RootsChat.Com
General => Ancestral Family Tree DNA Testing => Topic started by: scottsinclair on Thursday 26 April 18 22:18 BST (UK)
-
Hi guys,
Pretty much as it sounds. My father's father (my grandfather) was an illegitimate child with no father named on the birth certificate. I do have a suspicion as to the father, through the middle name given and a previous child with the same woman.
Am I likely to identify the surname of the father (my x2 great grandfather) through yDNA testing? My hope is that it would identify far more matches with this surname than my current one, but having no experience of the test, am unsure how many if any matches are likely to be found anyway.
Any help appreciated!
-
In theory yes it could but there are lots of pitfalls.
1. You need to test at a high level to rule out spurious matches. I would suggest this means for what you want testing at Y67 or even Y111 level
2. You are also relying on someone who is a very close biological relation to also test so your results can be compared
3. If you have a likely candidate you might be better off if you can trace a full male line descent from that person in getting them to test so you can compare your results to theirs.
4. Even if you have a candidate and they test there is no guarantee that there won't be some non parental event somewhere along the line to throw results out
5. It can take a long time to get any meaningful match. I took a YDNA test 5 years ago as a way of trying to take my parental line back beyond 1746 but to date I have had no useful results
So whilst you might prove lucky it could just as equally be a long wait if ever.
-
Ah, OK. I was optimistically hoping the test would just say something like "Hey, most of your yDNA matches have the surname XXX" which would lend some huge evidence to my theory of Mr XXX being my great grandfather.
-
Ah, OK. I was optimistically hoping the test would just say something like "Hey, most of your yDNA matches have the surname XXX" which would lend some huge evidence to my theory of Mr XXX being my great grandfather.
Hi
Firstly I support davidfts' post. To directly find a link may never happen.
But
He also pointed out the possibility of tracing a possible candidate and looking for comparative matches. Let me give you my example.
There had been whispers of a NPE between my grandfather doubting his parentage of my father. I put that aside and continued a paper trail and had everything bedded in as best as I could.
I then took a DNA test and this family whisper was only a small part of it. I tested to Y67 and like david am slightly disappointed that after nearly 2 years I have 1 match at 67 level , and even then I doubt the match as it has no bearing ( at the moment) on any of my paper results. I put that aside as I see DNA testing as part of the overall long term strategy of Family History searching
So in the Y67 test I can see no DIRECT lineage to ease my mind. Then I started getting autosomnal ( FamilyFinder) matches relating to my grandfathers mothers side of the family. ie I am related to my grandfather and the logical link is through my father.
So my candidate for my grandfather was indeed confirmed (unless there is some wild NPE at that level) through matching someone linked to my Great Grandmother ( her brothers line) .
1. I had a candidate
2. I did as many paper results as I could
3. I linked that paperwork and DNA to another of that family
Good luck if you decide to go this way
-
You might find that doing the complete DNA test gives you better results.
I've trotted out this story a few times recently but my grandfather's mother, a married woman with four children, left her husband and ran off with the lodger, subsequently having child number 5, my grandfather. The lodger's name is on his birth certificate but family resemblance led us to believe that hubby was the real father. When DNA was done by my parents, family matches appeared in the husband's side of the family, confirming it. Using Y-DNA might be too narrow to get results for a long time. Autosomal might get you cousins on various sides. If you've got the paperwork lineage for your suspect man (or, in other circumstances, the named father) you might find results that give you a common ancestor where you want to find one.
-
We did tests thru ancestry
Already knew mothers mothers fathers name
None of the DNA descendants of his siblings had his surname because there were lots of girls in each family
He had no other children
But we had found married a message of all his necessary and next generation down so worked out how these 1st cousins match
There is a location search which matches DNA to places people have on tree so if your relatives a direct theirs originate from see town that could be a clue ....
I found 4th cousin connections some we.recommend still some
Working out how but I only have 1 great grandfather from Latvia traced names special
But don't know his maternal grandmother
1 grandparents from Cambuslang Scotland so people who match 4th cousin thru female line won't have surnames I recognise
back to 1800