ENLISTING DNA ON YOUR FAMILY HISTORY QUEST

MAKING DNA WORK FOR YOU

Welcome to the DNA Workshop! In every issue DNA adviser Karen Evans will be unpacking a reader case study, and giving step-by-step tips for you to use in your DNA research at home. It’s time to unlock the story of your genes… 

Karen Evans 

CAN DNA RESEARCH REVEAL WHO MY FATHER WAS?

Reader Pat got in touch with DNA adviser Karen Evans to ask about the possible steps for finding out who her father was

PAT: This will be the first time that I have ever divulged my birth to anyone outside my family, husband excluded of course.

Facts:

• I was illegitimate.

• I never knew who my father was.

• My mother never breathed a word.

• My aunts told me one or two things but as they were small children at the time, their memories are unreliable.

I have taken an Ancestry DNA test and frankly haven’t a clue how to decipher it. I have no idea where to go from here, even after reading your very interesting articles! My tree on Ancestry is my mother’s family as I clearly have no idea about the other side. Incidentally, in case you are wondering, my mother is no longer alive, I never felt comfortable about asking about my father as I felt that I should respect her silence and equally she married a wonderful man who became my father (but not adopted by him) although I took on his surname legally.

I would appreciate your ‘silence’ on these details, i.e. that any names are changed to protect those living but I really do wonder if you can shed any light on my DNA and equally on those names of whom none appear in a fairly extensive maternal tree please.

KAREN: I spent some time emailing Pat and she made it clear that, although she wanted to see what the DNA test would reveal, she had no intention of contacting anyone on her paternal side. She was open to sharing her test results with me and, as MyHeritage were offering free access to tools with any upload during this time, Pat decided to upload her DNA there also. Pat gave me access to her Ancestry results and shared information about her higher matches on MyHeritage.

Pat’s aunts thought her father could be a Samuel Pilsbury and they’d shared some basic information about where he was from and how they believed he and Pat’s mother met. There was no evidence to prove or disprove this theory that Pat knew of. Pat’s aunts are now also deceased.

Would there be any clues that pointed to her paternal side and, in particular, to Samuel Pilsbury?

DNA MATCH - YOUR FIRST STEPS

  Whether you have a ‘missing’ ancestor, a fully grown tree or have no idea about your family, the first thing to do with DNA matches is to cluster them together in groups by looking at shared matches. The idea being that each group will represent a part of your tree, you just need to find the ancestors they all share – though I should say ‘just need’ makes it sound very easy! This is where all the traditional research methods come into play, creating quick and dirty trees from the information you can glean from each match. It can be difficult and will be time-consuming, but the sense of achievement when you identify the common ancestor makes it all worthwhile.