Could DNA testing help discover father of my illegitimate Grandmother?

[River Tyne Lass]

Just playing about in the mean time I have been able to sort out the above problems.  I have now edited name of Grandmother to correct spelling and can see more where I can add to. 

I will stop there for now as other things are pressing before my nightshift start tonight.  However, I hope to have lots completed before my results come back in predicted 6-8 weeks.

Thanks for your help and encouragement Craclyn and to everyone else who has advised/helped.  I am learning as I go.

[Craclyn]

You are welcome. Don’t forget to connect your DNA kit to you in your new tree 

[Liviani]

Following this thread with interest as the whole reason I did a DNA test was to find out who the biological father was of my illegitimate 2x great grandmother.

[River Tyne Lass]

Hi Liviani

Were you able to trace your Grt x 2 Grandfather using the DNA route or is this still a work in progress for you?  Was this missing ancestor on your maternal side as mine is?

It would certainly give me hope if you have been able to discover your Great Grandfather but if you haven't I wish you success with this.

I think it is an amazing thing that it seems that DNA testing can now make things a possibility whereas one time it would have been a closed door. 

[Liviani]

Hi Liviani

Were you able to trace your Grt x 2 Grandfather using the DNA route or is this still a work in progress for you?  Was this missing ancestor on your maternal side as mine is?

It would certainly give me hope if you have been able to discover your Great Grandfather but if you haven't I wish you success with this.

I think it is an amazing thing that it seems that DNA testing can now make things a possibility whereas one time it would have been a closed door. 

It's still a work in progress at the moment. I done two tests one with Living DNA and one with Ancestry. I've discovered a lot of matches on my established lines but the vast majority are unknown. The DNA tests have only been done this summer. I've uploaded Ancestry Tests to FTDNA and MyHeritage (still waiting on MyH) and both to GEDmatch.

My unknown 2x great grandfather is through my paternal line, I do have a close-ish DNA match with this line, but can only confirm the already known people. No one knows who the 2x great-grandfather is unfortunately.

It follows this line me > my father > my grandmother > her mother > the unknown person


Thank you very much and I hope I get some answers soon. I like a good mystery! Did you find your missing ancestor (I'll confess I haven't read the full thread yet).

[River Tyne Lass]

No, I have not found my missing ancestor.  After dithering for such a long while I have finally decided to try the DNA route.  I just sent off my sample on Monday and I am now waiting for my results to come back.  Hopefully, there might be some clues.  It is worth a try.  DNA is quite new territory for me    and  I have a lot to learn about this DNA stuff but I suppose we all have to start somewhere.  I know there are no guarantees that I will eventually find my missing Great Grandfather but I think I might regret it if I didn't at least try.

Good luck with your research - let's hope we are both successful one day.

[brigidmac]

My granny was adopted we knew who her mother was just not where she went .also knew that she had a ' respectable' son from a letter granny had kept from her DNA came up with a match to this respectable son as 3rd cousin to me ... actually half cousin once removed .

Also found 3-5thcousins who were related to the birth father's family ...he hadn't had any of his own children ...the matches showing as 4-8thcousins were descended from his sisters so no names in common either...took a lot of detective work and most of them have private trees .
But one lady was able to provide me a photo of our mutual great great grandfather !

I was lucky that my mother did her DNA first so someone showing up as 2nd or 3rd cousin to her and not matching the known paternal cousin and half cousin who were on ancestry were worth investigating !

My advice is always to add as many details of brothers and sisters as you know . The missing great grandfather had 9 siblings and 3 half siblings who survived into adulthood.

I hope that inspires you .

[River Tyne Lass]

Hi brigidmac,

Thank you so much for this!  Your story is very inspiring and encouraging to me.

I am working in spare moments to build up a tree in preparation for results.  Starting from myself I have put my parents as 'private' although both are deceased.  I am concentating more on Grandparents and their families backwards.  Is this the right thing to do?  Or should I be putting up my Mother's (and her siblings) info up too - as they will all be Grandchildren of this unknown man?

My Great Grandmother was only 17 when she gave birth to my illegitimate Grandmother.  Six years later she married in a different area and had five more children.  Her children all did well in life and had very respectable and successful careers.  I have kept my Great Grandmother's husband and subsequent children private.  This is out of respect for a descendant (and their family) of one of these children who has been more than kind to me.  They only discovered through me in 2014 that my Grandmother was the daughter and not the youngest sister of their own Grandmother.
My Great Grandmother's other five children would have had no biological link with my missing Great Grandfather anyway.

Many thanks again for your post brigidmac.  Although, I know that are no guarantees your story has increased my excitement and sense now that it is the right thing to do now in trying the DNA route.

[Craclyn]

You should be adding the collateral lines too. This all helps to identify where matches fit into place. You say you have put your parents as «private». If you find when your results come through that you have no matches showing Common Ancestors and no ThruLines then you may have to re-evaluate that decision. The system will be having to make guesses about how you connect to your grandparents if you have shut off information about your parents.