My Cousin Tim

I got to know my cousin, Tim,  yesterday.

Jill and her first cousin Tim

Back in 2014 I wrote a post about my Aunty Mary in which I mentioned a child she had borne and given up. I knew nothing of Tim's existence until Mary's funeral in 1997 when the Minister acknowledged Mary's son in the congregation. What a bombshell! 

It was such a shock that I neglected to get Tim's contact details.

As an only child with close relatives thin on the ground I have been wanting to find Tim and welcome him into the family fold for the past 25 years.

Since 1997 I have been hoping that one day Tim would seek out members of his biological family. On Friday evening Tim, who is now in his fifties, and his wife were googling Mary's name and came across Mary's name with two Living children mentioned in my online tree. 

When I was checking my email on Saturday morning I got this message:

 "Proposed Change: Duncan Mary Olive (I99)

Tree: GeniAus Family Tree
Link: http://www.geniaus.net/getperson.php?personID=I99&tree=geniaus001

Description: I am number 2, living Male"

Tim had found me!

During the course of the day we exchanged emails and then had a very emotional 'phone call when we arranged to meet up the following day for lunch at our home.

Meeting Tim, his beautiful wife and two of their children was an awesome but emotionally draining experience. I learnt about Tim's childhood that was no bed of roses, I was so sad that he didn't have the opportunity to meet our dear grandmother Ethel and the extended family. 

It was little compensation but I was pleased I could send Tim away with a cache of photos of his mother and her family, some stories and contact details for another cousin. I am so pleased that I have recorded many of these stories on this blog and that Tim and his children will be able to absorb them at their leisure. I can't make up for all those missing years but I will do my darndest to use my skills to help Tim and his family learn about their heritage.

I thank Tim and family for spending time and so graciously accepting us yesterday and Tim for his willingness to do a DNA test. I look forward to our further meetings.

 I know that Aunty Mary would be so proud of the man Tim has become today. 

A Side by Side View of my DNA

As an only child I don't have any sibling with whom I can compare my DNA....but I am fortunate in having a double first cousin who shares my four grandparents. Our fathers are brothers and our mothers are sisters.

Currently lots of genies are sharing their results from Ancestry's new SideView tool that shows which ethnicities we inherited from which parent. Of course I am joining the party. Below on the left are Jane's results and on the right are mine. Our fathers' ethnicity is on the left of the diagrams and our mothers' on the right.

Jane

Jill

It appears that I have more of our Duncan grandfather's Scottish genes and Jane has more of his aboriginal genes. Jane is more Irish  and English than me and I have missed out on the Basque gene.

No wonder we have so many unique matches in the Ancestry database. 

Science Mirroring the Traditional

It took me half a dozen attempts this morning to find my new DNA ethnicity estimates on the Ancestry app. I presume many other genies around the world were trying to access their results at the same time.

When I finally got the results I was rather pleased as they appear to reflect what I have found through traditional research. I have always thought that I am about 67% Irish so I'll take 65% - thanks @AncestryDNA.

As I am an only child I have no siblings with whom I can compare research but I'm lucky enough to have a double first cousin who shares my two sets of grandparents and all my ancestors going back in time. 

While the results from my cousin's test and mine are basically the same there are a few minor differences in the amount of Scottish and English estimates but the total of these is very close. My cousin additionally has a 1% Basque estimate, I feel that may be a furphy.

My Results

Cousin's Results

I've posted our results here so that, next year, when Ancestry issue their next round of ethnicity estimates I can easily retrieve what they offered 2021.

What did you discover?

Real People at Last

 While I have enjoyed communicating and collaborating via Zoom and other online tools during Covid times I have missed interacting with real people in a face-to -face situation.

I finally had a chance to present two face-to -face workshops about the Trove newspaper collection to the members of The Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest Family History Research Group yesterday. The members of this Group are to be congratulated for their fundraising efforts in the local community which resulted in their local newspaper, NOTA, being digitised and added to Trove.  They thought it timely to host some Trove workshops and I was the lucky person who scored this gig.

