Mystery DNA matches

[goatfish77]

I am quite new to DNA but have come up with lots of matches on my Maternal side (My Dad has tested so rules out his side) relating to a family and locality (Northamptonshire) which is not in my tree so far (although I am trying to build out & down to check).

I have an unknown match (DB) at 338cM with no info or tree but shared matches with locations in Northamptonshire. I also have a match at 49cM on Ancestry (DS) who I am corresponding with and has a good tree, we also match on Gedmatch which estimates MRCA 3.8. DS 2xG grandfather moved to Australia aged 14 so I think that rules him out (DS is 10 yrs older than me so the MRCA could be his 3xG Grandfather who is Edward Horstead.

I am really struggling to work out how this fits in and who to look more closely at. I am wondering if there was an infidelity and how I would work it out?

My matches all seem to lead to Edward HORSTEAD & Agnes CULPIN from Northamptonshire, England. The HORSTEADS then moved to Middlesex around 1800 and children born 1818-1838 then the parents both died around 1841.

The only family I can see in my tree who might link up with this is Charles GL KING  b1846 and Mary Jane MOSS b1854. They married in Reading, Berkshire when Mary was 18 but moved to Brentford, Middlesex around 1877 (Charles was from Rowde, Wiltshire and living with the Moss family in Reading in 1871 as a railway carpenter and then becomes a Barge builder like his father in law) they had my Great Grandmother Alice Maud KING in 1887.

I feel like if I could picture the possible scenarios I would be able to focus on the right people.

Am I looking at the right generations? Would Charles have had an affair with one of the HORSTEAD’s children so I should look at illegitimate births for the sisters or could one of the brothers have impregnated Mary and she passed Alice off as Charles’ daughter? How would I work that out? Or should I look for previous marriages for any of them? Would there be an adoption or a daughter raised as a sister to one of them? What clues do I look for? I can’t find any Horsteds living in Brentford so far but there are some other KING surnames as their neighbours in some censuses.


I have DNA matches to MOSS (only one that I can work out at 38cM) and KING (lots but only up to 66cM) so would that mean Alice was legitimate and Charles must have had an affair?

I hope all of that makes sense...sorry for all the questions!

[Petros]

338cM is consistent with a 2C 1C1R, 1C2R or a half 1C.

The first three your knowledge seems to eliminate, the latter is harder to pin down. Shared matches and the knowledge of ages of individuals can help eliminate some options

I have a 339 cM match who I believe to be a half 1C, his niece is a 167 cM match. My match's father was born illegitimate and in the right general area (London) which makes it more plausible. These two matches are also shared with other descendants of my GGF

[goatfish77]

338cM is consistent with a 2C 1C1R, 1C2R or a half 1C.

The first three your knowledge seems to eliminate, the latter is harder to pin down. Shared matches and the knowledge of ages of individuals can help eliminate some options

I have a 339 cM match who I believe to be a half 1C, his niece is a 167 cM match. My match's father was born illegitimate and in the right general area (London) which makes it more plausible. These two matches are also shared with other descendants of my GGF

In my head half 1st C doesn’t seem to work...it would mean my maternal grandfather or grandmother had a half brother or sister descended from the Horstead family and this match is their child if I have that right? However I can’t see any link between the HORSTEAD’s & my Great grandparents. As far as I can see from census records my G Grandfather Samuel Ernest NORTHWOOD lived in Shropshire and was a farm hand/farmer but obviously met & married Alice Maud KING somehow in Brentford in 1908. He is in Shropshire in 1901 then they are both there in 1909 for the birth of their first son in 1909. Alice is a servant in Cobham, Surrey in 1901. I guess she could have got pregnant at a young age by a Horstead and given the baby away? In that time frame though the various Horstead descendants have moved from about an hour from Brentford further into London.
My 388cM match has no tree, age or location details on her profile so probably got a test for the ethnicity results or as a present and has no further interest. I also think she may be a generation older than me due to having a slightly old fashioned first name so I was guessing at her being a half 1C 1R?

[Ruskie]

Have you looked at/contacted other mutual matches that you and your 338cm match have in case some of them have trees?

[goatfish77]

Have you looked at/contacted other mutual matches that you and your 338cm match have in case some of them have trees?

I have tried but not much response yet. A couple of them have trees with the HORSTEAD’s in though but I can’t find DBs surname in their trees. It may not be her maiden name though.
They are all quite low matches though.

[exeter dweller]

I had a match on Ancestry high 200 cM should be a second cousin according to Ancestry.

After making contact the person did not know who his Father was. A few weeks later a match at 48 cM to me (sharing 3rd great grandparents) matched the first person at 1800cM turned out to be half siblings.

Would never have found where the second cousin matched without the subsequent DNA match.