Hi all,
I’m a descendant of the Pitt Town / Forbes McMahons and only a couple of months into researching our family history. I was genuinely surprised to find that there was a thread looking into Mary Preston / James Ward and most of what has been written on here is in line with what I have heard through our families oral history. I realize that this thread has been inactive for a couple of years and was hoping that perhaps someone has since unearthed documents that shed additional light on these relationships? I’ve recently ordered and received a number of records from births, deaths and marriages from another side of my family which set a number of questions to rest and thought it prudent to ask if someone had already attained docs re Preston / Ward before proceeding.
My sister and I have recently had ancestry DNA tests done and our ethnicity estimates have both come back as 0% English (we are primarily Scottish, Irish and Welsh). These tests have identified common ancestors in WH McMahon (born Payton) and Annie Sowden and shared DNA with persons on this branch. The ancestors of both these individuals on multiple trees show many generations residing and marrying in England. If these trees were correct then it would be highly unlikely that we have 0% English DNA. Perhaps our family has been telling the wrong story for a few generations?
Once more, I would appreciate hearing if any additional records or information has been unearthed in the past 2 years that may de-muddy the waters before I set about ordering any. I am very new to this and on a steep learning curve, so thank you in advance