I had a super day with the participants whose Trove experience ranged from experienced user to a gentleman who said "I only heard about it this week". It is so much easier to engage with people when one is together with them in person. We had two lively sessions (separated by a yummy lunch) with lots of laughter, learning and sharing of tips. I tried a different approach with my talk and, after just a few introductory slides, demonstrated application of my Trove Tips live on the Trove site. This provided a more effective learning experience as I was able to integrate participants' interests into the workshop.

While I enjoyed my time with the members it was a surprise that I received that put the icing on the cake of my day.  

I was seated beside a delightful gentleman who was recounting the story of his Christening; his name didn't ring a bell with me but when he mentioned  his wife's name, Shirley, I looked at him and said "she's my cousin". He responded with a bemused look until I said we share Elizabeth Phipps as an ancestor. We were both flabbergasted that serendipity had thrown us together in Tea Gardens. I had Shirley in my tree but I was unaware of her current whereabouts. I exchanged details with the gentleman and look forward to sharing ancestor stories soon. 

Sadly I forgot to grab a photo with the gentleman before he left but one of the Group members sent me a copy of one that I have cropped, it's a bit fuzzy but captures the moment of our surprise.

ASerendipitous Meeting for GeniAus

DNA Bounty

Back in 2016 in a post titled Giggle and Scrape I related the story of a luncheon with two of my first cousins and the fun we had when I produced DNA kits from my handbag.

The cousins willingly agreed to take an FTDNA test for me. At the time Ancestry DNA was the new kid on the block and experts were suggesting FTDNA as the place to test. I also uploaded these results to Gedmatch. The number of matches we have received from these matches is rather disappointing. 

Meanwhile in June 2015 I had tested with Ancestry (that new kid on the block) which due to clever and aggressive marketing now has the largest database and is the place suggested by experts as the first choice when diving into DNA testing. I have found at least ten times more good matches on Ancestry than on FTDNA. I have also tested with MyHeritage which is providing some good matches. I have had little joy from 23andMe and Living DNA.

Both Jane (Cousin Number 1 that tested for me in 2016) and me are only children whose parents and all our aunts and uncles are deceased. The good news is that we are double first cousins so all of Jane's matches will be related to me and vice versa. Jane's three daughters who have all tested recently with Ancestry have many shared matches with me. It was a no brainer that Jane needed to spit for Ancestry.

When Jane and the girls visited in October I produced an Ancestry kit and with lots of giggling and encouragement from her daughters Jane dutifully managed to find some saliva. 

The results of Jane's test came in a few days before Christmas.  Even though I have had limited time to examine Jane's results I am thrilled with what I have already found, I am so grateful to Jane for generously submitting to another test. 

Jane's big spit

What I have learnt so far is that Jane and her daughters are my closest matches after my daughter.

Already Jane's matches have provided me with keys to identify and confirm more cousins. In time I hope they will help to bring more of our ancestors out of hiding.

There are many instances where matches are unique to Jane or me, the first of these occurs at the predicted 4th cousin level where Jane has a 75cm match to someone I have been able to identify on our maternal line.

There are also several instances where I have a very small match of 10-20cm but Jane has much higher matches with these persons. Confirmation that my small matches are valid is comforting.

Jane's percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Island ethnicity is higher than mine. 

To avoid confusion I have used the same Ancestry dotting schema for Jane's test as for mine. As someone who isn't too deeply into DNA I use a spreadsheet to track my matches, I had already used this for Jane's FTDNA and Gedmatch results and will add the Ancestry matches there too.

I am so thrilled with Jane's results that I will produce an Ancestry kit next time I catch up with Cousin 2 (1st cousin - paternal line) from 2016. I saw her at a function prior to Christmas but didn't have a kit with me, I won't be caught short next event.

I'm hoping that January will provide me with some time to go through all of Jane's matches down to around 15centimorgans.

GeniAus - #AtoZChallenge - X is for Xerarch

During April 2020 the month of this #AtoZChallenge I will be sharing short posts on some of the 2,000+ descendants I have identified of my 3x Great-Grandmother, Elizabeth Phipps. 

Elizabeth Phipps 1785-1869 was a convict who was transported from England to New South Wales in 1814 per Wanstead. 

