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Somerset / Re: Ruth LM Gaunt/Kortright, parents Ellen Sweet and Gilbert Gaunt
« on: Friday 13 August 21 17:03 BST (UK) »
Thank you Queenie!!
It's nice to hear from someone who has faced the same adoption-brick-wall struggle and understands the frustration.
Yep, I noticed the slightly different birth date too. Given that death certificate dates are just what the informant knows (though the informant was another of her daughters) and as you say, 1939 register is much nearer the actual time, so I figure they had less time to forget it!! I agree, I should start a search for that date. It's tricky because the GRO only gives the quarter it was registered in so March and February are still both in the same quarter. A while ago I tried searching for any GRO entries for a "Ruth" born Jan-Mar 1937 and only came up with a few results, and all but two were immediately ruled out by death dates. One of the remaining two had different married names on some people's trees. But I haven't managed to find any link between the remaining candidate and any of Ellen/Gilbert's trees.
Then again, they may have completely renamed her when they adopted her so she might not even have been a "Ruth" originally. My mother's adoptive parents contemplated changing her name entirely, but in the end opted to keep her birth name.
The few DNA matches I found seem to be on Ellen's line, much further back (Hancock/Ellis) but seem to come from so far back I'm not sure if that is just a coincidental random distant ancestor, which is misleading me.
I just read on another post here about The Leeds Method, so I have started on that to see if I can make any headway in sorting out some different branches. I think it has potential. I'm certainly seeing a few clusters appearing.
I'm hoping that might help as well if she was renamed after adoption. At least might be able to whittle down the options a bit.
For now I am driving myself crossed-eyed trying to do this Leeds chart lol.
It's tricky - I don't have any 2nd cousins matches, a couple of 2nd cousins 1/2removed and a fairly small number of third cousins. It seems like basically no one from her immediate family has put their DNA on any genealogy websites. A bit odd really because I'd have thought with all the adoptions (5 of her children were adopted) people would be more inclined to search.
Thanks again for your reply and sharing your own experience and ideas :-)
It's nice to hear from someone who has faced the same adoption-brick-wall struggle and understands the frustration.
Yep, I noticed the slightly different birth date too. Given that death certificate dates are just what the informant knows (though the informant was another of her daughters) and as you say, 1939 register is much nearer the actual time, so I figure they had less time to forget it!! I agree, I should start a search for that date. It's tricky because the GRO only gives the quarter it was registered in so March and February are still both in the same quarter. A while ago I tried searching for any GRO entries for a "Ruth" born Jan-Mar 1937 and only came up with a few results, and all but two were immediately ruled out by death dates. One of the remaining two had different married names on some people's trees. But I haven't managed to find any link between the remaining candidate and any of Ellen/Gilbert's trees.
Then again, they may have completely renamed her when they adopted her so she might not even have been a "Ruth" originally. My mother's adoptive parents contemplated changing her name entirely, but in the end opted to keep her birth name.
The few DNA matches I found seem to be on Ellen's line, much further back (Hancock/Ellis) but seem to come from so far back I'm not sure if that is just a coincidental random distant ancestor, which is misleading me.
I just read on another post here about The Leeds Method, so I have started on that to see if I can make any headway in sorting out some different branches. I think it has potential. I'm certainly seeing a few clusters appearing.
I'm hoping that might help as well if she was renamed after adoption. At least might be able to whittle down the options a bit.
For now I am driving myself crossed-eyed trying to do this Leeds chart lol.
It's tricky - I don't have any 2nd cousins matches, a couple of 2nd cousins 1/2removed and a fairly small number of third cousins. It seems like basically no one from her immediate family has put their DNA on any genealogy websites. A bit odd really because I'd have thought with all the adoptions (5 of her children were adopted) people would be more inclined to search.
Thanks again for your reply and sharing your own experience and ideas :-)