finding ggrandfather's bio father

[ruth52]

I am very new to DNA testing and have only a very basic knowledge so please forgive me if I get some things wrong!
My paternal ggf was illegitimate, born in 1849, family story is that the culprit was an Italian Count  .
In an attempt to try and find the real bio father I have been looking at those DNA matches in the region of 4 to 6th cousin, then eliminating those who have a provable link to my researched lines.
I have found (so far) 4 other matches who have no common ancestors with me, but all have one common ancestor who was living in the same area, at the right time. He was married and had named his son (born the year before my ggf) the same two names as my ggf.
DNA matches show a 4th cousin 1%- 72cm, other 4-6 cousin 43cm

Is this sufficient to consider that this individual is the missing father?
I have looked for bastardy orders etc, but as my ggmother married 2 years later I doubt this was pursued.
Is there anything else I can do? I have contacted one of the cousins so that they can check both trees to see if there  is any other links.
Ruth 

[TreeDigger]

I think it's safe to say that any group of DNA matches unrelated to known ancestors are pretty indicative of an unknown ancestor 

And the 4th cousin + cM amount do seem to point to that ancestor being in the 3x gr.grandparent region, so that would fit the story. Just be careful not to try and 'force' the matches to fit the story, as that may blind you to other options.

It does seem very likely though, considering the name of the older half-sibling and whereabouts of the father. You could make a tree for all the 'unrelated' matches, see where they belong in relation to the 'suspect', and see whether that fits the narrative as well. Who knows, that way you may find even more matches that confirm things.

Uploading your 'raw' DNA to other sites might even produce more matches to complete the story.

[ruth52]

Thank you for your reply. I will certainly be looking into it further, although , of course, the outcome will only be reasonable suspicion at best!
In my favour this is the only line which has its roots in that specific part of the country (Bedfordshire), all the other branches are  further away and concentrated in their specific areas - mainly the Derbyshire Dales, and Lancashire/Cheshire. It was actually my g grandfather that left Luton and moved north in the late 1800s His mother's family were typical farming stock, living and working in the same area for at least two hundred years, as was his wife's family.

Cheers
Ruth

[Biggles50]

If the Bio Father (your GG GF) had other Children then if the DNA matches are direct descendants of him and they are of the same generational distance from him as you are then each will be your 1/2 Third Cousin.

The average shared DNA between you and them will be 48cM but the range is 0-168cM where this relationship is still possible.

I suggest building a standalone tree going beyond the suspected Father, and include in said tree as many of your DNA matches as you can then upload the tree Gedcom to DNA Painter and use their WATO to to predict the probabilities.

[ruth52]

Thanks for your reply
I have now found 1 match -3/4 cousin; 6 matches - 4/6 cousin; 3 matches - 5/8 cousin who all feature the same ancestor.  Generational differences no doubt account for the range. I have looked at most of their trees and can find no other commonality with my tree. Of course this is only as good as their trees are (and my own!)

I'll investigate your second piece of advice, first I need to understand what DNA painter is! I am very much a beginner with this but will enjoy the learning curve!

Ruth

[Biggles50]

First to learn more about DNA I suggest you seek out a book by Blaine T. Bettinger, A guide to DNA testing and Genetic Genealogy.

It is a great resource book and a good one to have since the Author is the same person who is behind the DNA Painter website.

You will find plenty of video tutorials online in how to use DNA Painter and its various DNA tools.

I would research the technicalities of DNA further before getting to involved in using the more elaborate DNA Tools that are available, not just on DNA Painter but those also available on Gedmatch.

Good luck.