---

I haven't yet found a Xavier, Xanthe or other X named individual among Elizabeth's descendants.

Various online dictionaries tell me that Xerarch relates to living things that develop in a dry habitat. I therefore contend that Elizabeth Phipps descendants who mostly grew and flourished in the Colony of New South Wales and after the Federation in Australia are Xerachs. That's the best I can do with an X word!

During my preparations for this challenge I have looked at scores of Elizabeth's descendants. Many are ordinary folk who embraced the opportunities that arose in this new land and have lived happy and fulfilling lives, some have become famous in various fields of endeavour. They have thrived in the harsh environment that Elizabeth was transported to in the early 19th century.

I am proud to be one of our community of Xerachs. 

I love to connect with cousins and fellow researchers. Should you find any errors in my post or have additional information please contact me. 

GeniAus - #AtoZChallenge - O is for Obituaries

During April 2020 the month of this #AtoZChallenge I will be sharing short posts on some of the 2,000+ descendants I have identified of my 3x Great-Grandmother, Elizabeth Phipps. 

Elizabeth Phipps 1785-1869 was a convict who was transported from England to New South Wales in 1814 per Wanstead. 

---

Charles Edward CLIFFORD was a first cousin of Frances Harriet ASHTON.

I don't know how close they were in life but in death they were very close.  They died within a few days of each other and their Obituaries were published next to each other in the Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1961).

It is interesting to note that Charles was allocated more column inches than Frances.

1916 'OBITUARY.', Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1961), 2 June, p. 9. , viewed 06 Apr 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article85880000

Continue to read the second obituary here: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article85880000

I love to connect with cousins and fellow researchers. Should you find any errors in my post or have additional information please contact me. 

On World Genealogy Day....

I am sitting with my grandson and telling him about some famous Aussies he is related to.

I think he is more impressed with being the 3rd cousin once removed of Darren Middleton from Powderfinger than being 2nd cousin three times removed of Football legend Arthur Beetson. Unfortunately I could only think of these two famous people. I didn't want to bore the grandson lest I turn him off so I only shared one more ancestor story, that of his 3xGreat-Grandfater, James Pusell, who bit off a chap's ear in a drunken brawl.

1896 'Biting off an Ear.', Goulburn Evening Penny Post (NSW : 1881 - 1940), 25 July, p. 4. , viewed 09 Mar 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article98568791

As my Grandson was strumming his guitar earlier I showed him the video of Jake Shimabukuru at Rootstech, I thought he would enjoy this maestro's skill with the ukelele. The Grandson thought Jake was "awesome".

We also watched a Facebook live video I made at Rootstech and worked out a way to download it in MP4 format. These techie things come so naturally to 12 year old boys.

Talking about family history with a young descendant is a satisfying way to celebrate World Genealogy Day.

Cousins Baited

I have been in contact with two distant cousins who share my convict ancestor Elizabeth Phipps for around 25 years. We found each other some time last century and shared and communicated for a while.

Then, when along came DNA which proved that we really were cousins, we resumed communications. One of the cousins set up a private Facebook Group where we discuss our research on Elizabeth, her descendants and the paternity of her children. We are hoping that one day we will have a connection with a distant cousins that will give us some clues to solve our paternity problem.

The cousins follow my GeniAus Facebook page and saw that I was to be presenting a talk on "Cousin Bait" at SAG so they signed up. They were baited! I can add this new method of baiting cousins to future presentations.

Please don't tell the other genies who came along to my talk yesterday but meeting Lyn and Leonie, who travelled from outside Sydney to hear and meet me, was the high spot of my day. I'm sure we will see each other again soon.

Leonie, Jill, Lyn

Who is Ralph?

Whenever we visit Mr GeniAus' cousin he sets us a geneatask.

This cousin is a bit of a bowerbird who has many lovely items that have come down through the family to him.

The Miniature of Ralph Weatherburn

This miniature, which thankfully is named, was amongst the cousin's mother's belongings. Our cousin wants to know who Ralph is and if he is a relation. As I have researched cousin's paternal line fairly thoroughly I am guessing that if Ralph is related it is on his mother's line. 

