YOUR DNA WORKSHOP
Welcome to the DNA Workshop! In every issue DNA adviser Karen Evans will be unpacking a reader case study, and giving you 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 helps a reader decipher the clues in their DNA and possibly identify their great-grandfather
DNA case study
Is this man my greatgrandfather?
READER PHIL POOLE WRITES:
My grandfather Albert Henry Hudson (1890-1919) was the illegitimate son of Julianna Hudson (1870-1951). Julianna also had another illegitimate son Alfred Hudson (1897-1988). My family had no clues as to who the father(s) of either Albert Henry or Alfred were, nor whether they had the same father. Both boys were born in rural south-west Shropshire, where their mother was living with her parents at the time of the 1881 and 1891 Census.
Family folklore was that Julianna left the boys in Shropshire and moved to the Manchester area and possibly had no further contact with the boys. This is backed up by the 1901 Census which finds Julianna (recorded as Julia) working as a domestic servant in Swinton. It was only after my mother passed away that I discovered that Julianna married a widower, Richard Ensor Lees, in Barton-upon-irwell in 1906, that Richard died in 1929 as a result of a mining accident and that Julianna died in Swinton in 1951. I have done a search of the GRO and Findmypast websites and cannot find any children for Julianna and Richard after their wedding.
I had resigned myself to the fact that I would never discover who Albert Henry's father was. Then couple of years ago I had my DNA tested through Ancestry. Just a few weeks ago I had a great surprise when
Right: A Lees Thruline
I looked at Ancestry Thrulines to discover that Thrulines suggested that Richard Ensor Lees was the father of Albert Henry. At first, I thought this was a mistake, given that Julianna and Richard did not marry until 16 years after the birth of Albert Henry. However, further delving on Thrulines indicated I had two DNA matches with the suggestion being that Joseph Lees was my 4x greatgrandfather and the ancestor of my two DNA matches. I realise that the DNA matches are only 7cm and 8cm, but is this sufficient to claim that Richard Ensor Lees was in fact Albert Henry's father and thus my greatgrandfather?
KAREN E VANS EXPLAINS:
As always with missing ancestors I first look to see how matches in the DNA tests reflect the already known tree. This way I can assign (group/cluster) matches who belong to certain lines and (hopefully) uncover groups who may indicate the missing part of the tree. Phil kindly gave me access to his Ancestry test and a detailed tree he has been researching for many years. Phil had already begun to cluster his matches and link them to his known paternal and maternal lines, and he had attached a tree to his test to help generate clues via common ancestor hints and Thrulines. We were on our way!
It was soon clear that this was not going to be an easy task. Phil’s match list was not particularly large, with only five 3rd cousins and his highest match 190cms. This doesn’t mean it would be impossible but the lower the matches the harder to pinpoint lines.
Phil had already found clear links to his father’s paternal lines. One of the 3rd cousin matches ‘Ted’ had the surname Poole, a rather nice tree and a common ancestor hint that led back to Phil’s 2x great-grandparents. Phil had already created a cluster of matches from his and Ted’s shared matches, many of them also showing a common ancestor hint.
There was also established links between the DNA and Phil’s mother’s maternal line. Albert Hudson married an Elizabeth Evans and again, with a combination of common ancestor hints and extending matches’ trees, Phil had been able to cluster a group back to his 2x great-grandparents on this line.
ASSESSING THE MATCHES
Although Phil’s father’s paternal line is well represented in the DNA matches, the same can’t be said for his father’s maternal Hughes family. There are no clear matches to this side of the family above 20cms, although some of Phil’s matches do hint at the family connection.
His two highest matches (at 190cms and 178cms) are aunt ‘Maud’ and her nephew. Maud has a tree showing a Margaret Hughes born c1908 and I know she has made contact with Phil. Margaret’s own lineage is somewhat of a mystery; born illegitimate and raised in an orphanage there are a few family stories of possible parentage. Interesting Phil also has a family story connected to a possible illegitimate child conceived by his grandmother Agnes Poole née Hughes’ brother. Phil and Maud are keen to find their link!
