;D
Annie
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Jedi I hope that you have managed to make a start on this and followed the colour coding instructions .
Im back on form now and will be available to talk you through next step by the end of the week
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Jedi,
Can you give us details of your mothers' highest matches i.e. % Shared, cMs, Segments & Relationship.
It's best to have a family tree which will help you work out which side matches belong to & as Brigid says, it's better if you do a test too.
Annie
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hi Brigidmac.
Thanks for your message.
This might sound Dumb, What is Colour Coding and can you explain to me.
I have not come across it before.
Thanks again and keep up the good work.
Regards
Jedi Jamsa
If you are using Ancestry then as advised prior there is the colour coding opttion within the DNA matches section.
The other option is to try the Leeds Method, search for Donna Leeds and you will get her website and there you can read in detail how to use the method.
I also suggest that you upload the RAW DNA DATA to each of the DNA comparison websites. The more websites you are on the more chances of finding what you seek.
Within the last six months I have had a new 240 cM DNA match who had a tree of two, him and his Father and from that very limited information I built a tree going back to the mid 1800’s in Italy. When I added the matches Great Great Grandfather as the unknown Father of my Great Grandmother, the relationship with the match became 2C and all the other DNA matches that I have linked into the tree have the relationships of the right order for their cM match.
So a match does not have to be of half sibling level to break down the wall.
Good luck
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Coming back to this
I have since identified birth father of my JONES relative and it turned out he was a generation older than his mother !
also helped a french distant relative narrow down possible brother as his mother's birth father ..he'd been told it was a Canadian soldier . It was but a British man who had signed for Canadian army
So I have some tips
First don't delete the adoptive father just detach from branch
It's good to have the surname on tree
Build a floating branch if you can find what appear to be common ancestors
From your shared matches and build your tree down
Add unknown as birth father so people can see that you are looking for a match
Give them a first name like "Hereford
Man " or "soldier "
My cousin's great grandfather was from a single mother his top match was grandson s grandmother was also a single mother both were maids in same town several years apart
Both named sons John so on tree to start i called him John and in surname
Put from Yorkshire I was able to add the matches great grandfather so showed up on thru lines
Mutual matches eventually led me to the correct surnames but I tried a few
With John from Yorkshire having parents maybe JONES
+ Possibly FARNSWORTH
Led to finding a baptism of another single mum and shared matches so I knew he was Farnsworth & actually not John
Finding "John's," birth father was not too difficult as he'd been named on baptism and once again DNA distant connections proved the connection
It's a very long process
Jedi would love to know how you are getting on
I'm thinking of doing zoom tutorials where people can tell their own stories & share tips