Inscription on the back of the miniature

The purpose of this post is to see if I can find anyone who knows anything about Ralph Weatherburn who died on 27th July, 1830.

A quick bit of internet searching has found the info below.... 

________________________________________________________________________________

Ralph WEATHERBURN (1770-1830)

________________________________________________________________________________

               Name:  Ralph WEATHERBURN

                Sex:  Male

             Father:  Benjamin WEATHERBURN ( - )

             Mother:  Unknown ( - )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Individual Events and Attributes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Birth 1770

Death 27 Jul 1830 (age 59-60)

Burial 31 Jul 1830 Bishopwearmouth, Durham, England(*1)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marriage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spouse Barbara HODGSON ( - )

Children Mary Ann WEATHERBURN (bef1803- )

Sarah WEATHERBURN (1799-bef1799)

Marriage 13 Oct 1798 (age 27-28) Bishopwearmouth, Durham, England(*2)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. "Ancestry".  Ancestry.com. England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Text From Source: Name: Ralph Weatherburn

Gender: Male

Age: 60

Birth Date: 1770

Burial Date: 31 Jul 1830

Burial Place: Bishopwearmouth, Durham, England

FHL Film Number: 1514552

Reference ID: it 1, p 242, no 1935

2. Ibid.  Ancestry.com. England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Text From Source: Name: Ralph Weatherburn

Gender: Male

Marriage Date: 13 Oct 1798

Marriage Place: Bishopwearmouth,Durham,England

Spouse: Barbara Hodgson

FHL Film Number: 91083, 91084

________________________________________________________________________________

Unknown ( - )

________________________________________________________________________________

               Name:  Unknown

                Sex:  Female

             Father:  -

             Mother:  -

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Individual Events and Attributes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(none)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marriage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spouse Benjamin WEATHERBURN ( - )

Children Ralph WEATHERBURN (1770-1830)

________________________________________________________________________________

Barbara HODGSON ( - )

________________________________________________________________________________

               Name:  Barbara HODGSON

                Sex:  Female

             Father:  -

             Mother:  -

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Individual Events and Attributes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(none)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marriage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spouse Ralph WEATHERBURN (1770-1830)

Children Mary Ann WEATHERBURN (bef1803- )

Sarah WEATHERBURN (1799-bef1799)

Marriage 13 Oct 1798 Bishopwearmouth, Durham, England(*1)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. "Ancestry".  Ancestry.com. England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Text From Source: Name: Ralph Weatherburn

Gender: Male

Marriage Date: 13 Oct 1798

Marriage Place: Bishopwearmouth,Durham,England

Spouse: Barbara Hodgson

FHL Film Number: 91083, 91084

________________________________________________________________________________

Ralph Weatherburn KIGHT (bef1822-1822)

________________________________________________________________________________

               Name:  Ralph Weatherburn KIGHT

                Sex:  Male

             Father:  William KIGHT ( - )

             Mother:  Mary Ann WEATHERBURN (bef1803- )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Individual Events and Attributes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Birth bef 21 Jul 1822(*1)

Baptism 21 Jul 1822 (age 0) Southwark Christ Church, Southwark, England(*1)

Residence bef 13 Oct 1822 (age 0) Great Surrey Street, London, England

Death 13 Oct 1822 (age 0) Southwark Christ Church, Southwark, England(*2)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. "Ancestry".  London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Board of Guardian Records, 1834-1906/Church of England Parish Registers, 1754-1906; Reference Number: p92/ctc/021.

