The hunt for an unknown father

[MickM]

This is my first post to the forum so I hope it reads clearly enough for everyone to understand.

Although I have no pressing need yet for any DNA testing in my family, my wife’s tree does have a niggling little problem which I know is far from unusual. The said problem is that her father’s father is unknown (yes, it’s that little problem again) and, although her parents have passed on, the identity of the grandfather is something she and her siblings, 9 in all, have always naturally wondered about. There is, though, a vague understanding that the errant unknown father was in the army and managed to get himself posted elsewhere fairly quickly.

Although I believe the chances of finding the identity of the unknown man are fairly minimal, am I right in thinking that if one of my wife’s brothers is willing to take a YDNA test, there a possibility that a match could be made with someone who could also be a descendant of Mr Unknown. Obviously, the other descendant(s) would also have had to have taken a YDNA test, and be willing to correspond etc (assuming there are other descendants, of course).

Would Ancestry be the best option if I’m right (which would mean resubscribing)?

 

[jorghes]

Sounds clear enough to me.

As far as I know about the discovery of the errant father, a direct male descendant is needed for the yDNA test to work properly. I also have a missing great-great grandfather in my own tree, but any hope of discovering his identity through yDNA is lost, as his only son in my line was my great-grandfather (who died in the 1970s) and then his only surviving son was my maternal grandfather, who died in the 1980s. With no direct male descendant to test, we're stymied!

Ancestry won't help if you want to do a yDNA test though, as they don't offer one. I think FamilyTreeDNA might... ? (I'm not completely up on the offerings from all the companies.)

Ancestry has the biggest database of people who have been tested, which means there is a better chance that you will get DNA matches with other people, and possibly with a descendant of the before-said missing individual. It has its own pitfalls, which are often those people who test and don't have any family trees on the site, or have only 10-25 people (which usually makes it virtually impossible to know who they are, unless you already have those 10-25 people on your own tree); or those who don't seem to know much about their own ancestry. Then of course there is always the issue that neither of your trees might go far enough back to find the appropriate link!

I hope that helps, and I definitely hope that if I've steered you slightly wrong, that someone will come along and correct me!

 

[Rhian]

As Jorghes says FTDNA are the only one offering Y DNA tests currently and from experience the results are poor, their suggestion is to spend more money on another test then to spend even more on a big Y test. You could spend a $1000 per person testing just Y DNA with them and still know nothing.

You could opt for the at DNA test offered by most companies, but that will not restrict the search to the male line and you may need several, male or female, testers to get a better picture of where matches sit in your tree. Do not get persuaded to test with any company because of the size of their database, in my experience 80% of matches are with people who have no online data for you to check or do not answer emails. Quality is preferred over quantity.

If you have several hundred in spare cash then give it a try, expect no results, then if you get any it will be a pleasant surprise. In any case I would never recommend anyone to join Ancestry, I rate them marginally above MyHeritage who are outright criminal money grubbers. Others will have different opinions.

 

[peter]

Forget Y-DNA for now because it's expensive and the chances of getting any useful matches at all are small. Instead, order the Ancestry DNA test before the offer ends on Thursday - it's an autosomal test which will give you thousands of matches, and roughly a quarter of them will be connected to you via each of your grandparents.

Ideally you would also ask a paternal cousin to test, ie someone who shares that grandfather - that way you can focus on the matches you share, which will obviously be from your father's side, and the ones you share are also likely to be the closer matches. (Note: you'll save on delivery if you order two tests at the same time - you don't have to give the person's name at the time of ordering.)

The challenge will be to work out how you are connected to your DNA cousins - and that's what I'm going to be writing about in my next newsletter.....

 

[Pauline]

Would Ancestry be the best option if I’m right (which would mean resubscribing)?

To test with Ancestry you need to have an account, but you don't need to have a paid subscription - you can set up a free account. Not everything useful to a DNA tester is available without a subscription but the FAQs outline what is.

In the long term you may find it more useful to have the test results in or linked to an Ancestry account of a paying subscriber.

 

[MickM]

Thank you all for your replies, they are all helpful.

Although I am registered with Ancestry I have not renewed my subscription since last year. They have provided me with lots of information and copies of documents which have helped my tree to grow, but I have decided for now to restrict myself to Findmypast. I know there is a lot more information in Ancestry's records which would contribute greatly to understanding my family's past, but I do not have so much money that I can use more than one service at a time. There are also some unbelievable public trees on there!

I know that an autosomal test would produce a lot of matches to investigate but, unfortunately, there are no paternal cousins that we are aware of which is why I thought that a YDNA test would fit the bill. I appreciate that there is no guarantee about results with such a limited test. I have regularly visited this forum for some time and I am confident in, and respect, the experience of those of you who have replied, so I feel that I will not be trying out FTDNA for the moment. For all we know, my wife's grandfather was from the US and Ancestry's American-weighted database could be an advantage; however, he may equally have been an exiled White Russian which might not be so useful.

For now, I think that we will wait and see what develops and how better the DNA testers get with their accuracy.

Thank you all again

 

[Bob Spiers]

In any case I would never recommend anyone to join Ancestry, I rate them marginally above MyHeritage who are outright criminal money grubbers. Others will have different opinions.

I'm glad you finished with 'others may have different opinions' Rhian, because certainly I do. I often agree with your comments and do so now with what you say about My Heritage, as I have often vocalised about how people should give them a wide berth. But Ancestry, no way. They do not deserve to be placed in the same league as MH, as they are a cut above and by a fair margin. For you to even hint that they are little better than MH, makes me wonder what disservice they have done for you to grade them in such a way. I subscribe to both Ancestry & FMP and if I had to choose -which thankfully for the moment I do not need to do - Ancestry would be the winner. As you say others may disagree!

 

[peter]

For now, I think that we will wait and see what develops and how better the DNA testers get with their accuracy

Autosomal DNA tests are already very accurate and the matching with cousins is already so good - at least, at Ancestry - that I can't imagine how it could be made any better.

You don't need to be an Ancestry subscriber to buy their DNA test, but you may well find that you are offered a half=price subscription when you place your order - in which case few could refuse.

The Y-DNA situation isn't going to change - the problem isn't the accuracy of the tests but the small number of people who have tested. But if you think you might be lucky you can currently get a Y-DNA test for $139, a saving of $30 (this link will support LostCousins). There also sales on some other tests, including Family Finder.