Trying to find an unknown ancestor

[CarolineWebb]

Hi,

We are trying to find the identity of my husband's great grandfather (his father's grandfather).
He has taken a DNA test and so has his mother so we know which matches are on the correct side. We have sorted matches into 2 groups of people that do not fit anywhere within the family tree so far.

We think this is such a long shot but would love to work out the identity of our 'mystery man'.

Are there methods we should use or is it a case of building up trees from the matches, hoping to find a common ancestor. We're aware of how unlikely this is to happen but would love to try!

thanks in advance 

[Rosinish]

Have you tried...

https://www.danaleeds.com/the-leeds-method/

Sometimes it's difficult to judge whether others' trees are completely accurate i.e. use them as a guide only & do your own research.

Annie

[BumbleB]

It is possible to trace back your husband's line.  Perhaps we can help, here on RootsChat, BUT there is a rule that living people are not named.

You obviously know your husband's name and his age, and the name of his father.  Assuming that the father is dead, then you could give us his name and we can see if we can assist.

[CarolineWebb]

Sorry but I haven't explained it properly - we know who his great grandmother is but the identity of great grandfather is unknown as she was unmarried and there is no-one named on the birth certificate! Does that make sense?!

[CarolineWebb]

Have you tried...

https://www.danaleeds.com/the-leeds-method/

Sometimes it's difficult to judge whether others' trees are completely accurate i.e. use them as a guide only & do your own research.

Annie

We've never heard of this so will have a look thank you 

[BumbleB]

Ah!!!  I now see your problem 

BUT - just another thought - is there an unusual name associated with grandfather, which may or may not offer a clue?

[CarolineWebb]

Lol I wish! He was called Fred Webb (no middle names!) His surname was his mother's name. She had four children all out of wedlock by four different men!
We did find the names of two of the proposed fathers in court records for her other children but not for Fred.

[Rosinish]

we know who his great grandmother is but the identity of great grandfather is unknown as she was unmarried and there is no-one named on the birth certificate!

Did he give a name for his father on his marriage cert?

Annie

[Gadget]

I had this problems with a grt grandfather. I used a mix of DNA info and traditional genealogical methods. As Annie says, don't rely on the matches' trees but use them as a guide.

If you've identified a shared group, what range of cMs do they share with you? Also, is there anyone there who has a tree that you can verify? Have you messaged any of them to find out more about their lines? If you're lucky, you will be able to identify a common ancestor from the group.  Then investigate locations, etc.

It took me about 3 months to identify the correct 'father'. I checked my info at each step and didn't  use the Leeds method but used my own tried and trusted routines!

Gadget