#GenealogySelfieDay A DNA Discovery

-


Today is #GenealogySelfieDay and this is my second photo. Like Shelley Crawford said, 'If only I could participate in genealogy selfie day without actually posting a selfie.'  I fully agree with this statement!  The idea was to take a selfie and then write a blog. Here I am.

 I have been 'doing' my family tree for 34 years, last month and about two or three years into it, I met children of a half-sister. She was from dad's first marriage.  It transpired that she had given several children up for adoption. The children I met wanted me to look for them and while I could have done so, I felt it better if they searched for the siblings.  I heard nothing more.

 Fast Forward, to Wednesday 29 January 2019.  I have only just done my Ancestry DNA and ther are still matches coming through.   I also made a decision to skip over those, without trees and concentrate on the ones, with trees, first.  On Wednesday morning I hit 200 matches, a second cousin, with NO tree.  I don't know what compelled me to contact her but I did. A short chatty message, listing the main surnames on my tree. A reply came in ********* is on my tree but as dad was adopted, we aren't sure.  I asked a question, about his age, at the adoption, she replied about 3 or 4, his mother was ******* *********. I froze, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, I had found the son, of my half-sister.  More questions and answers flew, between us, checking and confirming information, we both had. We have now arranged to meet up in March, halfway between our two homes.

 The spooky thin is,  29 January was the birth date of  this chap's dad. Coincidence, I don't think so.

 Lesson learned, check even those without trees.

 Bye for now,
Lilian

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lost in DNA Weekend Part 1. (my 600th post)

-
Image
Now the title of this post might have you scratching your head and wondering, 'what is she going on about?'  But if you belong to the Society of Australian Genealogists,  https://www.sag.org.au/   you will know what I'm talking about. Twice a year the Society has 'Lost In' weekends, covering a wide range of topics, some are face-to-face and some are webinars. Both are great. This past weekend was held at the Portside Conference Centre, Sydney, on Saturday and Sunday. Some of the group, early on Saturday morning. The room was filled, both days. The topic for the weekend was DNA and whilst we aren't NCIS Agents, looking for a killer, we are still trying to find that elusive ancestor, who is just out of our reach. Or so they thought! Saturday was a warm, humid day in Sydney, just the sort of day you want, when digging for ancestors. The Society had put together a varied program, so that novices and experts were covered. Martyn Killion was our chair and sta
Read more

Transcription Agents.

-
Hi, As it is very wet both in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, genealogists just might spend their weekend doing research and ordering certificates. Below are the details of transcription agents, very useful people. Here in New South Wales (NSW), we have three transcription agents, Joy Murrin, Marilyn Rowan and Laurie Turtle. These wonderful people and save you money, when you want a certificate, to verify a birth, death or marriage. What, might you ask is a transcript? A transcript is an actual copy of a document, everything written on it. This is very helpful if you are looking for say a marriage and know they split-up. I have several transcripts of different marriages, where in the comments section is, decree absolute and a date, etc. or who gave permission, if the parties were under age. Joy Murrin , of Joy Murrin Family History Service, offers transcripts for NSW, Victoria, England and Wales, Scotland and New Zealand. http://www.joyinfamilyhistory.com/ Joy also offers parti
Read more

Part 3 of Our Trip, Alice Springs to Tennant Creek

-
Image
Our first full day in Alice Springs and we were on the coach by 7.30am, to head to the Alice Springs Desert Park. Our guide, Renata, showed us around and explained the various plants and their uses. Indigenous People, look at the bush and think about how they can use the plants. They use them in one of three ways, for food - supermarket;  tools - hardware and medicine- pharmacy. The park has several aviaries and a nocturnal house and this cute chap, an Australian Bustard was keeping and eye on us. Part of the park. We also saw a Birds of Prey show and using my phone I managed to capture the Wedge tailed Eagle 'catching' food. It is such a magnificent bird. From the park we went to the Royal Flying Doctor Service base and listened to an informative talk on both the history of the service and how it works in the 21st century.  This is such a vital service for those living in outback Australia. Next stop was the Old Telegraph Station , established in 1872.
Read more