Mystery solved or newbie assumption?

[angelfish58]

I got my test results back recently and have found something potentially interesting in my Ancestry results.
Background: my paternal grandmother b1900 was illegitimate, and by the 1901 census she is with her adoptive parents Charles & Janet Brown in West Hartlepool. There was, apparently, local gossip that Charles was her biological father, Charles was born in Somerset but his family were from Devon, his mother, Mary Ann Anstey (1823-1891) was the daughter of John Anstey (1801-1865)and Charlotte Bidgood and they were from the village of Kenton.
What is interesting is that I have three 5th-8th cousin matches whos trees include Bidgoods from Kenton.Could the rumours be true or am I jumping to conclusions? I should add that I have one family line from Glamorgan and one from Shropshire but the rest are from the north of England, no links with Devon at all. I would really appreciate some insight from those more experienced in DNA.
Thank you.

[Rosinish]

Sorry I can't answer your question but when was Charles born as he seems to have been quite old when he fathered your g/mother if indeed he was the father or was it one of his sons who was the father?

Annie

[angelfish58]

Thank you for your reply, Charles was born in 1863 in Wells, Somerset, he married in Cardiff in 1889 and had a son, also called Charles in 1891.

[sugarfizzle]

I think at this stage it is impossible to make any conclusions.

DNA is not an exact science, especially the further back you go. It does look a possibility that your great grandfather was related to the Bidgood family of Devon.

However it would be preferable to get more matches and closer matches before making any tentative conclusions. It could have been any relative - son, brother, nephew etc.

You will know more about any such possibilities than we do, if you have researched the Bidgood family.

Carry on looking for Bidgood and Anstey matches, if any turn up.
Search for matches in particular regions - have you checked to see if ancestry gives you 'Region and migration' of Devon and Cornwall? 

Local gossip, as I am sure you realise, can be interesting but not reliable!!

Regards Margaret

[angelfish58]

Thank you for your reply. If my paper research is correct then Charles Brown was related to the Bidgoods, his maternal grandmother was one, my surprise was seeing any matches, however tenuous between myself and other Bidgood descendants. The DNA match was small, a range of 7.6-6,6 cms across 1 segment and I take your point about being related to  a Bidgood by another route.
I haven't seen a Region and migration feature so will check that.
It was really just idle curiosity that made me put the Bidgood name in the "search matches box, I didn't expect anything to pop up, let alone three matches and to the same small village to boot, you can appreciate why I got a bit excited, could the rumours really be true etc?
Thank you again for your suggestions.

[sugarfizzle]

To see regions -

Go to DNA match page.
At top - Shared Ancestors, New, Starred, Regions
Click regions - Select a region or migration.

Mine gives Southern England, South East England, Devon and Cornwall.

The first two I agree with, the last a bit more doubtful from my recorded history. Most Western county I have found is Wiltshire. As you know, ethnicity estimates are mainly considered to be for amusement only, but who knows where my Wiltshire ancestors were from originally.

In your case, with no other recorded family from anywhere near the South of England, it may possibly give a clue.

Clue being the operative word!!

Regards Margaret

[angelfish58]

Thank you Margaret, I'll try that tonight (I have to limit myself to evenings or nothing else would get done)
I see that you have Steer in your list of names, that name appears in the Bidgood/Anstey ancestry, perhaps that accounts for your Devon/Cornwall result 

[sugarfizzle]

angelfish, There are established Steer families from both Devon and Surrey, maybe they were connected a long, long time ago.

As a member of Steer mailing list at RootsWeb, a lot of us are uploading to Gedmatch. There are very small connections to be found between the two groups, not enough to be statistically significant, but they are there. Probably means nothing, as far back as at least 1700 my family were from Surrey. It is very difficult to make any conclusions from a 2cM or 3 cM match.

Regards Margaret

[angelfish58]

Margaret, I checked the regions button and I got Northern England and Northern England and the Midlands, nothing to suggest the South West at all. Perhaps the best thing will be to learn from the dna matches that I know from the paper trail are correct before I jump in the deep end.
Thank you so much for taking the time to help and stopping me getting carried away.
Barbara