Could anyone help a newbie with a DNA enigma please?

[avm228]

Is all of this in England & Wales or somewhere else?

If England/Wales, has Bernadette’s birth been found in the GRO index? (Obviously don’t share identifying details if so).

[avm228]

It’s puzzling that Ranolki and Karen, a generation apart, share a similar DNA overlap with Bernadette.

[Nanna52]

In my DNA matches I have a match 360 cM across 16 segments.  She is adopted.  I have 2 half first cousins who have tested also and from her age and their results we have worked out that she is probably the granddaughter of an aunt or half aunt of us.  She doesn’t want to find out about her biological family so we had to leave it at that.
We think she is a half second cousin of mine and second cousin of others.  Gets really complicated when there is a non parental event in the family.

[Gadget]

It’s puzzling that Ranolki and Karen, a generation apart, share a similar DNA overlap with Bernadette.

Mmmm...

I've just drawn a tree with the information but there's not enough there to say very much.  You really need the others' shared DNA with Karen and with Bernadette.

Gadget

[Romilly]

It’s puzzling that Ranolki and Karen, a generation apart, share a similar DNA overlap with Bernadette.

This can happen if one parent is much older than the other...

For example, my Father was almost 30 years older than my Mother, - and so I match to some DNA Matches at a different generational level.

Hope that makes sense!

Romilly.

[Ranolki]

At the moment I can't find Bernadette's birth anywhere with any certainty  I have a surname but i don't know if it's a maiden name or married name, or even an assumed one for Ancestry purposes.  I'm just assuming this is all in the UK too, everything I can actually verify is UK based.

As an added twist, Karen is aware that her great grandfather EA had a relationship with another woman which resulted in a son, probably born in the early 1920s.  We have no more information on that at all, no names or clues of any kind.  Given her close cM link to Bernadette (and I'm assuming an even closer one with Bernadette to Karen's father) I'm wondering if she is a descendant from that relationship. My grandfather (EdgA) and EA were brothers.  It seems those cM figures could work on that basis, given the generation gap with Karen.  The half cousin relationship would probably come into play for each of us.

I've written to Mike to see what information comes up in his DNA details, and I could do the same with Eileen but I have never been in contact with Robyn (she's in Australia).  One interesting point someone raised is the relative ages. EdgA was actually born in 1877 so he wasn't a young man when my father was born in 1925.  Karen's great grandfather (EA) was born in 1885.

[avm228]

I’d be happy to have a look if that would help - feel free to PM details if you would be comfortable with that, but no pressure.

[Gadget]

Ranolki~

You might also look at the possibility of double cousinship. I have a couple of matches that were 3rd cousins  but had both had higher shared DNA. After many investigations, I found that they were related to me on two lines.

Gadget

[Ranolki]

Yes I'm thinking this might be a good idea, there were 11 siblings all born in the late 1800s and I know from my own tree that there were a few instances of men coming back from war and marrying their brothers' widows etc.  And there could be relationships rather than marriages too...  I've emailed five people who Bernadette and I share reasonably substantial amounts of DNA with but where I can't see why, just to see if they know anything or whether they have other links from that.
AS I said originally, so far this is an enigma!
avm228 has kindly pm'd me and come up with ideas too, I really appreciate all the input.
And Romilly, I'm interested in DNA and generation gaps too.  Is that something which you have just seen in action or is it something which is an acknowledged fact?  I have a link to the Mike mentioned which seems inexplicably weak, especially as it turns out he has one of my ancestors on both sides of his tree