Wednesday 28 February 2018

New Ross DNA cousin connections

Experiencing genealogy excitement is a feeling that only other genealogists can appreciate. I've recently had some of more of those feels, when I heard back from a woman I had messaged on Ancestry.

I had discovered a previously unknown 2nd great uncle, Thomas William Ross (b abt 1814 in Scotland), mentioned here, who had gone to St Vincent in the Caribbean in the 1800s. On Ancestry, I found two other trees that mention him. I contacted both tree owners, and heard back from one of them. My newest DNA cousin tells me that it is her family's belief that Thomas fathered a child while in St Vincent, and that he is her 3rd great grandfather. DNA testing that shows that in addition to African DNA, she also has British and Irish DNA.

Off I went to start research of St Vincent records, only to quickly screech to a halt. Genealogy research of St Vincent records is very challenging. Much hasn't been digitized, and there is also the reality that record keeping was less than complete there in the 19th century.

My newest DNA cousin thinks that Thomas returned to Scotland in the 1860s, but I can't find any trace of him in Scotland's People, or looking in the UK's BMD census records. So far. It may take time, but I'm very hopeful that I'll eventually find out whatever happened to great great uncle Thomas.

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to finding out more about his likely descendants, that sprang from the child he is believed to have fathered in St Vincent. While I'll work on establishing some contact with the St Vincent Archives, I hope to get more information from my latest DNA cousin and will try not to ask too many questions all at once in my excitement.

If you're a descendant of my ancestor great uncle, please contact me, using the email link to the right on this page.

The never ending story continues....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

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