Text From Source: Name: Ralph Weatherburn Kight

Gender: Male

Record Type: Baptism

Baptism Date: 21 Jul 1822

Baptism Place: Southwark Christ Church, Southwark, England

Father: William Kight

Mother: Mary Ann Kight

2. Ibid.  London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: p92/ctc/059.

Text From Source: Name: Ralph Weatherburn Kight

Age: 0

Record Type: Burial

Birth Date: abt 1822

Death Date: abt 1822

Burial Date: 13 Oct 1822

Burial Place: Christ Church, Southwark, Southwark, England

Register Type: Parish Register

________________________________________________________________________________

William KIGHT ( - )

________________________________________________________________________________

               Name:  William KIGHT

                Sex:  Male

             Father:  -

             Mother:  -

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Individual Events and Attributes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Occupation 21 Jul 1822 Silk Merchant(*1)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marriage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spouse Mary Ann WEATHERBURN (bef1803- )

Children Ralph Weatherburn KIGHT (bef1822-1822)

Marriage 3 Oct 1821 Bishopwearmouth, Durham, England(*2)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. "Ancestry".  London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Board of Guardian Records, 1834-1906/Church of England Parish Registers, 1754-1906; Reference Number: p92/ctc/021.

Text From Source: Name: Ralph Weatherburn Kight

Gender: Male

Record Type: Baptism

Baptism Date: 21 Jul 1822

Baptism Place: Southwark Christ Church, Southwark, England

Father: William Kight

Mother: Mary Ann Kight

2. Ibid.  Ancestry.com. England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Text From Source: Name: Mary Anne Weatherburn

Gender: Female

Marriage Date: 3 Oct 1821

Marriage Place: Bishop-Wearmouth, Durham, England

Spouse: William Kight

FHL Film Number: 1514547

Reference ID: item 2 p 79

________________________________________________________________________________

Benjamin WEATHERBURN ( - )

________________________________________________________________________________

               Name:  Benjamin WEATHERBURN

                Sex:  Male

             Father:  -

             Mother:  -

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Individual Events and Attributes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(none)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marriage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spouse Unknown ( - )

Children Ralph WEATHERBURN (1770-1830)

________________________________________________________________________________

Mary Ann WEATHERBURN (bef1803- )

________________________________________________________________________________

               Name:  Mary Ann WEATHERBURN

                Sex:  Female

             Father:  Ralph WEATHERBURN (1770-1830)

             Mother:  Barbara HODGSON ( - )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Individual Events and Attributes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Birth bef 17 Jul 1803

Baptism 17 Jul 1803 (age 0) Bishopwearmouth, Durham, England(*1)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marriage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spouse William KIGHT ( - )

Children Ralph Weatherburn KIGHT (bef1822-1822)

Marriage 3 Oct 1821 (age 18) Bishopwearmouth, Durham, England(*2)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. "Ancestry".  Ancestry.com. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Text From Source: Name: Mary Ann Weatherburn

Gender: Female

Baptism Date: 17 Jul 1803

Baptism Place: Bishop-Wearmouth, Durham, England

Father: Ralph Weatherburn

Mother: Barbara Hodgson Weatherburn

FHL Film Number: 1514543

2. Ibid.  Ancestry.com. England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Text From Source: Name: Mary Anne Weatherburn

Gender: Female

Marriage Date: 3 Oct 1821

Marriage Place: Bishop-Wearmouth, Durham, England

Spouse: William Kight

FHL Film Number: 1514547

Reference ID: item 2 p 79

________________________________________________________________________________

Sarah WEATHERBURN (1799-bef1799)

________________________________________________________________________________

               Name:  Sarah WEATHERBURN

                Sex:  Female

             Father:  Ralph WEATHERBURN (1770-1830)

             Mother:  Barbara HODGSON ( - )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Individual Events and Attributes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Birth 17 May 1799 Bishopwearmouth, Durham, England(*1)

Baptism 28 May 1799 (age 0) Bishopwearmouth, Durham, England(*1)

Death bef 9 Aug 1799 (age 0)(*2)

Burial 9 Aug 1799 Bishopwearmouth, Durham, England(*2)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. "Ancestry".  Ancestry.com. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Text From Source: Name: Sarah Weatherburn

Gender: Female

Birth Date: 1 May 1799

Baptism Date: 28 May 1799

Baptism Place: Old Meeting OR Corn Market Chapel High Street-Indesunderl,Sunderland,Durham,England

Father: Ralph Weatherburn

Mother: Barbara

FHL Film Number: 0593805 (RG4 1497)

2. Ibid.  Ancestry.com. England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Text From Source: Name: Sarah Weatherburn

Gender: Female

Burial Date: 9 Aug 1799

Burial Place: Bishop-Wearmouth, Durham, England

Father: Ralph Weatherburn

Mother: Barbara Watson Weatherburn

FHL Film Number: 1514543

Reference ID: item 4 p 28

440 New or Updated Entries

Sometimes I despair that I don't have enough time to devote to my own family's research.

