Hello,
I am on a mission to discover the biological parents - or at least mother - of Annie Mabel May Simmons, born c 1873 in Melbourne Australia or on a ship on the way here.
Annie was a much beloved grandmother of my Mum who is now 84yo, but she only recalls a few snippits of references about Annie's life before she married in 1891. In fact Mum 'knew' that Annie's maiden name was Gardener, however it turns out that it was Simmons.
Having spent many, many hours searching for information on the internet, and watching YouTube videos teaching how to use GEDmatch, I am now more confused than ever!
Is there a 'how to' use DNA results to identify an unknown biological mother?
Is my best bet to trawl through all the orphanage records from Victoria about that time in the hope that I find one that mentions her foster mother Sylvia Simmons in the hope that it provides information about, or that will be helpful in identifying, Annie's mother?
Would really appreciate any help or guidance. Feel like I am looking for a needle in a very confusing haystack atm!
Warm Regards
Leanne