Hello everyone,
Several years ago I asked for help in searching for the ancestry of my grandfather, and received a lot of help here (thanks). I made some progress at that time, but was still a long way from an answer. I now have some useful information from DNA, and I thought I'd ask for any ideas on where to go from here please.
In summary, my grandfather Ernest McQuillan Hargraves said he was born in England and his parents were Francis Hargraves (a weaver) and Mary McQuillan. Birth date was uncertain, but probably around 1879. Extensive searching didn't find any record of his birth under that name, nor of any coupe of those names, in UK. The only couple of those names was located in Victoria, Australia, not England (they migrated from Ireland), and Francis was a policeman. This seemed promising, but I was forced to reject them as his parents because:
- They had the births of 9 children recorded, but none of them was Ernest, or could have been him under a different name (their subsequent lives could be traced).
- Their 9 children were born regularly 2-3 years apart, and while another pregnancy could be fitted in to a 2-3 year gap, it was doubtful.
- When Francis died in 1902, and Mary in 1909, their documentation included the same 9 children, but not Ernest. I could find no mention in any will or probate.
- If he was a regular, but undocumented, child, he had no reason to change some of the details of his parentage and birth.
I therefore surmised that he was born, perhaps in some unfortunate circumstances, and may have been informally adopted by Francis and Mary.
I now have DNA results from myself and two other descendants of Ernest, plus a descendant of Francis & Mary, and a descendant of one of Mary's sisters. These point strongly to Francis & Mary being his parents, and my analysis suggests that one of the following possibilities is the case:
1. Ernest was indeed descended from Francis and Mary, and there is some explanation for the four points above.
2. He was descended from siblings of
both Francis and Mary, for example Francis or his brother with one of Mary's sisters. Descent from just one of Francis or Mary or siblings is insufficient to explain the DNA.
3. The DNA results are an anomaly, outside the range given by
Blaine Bettinger's DNA studies, and Ernest was a child of one of Mary's siblings.
I conclude that despite the doubts, option 1 is the most likely, and thus Francis and Mary are his parents. But this leaves me with no explanation for the four contrary facts, and, more importantly, no way I can see to investigate further other than wait and hope another DNA result comes in and offers some insight.
Does anyone have any ideas please?