After uploading the latest version of my database (which I store in Family Historian on my laptop) to my family site www.geniaus.net I did a quick calculation on the number of records I have updated since my last upload and it appears that 440 records have been updated. Some of these are completely new records while some existing records had dates and sources added and in a few cases some inaccuracies were corrected. I didn't realise that the half an hour here and there I devote to my database could realise such a good result.

My Family Site

I am keen on adding as many distant cousins as I can to my database as I find having this information available helps me when I am trying to work out where my new DNA matches fit into my tree. So often these matches will know the names of their grandparents or great-grandparents but haven't a clue about earlier generations. 

I find that if I can put forward names of some potential ancestors in my communications with DNA matches I am more likely to get a response like "XX is my Mother" or "XX and XX were my parents. Good Luck." or "XX is my Father. XX was my Grandmother".  For this to happen I need lots of names in my database.

Once I get these responses I can write back and give the new DNA Cousins information on the earlier generations of their family and the ancestors we share thus adding to their family stories. These connections are usually over the moon when they receive this help.

Now that I have penned this post my despair has disappeared.

Just one small green leaf

Yesterday I wrote that I was having some "me research time" and looking at those little green leaves on Ancestry that I have been ignoring.

Well I didn't get past the first hint that was offered. For years I have wondered what happened to Ellen D'arcy, sister of my 2xGreat-Grandmother Elizabeth D'arcy. I knew that she married a Henry Holmes but that was all. My first green leaf directed me to a death notice for Helen Holmes (had I ever thought to search for a Helen?) which looked promising. I looked at the NSW BDM Indexes and found that the father mentioned in the index was named as Michael not John as expected but the deceased's age was close to the mark. I kept digging and found the marriage entry for Helen D'arcy and Henry Holmes. The time and location were right so I continued exploring in Ancestry, on Trove , Familysearch and the NSW BDM indexes. Yes, that little newspaper clipping was for my Ellen.

1903 'Family Notices', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 26 October, p. 6. , viewed 24 Feb 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14575312

My explorations on Ancestry took me to a Holmes tree that, although it had a mistakes, listed a number of descendants for one line of Ellen and Henry's children, these clues were of great assistance. I have since spent a few hours adding descendants to Ellen's tree using the online resources at my disposal. As Irish Catholics they were prolific breeders so I have quote a task ahead of me.

I am thrilled to have located this line as, I know having a few more cousin surnames in my tree will help me solve some more of my DNA matches.

Call me a cynic but I think that was a "first time lucky" hint. I wonder what else Ancestry has in store for me!

Rootstech - A Cousin Connector

With permission from Jean, a genimate downunder, I am posting an email she sent me on the weekend.

Hi Jill

Read your second last communication and saw you had interviewed an Amy
Archibald. Well, Archibald is my maiden name and I do have LDS cousins
in USA, whom I met in 2007. Amy's first name didn't ring any bells, but
realised it would be her husband. Found her blog, with email address and
contacted her.

Turns out her husband's great, great, great grandfather is the brother
of my great, great, great grandfather!

Because you listed her name, I now have found another "cousin" and Amy's
husband has an Australian "twig".

Just wanted to let you know and thank you. You never know...

Enjoy Rootstech!!

Regards

Jean 

Giggle and Scrape

I have suggested on a couple of occasions to two of my first cousins that they might consider doing a DNA test and they seemed open to the idea.

I have on a shelf in my study a few FTDNA kits and have been dithering about potential victims. One was reserved for a grandson who scraped his cheek earlier in the week when I realised that I was going to the US soon and that it would cost me less to post off the samples from there. Grandson has wanted to test for a while but I didn't want to push him or his parents into it. Thankfully his parents have been happy to have him tested. I am thrilled that he has an interest in both science and family history. Perhaps his young brain will help me with interpretation of results.

