Ideas on the ethnicity of my grandfather?

[oldcrone]

c-side: thank you for those links - I haven't come across them before, so that's really helpful.

Carmela: thank you very much for your perspective, and all the extra information.  I really need to think about all this!  I do remember that my aunts said that my grandfather had "run away" from ?an orphanage in Canada because he was treated very badly.  Also, I should mention that he may not have been 19 (ie born in 1881) when he joined the army; I suspect he was younger than that (perhaps 17), and also he may not have arrived in England straight from Canada.  Interesting to hear your impressions of the photos!

One other thing I will say is: despite all this subterfuge on my gf's behalf, most of the old family rumours about him (eg that he went by different names; that he was an army deserter) have actually proved correct, since I've been researching his past.  So I do tend to view these titbits of info (such as the Christian Brothers, and being orphaned) as fairly likely.

Off to ponder!  Many thanks, everyone, again. 

[Redroger]

If you are in contact with a male descendent of your grandfather, on the male line, i.e. grandfather, son, then it should be possible to determine his ethnicity by means of a DNA test (Y chromosome), as the chromosome carried by his son and grandson is most likely identical and certainly only differing slightly to his. If there are no direct male descendents, then I don't believe this is possible, but I have insufficient knowledge to be certain.

[oldcrone]

Redroger - the only descendents would be my uncle (last surviving child of my grandfather, now aged 83, living in New Zealand) or his two sons (one living in Australia, one in Switzerland).

How difficult/expensive is the DNA testing?

[Redroger]

Not difficult, just rub a cotton bud on the inside of your cheek to get a sample and have it processed. Expense depends on the number of markers sampled, there are several postings about DNA on various threads which you may find helpful.

[Carmela]

First of all, I should say that I have no expertise in genetics, but I do find the subject interesting and have done some reading.

Before you consider DNA tests , I think that  you should be aware that analysis of Y-DNA would show only the origin of your gf's male Shaw ancestors; it would not tell you anything about  the origin of his female ancestors.  This test would confirm Native ancestry only if your gf was the direct male descendant of a Native man.

As I understand it, it is the mitochondrial (mt-DNA)  in females that is used to trace the geographical origin of female ancestors. For this test you would need a female descendant of your gf's sister (if he had one and you knew the descendants). Men do inherit mt- DNA from their mothers, but they do not pass it on to their offspring. An analysis of the mt-DNA of a living male Shaw would reveal only the origin of his mother, her mother and so on, not that of his father's female ancestors.. If you do have a DNA sample from a male relative analysed and it comes back negative, you will never know for sure, without the female test.

If Mr.Shaw did have some Native North American ancestry, I would think that it most likely came from his mother, but if the Shaws had been in Canada for a generation or two, then perhaps someone on that side. I imagined the scenario as: Irish immigrant or son of same, married a Canadian woman who had some Native North American ancestry.

As Redroger said, cost varies. Here in Canada, it runs anywhere from about $100 - $600 or more for really complex analysis.

Cheers,
Carmela


 
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[oldcrone]

Thank you, Carmela and Redroger, for all this info and food for thought.

Mulling over all of this....

ClaraX

[Redroger]

If you go for it Clara, get several price quotes as it can come out very expensive.