What is the most interesting or surprising discovery you have made?

[medpat]

I have found my husband's grandmother was married 5 times not 3 times as she told everyone. First one she was young and it was childless, her husband died in his mid 20s. Second childless killed Sept 1918 WW1. These were not known about by her 2 daughters (both deceased) from 3rd and 4th marriages. 3rd marriage only 2 years long, husband died of TB he's my OH's grandfather. 4th was 20 years and last husband in her late 50s and he outlived her by 2 years.

My gt gt uncle did a vanishing act. He went to South Africa and married a 14 yr old girl. They had 4 daughters, 2 died. He then left wife and children and returned to UK, lived 60 miles from his home town, changed his 1st name and age and lived with a woman for several years having 10 children. He did marry her but I don't know if 1st wife had died. His wife registered his death and put his correct name and age on the cert. She was much younger than him and married again the same year he died.

Have a current who done, it's only a few days old. My DNA has bought up a 2nd cousin. He's French and only has French relatives............... have told him I had 2 grandfathers and several gt uncles in Northern France, where his family come from, in WW1. Trouble is so far on my checking they were all married.  Hope to find out which branch of the family he's related to but may never get it down to who fathered a child in France.
 

[Cell]

Hi all,



The most thought-provoking discovery I have made is that both my wife and I are descended from 2nd Spouses at our GG Grandparents stage. If 1st spouses had not died, neither of us would be here. Reminded my of the section from Bill Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' about how unlikely it is that we as individuals are here.



Regards

Graeme

I wouldn't exist if world war 2 never occurred.
Kind Regards

[CarolA3]

I was surprised, and my granny would have been horrified, to find that the side of her family she was most proud of was the one that contained our only known jailbird

Her great-grandfather was imprisoned several times and died aged 43 after doing 12 months with hard labour.  Cause of death was 'Decline'.

Carol

[SapereAude]

This is an old thread, but I recently found my 4x ggm married the son of a man thought to be (the semi-mythical) Lancelot Pattinson or Lanty Panty the Patterdale Cave Man, a man who, after the death of his wife, went to live in a cave where he "brought up some of his family [in this cave], and when any visitor called to see him all was in darkness and full of smoke." Apparently he also "lived to the good old age of 96 years, and in possession of all his faculties"! 

I am not his direct descendant as I am descended from the 'illegitimate' son my 4x ggm had before marriage, but she has the same maiden name as 'Lanty''s supposed mother so there is a chance, I suppose...

Unfortunately, it is probably, even certainly, all myth as censuses don't mention the 'cave' and there are other major inconsistencies as said in this article: https://crimesofthecenturies.com/index.php/2021/01/17/lancelot-pattinson-the-patterdale-cave-man/ but it's a great story, anyway

SapereAude

[knapsack]

WELL, a surprise was that i was able to help a person learn the 'most likely father' of his 'bastard ancestor', born in late 1700s to an unwed gal who had a couple of quote'bastard children' and possible her sister did too. it began by this other person whose yDNA matched our Stanton line so well but his oldest ancestor was a Schoonover. and seemed to know that his ancestor man was not a schoonover. well, this person i helped told me the names surrounding the families who lived near each other and attended some Dutch reformed church , and then the same names of their sons were listed on a New Jersey list of men serving during the Revolutionary War times and there was a Stanton there. we figured out the county that young stanton was in and his father was of an age to fit coseying up to this young lady of last name Schoonover. and that Stanton was mostly tracable to the old New London Ct Stanton line that i was in. he was satisfied and i was pleased .; but it took 2 years of fussing around . interesting! so often you cant get anywhere in those circumstances.

[Blairvadach]

I found a few “surprises”…
My wife’s grandmother was indeed living the life of a travailing show-woman…she married a famous Irish showman and a few years later she committed bigamy.
I was told by relatives that I would never find anything about her as she was a “gypsy”!!
My great grandmother married 4 times.

[Blue70]

Finding ancestors who weren't English, Welsh, Scots, Irish or Manx was interesting. Discovering that my Albridge ancestor was originally Albach and born in Germany. Seeing the family passport from 1853 with my ancestor's name included was a highlight:-

https://grimsbyalbachs.wixsite.com/gaws


Blue

[Biggles50]

That one of my Great Grandfathers may not be who all the paperwork says they are.