Bonnitcha DNA matching

[Nova67]

I am very interested in my Tasmanian ancestry. 

Nine close family members have tested to help fuel my interest.  Out of these four of us have matching 7-8 people who have the nearest common ancestor of Nicholas Bonnitcha who is thought to have emigrated in 1856.  He married in Hobart in 1858. Born 1835, per Nationalisation papers.

My mother, aunt, first cousin, and I match. My cousin has slightly higher CM's (more in the 20 range across one segment) and shows shared matches, even though I match all of them and a couple more. There are also three Canadians who match.

I cannot fathom how we could also be related to him.

[Ruskie]

Did you have Nicholas Bonnitcha in your tree before you took a DNA test?

If you think he might be a DNA connection, have you built up a tree for him? You might need to consider the female line as well, eg his wife, as you may connect that way.

You mention naturalisation(?) - depending on records, searching in foreign lands could present you with difficulties.

Do any of your matches have trees you could look at? Have you made contact with any of them?

Added: I presume you have already seen this:
https://www.tribalpages.com/tribe/browse?userid=bonnitcha
Unfortunately not much seems to be known about his origins.

Of course, your common ancestor could be earlier than Nicholas, but it might be easier to look into Euphemia’s family first?

What does his naturalisation certificate say about his place of birth? This should be information provided by him so should be fairly accuarate. I can’t remember what is on Tassie certificates, but do either of his marriage certificates name his parents?

Reason I ask is that the dna connection may be further back. Also consider siblings as descent may have come through one of them.

[Nova67]

Hello Ruskie

Thank you for your reply.

I do not have this man on my tree, hence I do not understand the matches.  Yes, whoops,  I do mean naturalisation papers. These are open to view at the National Archives of Australia; however, the server currently appears to be down.

My maternal great-grandmother Amy Louisa Moody was born on 4 Jan 1888. On her marriage certificate, she says born Sandfly,Tasmania. On her birth registration it says the family was living on Huon Road at Leslie. She left Tasmania and married and died in NSW. Back from her my direct ancestors in Tasmania births pre-date 1856.

Everyone with the surname of Bonnitcha would connect either through marriage or birth back to Nicholas Bonnitcha.  He was illiterate so the true spelling of his surname seems to be unknown.  This seems to become the accepted spelling (from what I have read).

Nicholas married Euphemia Fraser in 1858 in Hobart. We match some descendants. He also seems to have had a relationship with Emma Matilda Brooks who had a child whose birth is registrated under the name of the step-father she married around the same time she was born.  We also match descendants. This is what makes me think he is the common link, but not known how. 

My DNA question was asking with all the shared matches is this likely to be genuine?

My mother and aunt's DNA matches suggest it is their maternal side. Another aunt matches none of these people. Nor does mum's first cousin or her family.

A new match I discovered yesterday with the Bonnitcha surname has a shared match with my mother with another person that I think connects to my Moody's.  The other match did not have a tree and did not reply to the message, but I am assuming she connects to Moody's in Tasmania as her shared matches do.

Sorry, this is so long-winded. I am post night shift so I hope this makes some sense!!! Apologies if not.

[Nova67]

Ruskie, I have seen this, but not tried to log in (re tribal pages link). Naturalisation papers say born in Ragusa (Austria-Hungarian Empire) now Dubrovnik, Croatia.  Another passenger list gives his native place as Trieste (Italy). He was a seaman.

Apparently, his naturalisation papers give his parent's names as Marco or Marcello and Catarina.  I can't say I noticed this when I looked at them, hence trying to look again.

I did send a permission to view my DNA results to a Bonnitcha descendant, which was accepted. They didn't reciprocate, however.

[Ruskie]

I think you should just be able to click on the link to get into the tribal pages tree without signing in. I could anyway. Surnames are alphabetical.

Added: the tree appears to be well researched.

I will mull over the DNA puzzle. 

[Ruskie]

As so many of you interconnect with Nicholas, there must be a link.

Do you know much about Amy Louisa’s family?

DNA is passed down randomly, so it could be that a cousin or other of your relatives didn’t pick up any Bonnitcha DNA.

What sort of range of cMs do you and Bonnitcha descendants share? (Wondering what sort of relationship you have been allocated)

By the way, which company did you test with! And have you uploaded your raw data to other companies? Sometimes that can pick new matches.

I hope you can get into the Tribal pages tree - some addresses are given for at least some of the people so at you might find some places in common.

[Nova67]

The only Moody I can see on there is Charles William Moody who is my 1st cousin twice removed. Thanks, Ruskie, for your thoughts.

I have no reason to think I am not related to Moody's as two generations of men before Amy Louisa - one with different wives and all DNA matching.

[Ruskie]

So you have Charles William Moody b 1897 Hobart who married Goldie Whitney on your tree?

If he features in this Bonnitcha tree won’t that will be how your dna tallies up with Bonnitchas?

How much do you know about Charles William Moody?

[Nova67]

Replies have crossed over.

All tested with Ancestry.

I am getting more 5th-8th cousin estimates, but the other three family members are getting a combination of more 4th-6th. Anywhere from about 9-24 CM's across mainly one segment.

I know a lot about Moody's. I have a private tree on Ancestry. We descend from the convict James Moody.

Posting before I have read lasted addition to the thread.