 As I was meeting the two cousins today for a Christmas catchup lunch I popped two DNA kits in my handbag and thought that I would broach the DNA subject with them over lunch. As soon as we settled at our table I mentioned that I had the kits in my bag, they both responded enthusiastically and agreed to give a sample on the spot. (That's more postage saved). I checked that they hadn't eaten since breakfast and wouldn't allow them to drink the wine that arrived at our table until the cheek scraping was over. They were allowed water.

Cousin 1 scraping

What was a serious event was quite a gigglefest as we considered the skeletons the tests might uncover. I tried to be serious as I explained the issues but I am fairly confident that we won't find any NPEs in recent generations, the cousins bear strong physical resemblances to their late parents. They agree that anything in earlier generations that we might uncover would just provide interest. I think I have uncovered most stories through my traditional research but who knows?

Cousin 2 follows suit

We must have looked a funny sight in this hip restaurant that was populated with people a generation younger than us as our table was littered with FTDNA bumph and a watch to time the scrape sessions.

Scrapefest accessories

As soon as they had performed their duty I (as the bossy eldest cousin) allowed the girls to attack their wine and we toasted DNA and our ancestors. I am so grateful to these two generous ladies who consented so readily to DNA testing (minimal arm twisting was involved).

I am an only child so have no siblings to test. Cousin 1 is my double cousin (our mothers were sisters, our fathers were brothers) so I expect to be a close match with her. It will be interesting to see how many matches we have in common. Cousin 2 is a paternal cousin so having her results will help me determine which of my matches are from the paternal side.

I am feeling on top of the world tonight and thank those three family members who have supported my genealogy obsession with such good grace.

 

A Second Cousin for Mr GeniAus

A few weeks ago we got a copy of a family history written in 2005 that included members of Mr GeniAus' Parkinson line. The common ancestors are William Henry Parkinson and Martha Jane Midgley. On reading the document we discovered that some of Mr GeniAus' previously unknown second cousins had emigrated to Australia from England in the seventies.

We were anxious to contact the female Parkinson descendant in Australia who wrote the history but the contact details we had for her were no longer relevant. She has a relatively common married name so searching for her in the White Pages brought up too many options, we need more than initials to identify her. We planned to check the Victorian Electoral Rolls  for her next week when we visit the National Library of Australia but then .... I started thinking.


Realising that this lady had a brother whose surname was less common than hers I did a Google search, a Facebook Search and a Linkedin search for  him. Bingo - combining the clues I got from these searches and comparing them to the info I had for him in my database and the written history I thought I had found a business 'phone number for this potential second cousin.

Mr GeniAus is not as shy as I am about cold calling people so he immediately got on the 'phone and told his story to the chap who started out hesitant but, after a few minutes, became quite keen. He was quite surprised to receive a call from an unknown second cousin here in Australia. He has taken our details to give to his sister, the genealogist in the family.

So the wait is on. I do hope we hear from her soon.

A First Cousin Once Removed

Some time last year when Mr GeniAus tracked down the contact details of his father's first cousin he immediately contacted her by 'phone and asked would she mind if we visited some time.  Then life got in the way.

Finally on Sunday we made our way up the motorway to the Port Stephens region where the cousin resides. We had armed ourselves with some ancestor charts, a narrative on some of her Ball ancestors, copies of photos and some chocolate biscuits. Can you believe I left my camera behind in our accommodation in Newcastle? Luckily Mr GeniAus and I both had our mobile 'phones. I had my laptop in the car but didn't take it into the house initially as I didn't want to overwhelm this octogenerian. 

Mr GeniAus' Grandfather - there is a strong family resemblance

We organised our arrival for 10:00 am so the cousin wouldn't feel obligated to feed us. Of course we stayed longer and enjoyed lunch with the cousin and her husband. The cousin was most interested in her family history but didn't have any certificates or documents to share. She corroborated stories we had heard and gave us some names and dates that provided enough clues to track down references for some BDMs  and burials. She was able to help us identify some family members in our photos and we set her straight on one she had mislabelled. 

