When do you have enough information?

[Biggles50]

Until there is a DNA inheritance pathway all the citations, documents, certificates et al are just that a paper trail, that may or may not be correct.

A MRCA with their births c1800 and more recent can and should be validated via DNA tests which prove the relationship pathways.

Good luck in your quest.

[Jillity]

The family have discussed the possibility that he was illegitimate, or adopted. The one thing I've never been sure about was whether he was actually born in Queenstown. The 1861 census says he was a boarder and puts the birthplace as Queenstown. John was a marine engineer and Queenstown was a huge port. It's likely the landlord would have completed the form for all of the boarders. It could be that either landlord just put Queenstown because that was the port where he had come from. We'll never know about that. On the 1871 census he is a visitor and whoever completed the form put Cork, Ireland. On the subsequent forms John is head of the family and has just put Ireland for the place of birth. I can't think why Campbell would wanted to adopt a baby when his mother had already had four children.  John was born in 1840 so Julia would only have been 29 when he was born. If they had adopted a baby they would have changed the names to John Andrew. This was the name of one of Julia's brothers. I just can't see a young woman wanting to adopt a baby when she's perfectly capable of having babies herself. She would not only have adopted him but she also left him her money. It wouldn't have gone down very well with the rest of the family, especially as if was left to them to look after their mother in her old age.

[Jillity]

Until there is a DNA inheritance pathway all the citations, documents, certificates et al are just that a paper trail, that may or may not be correct.

A MRCA with their births c1800 and more recent can and should be validated via DNA tests which prove the relationship pathways.

Good luck in your quest.

I have dna links with the Knox family.

[Jillity]

I will be going through all of the DNA matches on Ancestry where they share a common ancestor. In the end it comes down to their research being correct as well as mine. There are several matches back to our common ancestors in that line, and provided the person is correct in that someone is really their ancestor and hasn't just copied from family tree, then I can safely say that John Andrew was the biological son of Julia Knox. There would be no other way of being a match otherwise. The paper trail has to be correct as we don't have DNA samples from our ancestors.

[dobfarm]

The family have discussed the possibility that he was illegitimate, or adopted. The one thing I've never been sure about was whether he was actually born in Queenstown. The 1861 census says he was a boarder and puts the birthplace as Queenstown. John was a marine engineer and Queenstown was a huge port. It's likely the landlord would have completed the form for all of the boarders. It could be that either landlord just put Queenstown because that was the port where he had come from. We'll never know about that. On the 1871 census he is a visitor and whoever completed the form put Cork, Ireland. On the subsequent forms John is head of the family and has just put Ireland for the place of birth. I can't think why Campbell would wanted to adopt a baby when his mother had already had four children.  John was born in 1840 so Julia would only have been 29 when he was born. If they had adopted a baby they would have changed the names to John Andrew. This was the name of one of Julia's brothers. I just can't see a young woman wanting to adopt a baby when she's perfectly capable of having babies herself. She would not only have adopted him but she also left him her money. It wouldn't have gone down very well with the rest of the family, especially as if was left to them to look after their mother in her old age.

First what ran through my mind was maybe Campbell had a client who could not bring up son, say a poor person who lost his wife in child birth, rather than see the child put in an orphanage he adopted the boy himself with having so many girls - there could be many reasons.

If you stem from John Andrew Williams and you have DNA to the link Julia Knox (Williams) descendants - well that should prove the link back.

[Jillity]

I need to check that the DNA links have been researched correctly. I have matches with 3rd and 4th cousins and we link back to the Knox family. I still need to make sure that they have good sources to confirm that our common ancestor really is their common ancestor.
One other thing I remembered. When I was about 18 I was engaged to a member of the aristocracy. That prompted me to ask my mother if we had any aristocracy in our family and she said we had, but she didn't know who they were.

[dobfarm]

This aristocracy thing in ancestry trees always reminds me of the film Titanic with the first class aristocracy passengers sat making sure the knives, forks and spoons was laid out correct & properly, while playing one upmanship, while the Irish steerage passengers were enjoying themselves dancing.

Kate Winslet as character Rose chose the Irish folk over the posh mob. 

[Jillity]

I've checked dna matches on Ancestry and found errors in the family trees. I've also checked dna matches on Wikitree and found that I match descendants of people in the Julia (Knox)Williams tree. I woudn't be a dna match if John Andrew wasn't her son. I haven't been able to find a baptismal record for anyone anywhere in Ireland with that name. I suspect the baptism either wasn't recorded (clerical error) or it hasn't been digitised. Julia was the daughter of a Reverend and I think she would have had her son baptised.

[dobfarm]

The church register in Queenstown could have been damaged, or the edges of the paper page worn at the top and bottom of a page that had written single line entries rubbed off, or register covering 1840 left on a shelf and forgotten about, or damage in a fire or just lost in time.

If you have made the DNA link match to Julia Knox  and your DNA to Julia Knox was through John Andrew Williams your great granddad - so you have your result and as a bonus you found Julia Williams nee Knox death place and in time hopefully the date.

Well done