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I've had yet another mystery dna match come up that links to a group of matches who are descendants of the same couple, this new match is on MH and the biggest so far at around 280cM, predicted as first cousin to my mother (who I now believe was an NPE birth).
The grandfather of the match is the problem, he uses two names during his life, Charles Dobbs and Sidney Ratcliffe, my match is in her 80's, made her tree private a few days ago though when public it didn't show her grandfather and she hasn't replied to messages.



There is no birth or baptism of a Charles Dobbs in 1879/80 or an 1881 census return that fits. He just appears out of nowhere in 1891 in Lincoln as a son of Christopher Dobbs and Sarah Ann Dobbs nee Wes(s)eldine (though they didn't marry until the late 1880's and Christopher died in 1892). Based on that 1891 census Charles Dobbs was born in 1880 at Horncastle in Lincs.

There is a birth cert, baptism and 1881 census for an illegitimate Cornelius Wes(s)eldine dob Feb 28th 1879 at Horncastle in Lincs, son of Sarah Ann We(s)seldine but nothing after that date. It's as if Cornelius vanishes and Charles then appears. By 1901 Charles Dobbs seems to change his name to Sidney/Sydney Ratcliffe as found on his marriage and military records, he continued to use the name for the remainder of his life.

It seems reasonable to assume Sidney/Charles are the same person but is he really the Cornelius Wes(s)eldine b1879?


As a side note Christopher died in 1892 but Sarah had children in the late 1890's naming him as the father.

After 41 days I finally thought I'd broken my duck on Ancestry with not one but two matches above 20cM. They also happen to have shared matches and linked trees. One tree is 753 names going back 6-7 generations, each and every name simply marked as 'private'. The other one has 4 'private; generations and from that point every female is displayed with the surname of her husband.  I wonder if some of my matches actually managed to take a test or if a nurse just happened to scoop up the drool and send it off to relieve the boredom.

Despite having 16k Ancestry matches I don't have many close matches. My top 10 consist of two above 200cM and 8 between 100 and 199, I only know who four of them are.
Only 350 or so matches are above 20cM so I don't get great results when checking shared matches as only those above about 20cM are displayed. The majority of my matches predate the parent assignment and Ancestry has managed to assign over 13,000 of them including some of the very lowest shared cM matches.

As I don't have a great number of close matches, and thanks to DNA I've lost a paper trail paternal grandfather and a set of maternal grandparents and associated ancestors!, I am now faced with DNA results that contradict about 60 bmd certs and matches to completely unknown 2nd-4th cousins. I've been able to build two groups of maternal 'unknowns', each hasabout 25 matches and I can see they don't match to my maternal grandmother in any way. The highest match in both groups is between 150 and 199 cM estimated as a 2nd-3rd cousin but there is no crossover between them. 


I've started 'reverse matching' by looking at the <20cM matches and seeing who the shared matches are, most just match to one name but that one name can be a mutual match to dozens of the <20cM matches. They may match each other but the 20cM cutoff point is defeating me. I know they are all distant matches, perhaps 5th cousins and beyond, many don't have trees and/or are inactive. My tree won't go back far or wide enough to find the connection. Am I wasting my time or is there some way to piece at least some of them together without having to try and build tens or maybe hundreds of 4-5 generation trees?

I've added the results of my Ancestry test to Myheritage, I don't have particularly close matches on either site and have only found one person who has added their result to both sites. That result brings up some queries/questions and confusion. We both have trees on Ancestry though there is only one tree on myheritage

Ancestry result- 4th cousin at 40 cM across 4 segments
Myheritage result- 3rd - 5th cousin 64cM across 5 segments

Ancestry actually suggests a 30% chance we are 3rd cousins and just 15% chance we are 4th cousins but has plumped for 4th cousins, I know the two trees, both are backed up by documents and the common ancestors are the same 2xgrt grandparents in both cases and are on my maternal side.

I'm also getting a couple of matches on another maternal line, the tests were taken by two sisters, Ancestry suggests one is my 2nd-3rd cousin on the maternal side, the other being a 4th-6th cousin and not assigned as maternal or paternal link.  We can't work out the link and on paper at least  there is no link between us, someone somewhere either made up the details on a cert or forgot to mention something but the person who has taken that test has a around 18 shared matches with me. All the shared matches have ether private trees, unlinked trees, no trees or have been inactive for ages, my biggest headache is the few who do reply insist we have no link at all because we don't have the same name in our tree complete with marching band and flashing lights picking them out.
How far can the suggested relationship be trusted as I'm really struggling to determine links to others based on the suggestions the sites are making and the issues with accessing the other trees and gleaning info from the tree owners.

If anyone can pull up the following article please I would appreciate it;

On Sunday last, aged 70, Mrs. Mary Cheetham, wife J. Cheetham, gent, of High-st., St. Botolph, Lincoln, and formerly of the Spread Eagle inn, in this city. Her remains ...

Published: Friday 27 May 1842
Newspaper: Lincolnshire Chronicle