However, the only shared match to the nephew is Maud and she only has two other shared matches, both below 30cms. Agnes’s direct ancestors carry the surnames Pybus, Bland and Spink (wonderfully unusual names) but, again only a few low 5th-8th cousin matches which carry these names. At such a low amount of DNA these matches could conceivably come from any part of Phil’s tree.
Back to Phil’s question. Could his grandfather Albert Hudson be the son of Richard Ensor Lees?
The Thrulines connecting Albert to Richard have occurred because of Julia Hudson. Julia is on Phil’s tree as Albert’s mother but she is also on other Ancestry trees as Richard’s wife. A few trees have made the leap to suggest that Albert is Richard’s son via that connection. Ancestry will then look at Phil’s DNA matches’ trees and point out any Lees connection which ties to Richard Ensor Lees. Does this prove that they are father and son? Sadly no, it is merely offering the possibility that they might be. Phil has two Thrulines suggesting Albert’s
father was Richard Lees. Both matches are below10cms and only one has a shared match but this is at 21cms with no shared matches in the 4th-6th cousin range. We are back to the same problem as with the distant cousin matches.
CAN THE CONNEC TION BE PRO VED?
So what would Phil need to prove the connection to the Lees family? The most obvious is higher Lees matches connected to Richard Ensor Lees. The highest ‘unknown’ match is ‘Ali’ at 101cms. Ali has no tree but shares lots of matches with Phil. I was able to find several matches in this unknown group who are all descended from a William Cutress/cutless, born 1888 in Massachusetts and his wife Anna Higgins, born 1890 in Massachusetts. This couple’s ancestors are from Ireland and Middlesex, which are not geographical areas reflected in Phil’s current tree. Could this group be from Albert Hudson’s missing father? It may be, however it could be linked to ‘goings on’ in another part of the tree entirely. Without higher matches it is difficult to find out.
Phil’s unassigned matches are all below 40cms and have few, if any, shared matches. Unfortunately, not only can we not find any Lees matches but we cannot formulate any possible unknown groups.
My last plan of attack was to find possible links to the Lees line via maternal surnames. Richard Lees’ mother was Ellen Ensor, the daughter of John Ensor and his wife Hannah Blore. I searched, without success for any matches sharing links to these families. I also looked for matches to Richard’s Paternal grandmother Ruth Cauldwell but could find none.
Next Step 1 WORKING WI TH NO TREES
Ali has not yet responded to messaging and has no tree, this doesn’t have to stop Phil! ‘A DNA match with no tree? No problem!’ http://familytr. ee/noproblem is a video that gives some amazing tips on how to create your own ‘quick and dirty’ trees for a match.
2 CON TINUING TO BUILD
Phil could continue to build trees for the very large Cutress/higgins group. Many of the matches are over 50cms and could hold clues to how he is related to them.
Although Phil is interested in identifying Albert’s father it would help to see how the Hughes line is showing within his DNA matches. He would then be able to assign matches to known parts of the tree and identify lines to investigate.
3 UPLOADING ELSEWHERE
The more matches the better. A really high matching cousin could have tested with another site so I would recommend uploading raw DNA to other testing sites. Phil has already tested with other companies but if you were happy, after reading their terms and conditions, you could upload to Myheritage, Familytreedna,
Livingdna and Gedmatch who all offer uploads from other sites and have every growing databases. All these sites offer uploads and match lists for free but some require payment to access their tools. More matches could increase Phil’s evidence towards a potential father or show he is on the wrong path and to think again. 23andme do not accept uploads but it does have the second largest database of testers (after Ancestry) so he could also test there. Remember there are sales of DNA tests throughout the year, often connected to celebratory events like Mother’s Day or Easter so it is well worth waiting.
CAN A Y-DNA TEST HELP?
Phil can’t take a Y-DNA test at Familytreedna as he isn’t a direct male descendant of Richard Ensor Lees. If Albert Hudson had sons who had sons they could take a Y-DNA test as it follows the male line or the father of the father of the father. Y-DNA testing can be useful for men with no knowledge of their paternal line (e.g. Adoptees or those with an illegitimate brick wall) as it can give an indication of the male surname through their Y-DNA. Working out whether men with the same surname are related can be particularly helpful as you can connect with others who may have researched their line further back. Some testers find a group of matches who clearly indicate a particular surname, others have been less fortunate. However, the more people who test the greater the chance of matches.