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« on: Friday 10 June 16 23:33 BST (UK) »
My earliest known ancestor on my maternal line is my great-grandmother, who was born (from word of mouth) in 1899/1900. From word of mouth they had a surname that is either Armenian or English, presumed Armenian, as that is what we were told, she was definitely married to a man who was half Armenian and half British; and from deductions of an autosomal test. There is no marriage for her in the British India church returns or in the Times of India. The first time she shows up is in 1919 on a baptism in Karachi (now Pakistan), then 1921 in Quetta (Pakistan-Afghan border) and in 1923 in Bombay. In my autosomal matches there are two Indians who are likely 5th cousins (themselves cousins) whose ancestry is from around Bombay.
My great-grandmother's family was likely a Catholic, as my grandmother's family was Catholic and in India, the family typically took the religion of the wife if it was Christian.
My maternal aunt who took the autosomal test has come out as:
65% British
a few % Armenian
a few % Egypt/Jordan area
a few percent Persian
8% Ashkenazi Jewish
13% Indian
So from a mixture of records on the paternal side, the autosomal and mtDNA test, it is quite likely the unknown mother of my great-grandmother was 100% Indian.
The issue with the paper trial is that the marriage of my great-grandmother likely took place in a Catholic church, whose records appear sporadically in the church records returned to Britain. All I really know is her first name was Lily Elizabeth; presumed born in 1899/1900, presumably in India, presumably baptised in a Catholic church, presumably to an Armenian-Indian union which also contained Jewish ancestry.
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