It was a Win-Win day - we came away with images of two studio photographs of Mr GeniAus' Great-grandmother one of which was with his Grandfather. This was so special because the only photos we have of these two are a couple of blurry amateur images. The cousin was delighted because of the documents we had prepared for her. 

The icing on the cake was when I fetched my computer from the car and read the cousin an account of her parents' wedding I had found on Trove. When we got home Mr G printed off a hard copy and have mailed it to her with a copy of her Grandmother's will.

I had a fun day today going through the notes and finding references including articles from Trove to add to my database.

Collaboration Rocks.

Spit Hit - Now I'm a Believer

One of the last geneatasks I carried out before my holiday was The Big Spit in which I provided a sample of saliva for DNA analysis by AncestryDNA.

As I was having so much fun on my travels I didn't think much about this until I was heading home. Conveniently two months later while waiting in the airport lounge in Bangkok I received notification that my results were in. I didn't look straight away but sat on the results until I got home.  So what did I find?

On my DNA page that was clearly set out I found a summary of my ethnicity estimate and links to my DNA matches. I was pleased to find that there were some matches. With the AncestryDNA  service being very new in Australia I thought that I might not find anyone close to me.

My Summary Page

I firstly selected the link to look at my Full Ethnicity Estimate. There were no great surprises there. As all my Dad's side hails from Ireland and Mum has a couple I expected this to be over 50%. The Scandanavian bit was at first a surprise as I have no known ancestry from that region but I guess I can put that down to marauding Vikings who invaded the British Isles (my convict roots?) centuries ago. I have D'arcy in my ancestry so that might account for the Iberian Peninsula percentage.  I was not able to confirm any Australian aboriginal ancestry as I have learnt that Ancestry does not test for this yet.

Full Ethnicity Estimate

It was then time to search for cousins. The results told me that 10 4th cousins or closer plus some more distant ones had been identified. I have been a bit sceptical about all this DNA stuff - how could a bit of spit contain so much information? I haven't the foggiest idea but the results I received confirmed some of the research I have done over the past 25 years.

I am so fortunate that two distant Australian cousins in my tree have undertaken AncestryDNA tests and that their results match mine closely - one as a 3rd cousin and one as a 4th cousin. How's that? Now I'm a believer. That's only two from my list of matches but I now have faith that these others must be related waaaaay back.

My closest match is a 3rd cousin named Michelle with whom I was in contact yonks ago. I had lost her details but have now reestablished communication and she is as excited as me. In a message she said "It is so exciting! I don't know a lot about this line so would love to collaborate with you." We are related through my ancestors James Pusell and Maria Tucker. I have been able to trace the Tucker line back to Datchet, Bucks but in spite of visits to Wigan and their archives and years of searching cannot identify James Pusell with confidence. Hopefully DNA will lead me to an answer.

The image below from AncestryDNA shows how I am related to Michelle. For reasons of privacy I have only shared three generations from the image.

My shared ancestors with Michelle

Although I immediately contacted the other confirmed cousin (with whom I have no previous contact) he has not yet responded. He is a descendant of my ancestor Elizabeth Phipps. Although he does not have Elizabeth Phipps listed in his online tree it was easy for me to work this out from my research and the names he had published.  If one wants to find matches it is vital to link one's DNA results to a tree and to make it public so that others can find you.

I have gone through all of the matches identified by AncestryDNA and cannot work out where we have a connection. Of course some of the matches have not made their info private or shared a tree so I will get round to messaging them individually.

Today AncestryDNA added a new Shared Matches tool that interrogates one's matches trees for shared matches. It showed Michelle as a shared match but not the other cousin (because he doesn't have Elizabeth phipps in his online tree).

As one who has an unscientific brain I find the way the AncestryDNA platform easier to use than the other DNA testing company with which I have tested.

I am trying to decide whom in my family I will get to test next. Perhaps someone on my Dad's side. The two confirmed matches I have so far are from Mum's side so a test from my paternal line will help me organise my matches.

Now I am going to sit back and hope some of my genimates and unknown cousins take a test with AncestryDNA so that their database can grow and provide more surprises.


Disclaimer AncestryDNA provided me with a complimentary DNA testing kit