Where do I begin to find my grandad?

[AngelaF67]

So it turns out that the man who was my grandad isn’t my biological grandad. My mum knew that her real dad was called Jo Hayes/ Heys or Haynes who lived in Briercliffe, Lancashire and that’s it.

I got my mum to take an Ancestry DNA test in the hope that I might trace that side of the family but I’ve no clue how to even start looking. Mum was born in 1941 so no census to look through.

I’m fairly knew to DNA so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you Angela x

[Talacharn]

Have you checked the 1939 Register for your grandmother and biological grandfather?

[CaroleW]

Presume your mother was illegitimate & that her birth cert only has her mothers details - is that correct?

Was she adopted or did her mother marry the man you thought was your grandfather?

If she was adopted - has she applied for her adoption records?

My mum knew that her real dad was called Jo Hayes/ Heys or Haynes who lived in Briercliffe, Lancashire

How did she know?   Did she ever have any contact with him or is that just what she was told?

I got my mum to take an Ancestry DNA test in the hope that I might trace that side of the family but I’ve no clue how to even start looking.

Without knowing what the results were it's impossible to give any advice

[melba_schmelba]

So it turns out that the man who was my grandad isn’t my biological grandad. My mum knew that her real dad was called Jo Hayes/ Heys or Haynes who lived in Briercliffe, Lancashire and that’s it.

I got my mum to take an Ancestry DNA test in the hope that I might trace that side of the family but I’ve no clue how to even start looking. Mum was born in 1941 so no census to look through.

I’m fairly knew to DNA so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you Angela x

Have your Mum's matches been divided into Parent 1 and Parent 2? It takes 3 or 4 months after you initially get your test. This is using a new technology called SideView, and is very useful for those who have an unknown parent
https://whoareyoumadeof.com/blog/ancestry-sideview-understand-your-results/

Once you are sure which parent is which, you can set all Parent 1 or 2 as maternal or paternal matches.
https://support.ancestry.co.uk/s/article/DNA-Matches-Split-Up-By-Parent

Once you have done that, you should start to go through your Mum's paternal matches, and look for surnames in common in their trees. You can also look at the shared matches. Initially you can put them all in a Grandpa group 1, 2 etc. If you work out they connect on a specific family you can rename the group to say 'Grandpa - Smith' or 'Grandpa - Smith & Jones'.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Find_Your_Unknown_Father_using_DNA
https://www.yourdnaguide.com/ydgblog/dna-testing-to-identify-a-birth-father-or-birth-mother

[lisalisa]

Another way to approach this is by making a tree on ancestry, putting in the name of your mum's 'real dad'.
I'm presuming that he is going to be around the same age as (or a bit older than) your grandmother, so it may be possible to find a record for someone of that name and age.
Putting his name on the tree, you may get hints - which do need to be checked (not just accepted).

Also if you attach your mum's dna to this tree, then thrulines will work and hopefully be able to suggest some matches which are on your mom's paternal side.

hth,
Lisa

[lisalisa]

Also it might be worth looking at the list of matches to your mum's dna, searching for the name Hayes/Heys or Haynes and seeing if that family name is in any matches' trees.

[CaroleW]

Briercliffe came under Nelson RD but no birth for a Joseph??  Hayes/Heyes/Haines/Haynes etc etc
between  1915-1922 in that RD

Although he possibly lived in Briercliffe - he could have been born elsewhere.

What year was your grandmother born & did she live in Briercliffe?

[AngelaF67]

Have you checked the 1939 Register for your grandmother and biological grandfather?

My grandmother never lived with my mums biological father, they had an affair after my grandad went off to war. From what I can gather he was also a soldier but on the home front and they would have been together in 1940.

Thank you Angela x

[AngelaF67]

Briercliffe came under Nelson RD but no birth for a Joseph??  Hayes/Heyes/Haines/Haynes etc etc
between  1915-1922 in that RD

Although he possibly lived in Briercliffe - he could have been born elsewhere.

What year was your grandmother born & did she live in Briercliffe?

My Grandma was born in 1912 and lived in Nelson most of her life and a short spell in Barrowford when a child,  my mum recalls grandma saying Joe lived in Briercliffe but it could have been Brierfield, mums 82 so her memory isn’t brilliant, her words not mine 

Thank you
Angela x