What family mystery would you like to solve?

[livingonaprairie]

Just watching Who Do You Think You Are and have always loved finding out family stories. If you were ever famous enough to be on the show, what would you like to find out? For me it would be investigating my granny's family
We found out shortly after she died thar the person we thought was her father (who was still alive when I was little) actually wasn't. He was the father of her 6 siblings but she was the oldest one and born illegitimately at the end of WW1 and he took her on as his own. I'd love to find out about my actual great grandad and his family but we'll never be able to because we don't have any information at all. Are there any interesting family stories/rumours you would love to learn more about if you were famous enough for WDYTYA?

Yes a lot of these “mysteries” could be solved with a DNA test or a couple of hours research.

I want to know how far back the mutual ancestor was of me and a famous actor. We have the same rare surname and my dad looks the spit of the actor. So guessing not that far back

I was told a story as a child that my mother was descended from a famous person in history. By tracing the famous person’s offspring and their descendants it was obviously a load of rubbish. I just wonder where they got the story from. Weirdly looking at paintings there is a likeness between my mother and famous person.
Another I found was my great aunt emigrated to the US with her husband just after WW1 but immigration records show she returned to Britain, stayed about two years then went back to America. She and husband lived together until his death and both became American citizens but why did she return for two years? Gutted I didn’t know this before she died.

Because from all I’ve read they are not actually that reliable. My grandad also apparently had lots of extra curricular interests - I don’t need to find anymore aunts & uncles!

My great grandfather died in the early 1920s when my Grandad was a baby or toddler. Or did he? I can’t find a death certificate. Sadly he has a very common name, but using the electoral rolls I’ve narrowed down his date of death to about 18 months. My great grandmother remarried a couple of years later - would she have risked this if he had run off? There is a family legend that he had changed his name - something to do with the First World War and a pension, but he seems to have been in a reserved occupation. Oh for a time machine…

Not a particularly interesting one, but my great grandfathers father. He was born to a 15 year old mother in 1909 and put down as illegitimate, although I think this was always the case at the time of the parents weren’t married?

Anyway, his marriage certificate does list the name of a father, but I don’t know whether this was really his father/if they met up/kept in touch. I certainly know my great great gran was put into the workhouse, with my great grandfather and another sibling, and she then went on to marry someone else and have more children.

I’m really interested in my ancestry so would love to confirm this but not sure I’ll ever be able to.

Who my paternal grandparents are - my dad was adopted as a baby & was never interested in finding out who his birth parents were & why he was adopted; whether he had siblings etc.
I'm NC with him since I was in my teens, but it weird filling out paperwork & not knowing if there is a history of illness or whether I have other cousins, aunts & uncles etc.
I did try to find out but it's very hard unless your the adopted child or I guess pay a professional.

Which country would the research be in ?

It's quite common that a child would get to know who their parent was by the time they were an adult. Sometimes it is written as " reputed father" or a person is just named.

@nancy75 my husband has DNA connections in the USA from Ancestry. His Great Grandfather left Eastern Europe in 1912. We believe it must be siblings of his who went to the USA. Still working on that link.

Jonbenet Ramsay

Pretty sure the mother did it.

Oops sorry thought this title was "famous" mystery!

I desperately want to find my niece. My brother died and all I have is a photo. It breaks my heart to think I'll never know her. I think she lives in York.

ive had this semi debate with a friend, basically i would like to know if my biological farther knows about me, what he thinks of me, if im similar in anyway to him, eg personality, skill set etc,

and overall if he thinks im a pickle or hes proud of who i am or mostly proud ? that and if hes minted so to speak any chance of £250,000 for my savings fund

My maternal grandmother was found dead in the family flat in Germany.

The gas was on with no flame and a big pot of water was thought to have doused the flames letting the gas flood the flat.

My paternal grandfather was arrested on suspicion of murder and then released without charge.

He then disappeared for months on an alcohol bender, leaving my 17 year old mother and her 15 year old sister to arrange their mother's funeral AND find somewhere else to live as the landlady booted them out.

I would love to know what really happened to my maternal grandmother. Was it suicide? An accident? Or indeed murder.

These family mysteries are all really interesting, keep posting new stories. I've always been interested in people's backgrounds and heritage.

DNA can answer questions as others have said, especially if you transfer to various companies from Ancestry e.g My Heritage to fish in different pools additionally.

@sausawyee get your husband to test his Y DNA at FamilyTreeDNA, may give extra helpful data additionally to AncestryDNA.

The use of DNA and ancestry search sites in some communities aren't as widespread. Stored DNA from the Indian subcontinent for genealogy purposes is still relatively low. People from these communities still have to rely on family trees & anecdotes so positive results aren't so common.

Yes, I would like to know who my grandfather was. It was always shrouded in mystery.

F

@RaspberryWhirls true, 23andme might be worth a go in these cases too, you can begin to see patterns. A work colleague is an Indian orphan, she’s now been able to distinguish mother from father’s side & got her closest match to test grandparents. It won’t solve it yet but she’s on the way.

@Peverellshire plus the forced migration of millions at the end of the British colonial rule resulted in the deaths of many people. In some cases, entire or almost all certain families/ communities were murdered & displaced. So a lot of DNA & family history was wiped out as well; there are families even now with significant gaps in their family history.

@RaspberryWhirls yes, all unfortunately true. Odds are stacked against her but she might get closer or even ultimately lucky. She’s found comfort and community in connecting even with distant relatives & that’s something.

Not my family but inlaws. Great Granny disappeared off the face of the earth leaving four children . The rumour is she was killed by her husband . It ruined her children’s lives.