G-G Grandfather??
Hello, Your advice has been so valuable to me in the past and I'm wondering now, if I could ask if any one can help me again, or at least send me in the right direction? I have a D.N.A problem. I am a member of Ancestry and Gedmatch and my brother and sister have also had their D.N.A done as well. I asked them to do this as I thought it may help to solve a 30 yr problem. My G-Grandmother Mary Ann was born on the 18th January 1869 in Elmhurst, Victoria. She was illegitimate, and her mother was Mary Walker/Ferguson nee Gorrian who was from Ireland. There are NO records of Mary Ann, baptism, school records etc….nothing until she marries in Qld and then she marries under her step-father's name of Walker. I have been searching for around 30 yrs to try and work out just who Mary Ann's father was...............all with out success! Even tho' we have all had our D.N.A done, it has not taken us any closer to finding out his identity. I'm not bad at researching, but my knowledge with computers and D.N.A is very limited. Is there any way a member of Family Search is able to help me unravel the identity of my G-G Grandfather??? I thank you for all your help in the past.................I live in hopes..........Best wishes,(name removed) of (location removed)
Answers
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Hi Shirley, that sounds like one tough brick wall. To be frank, DNA isn't my wheel house beyond a general understanding, but I am very familiar with Australian records.
I couldn't find an associated profile for your great-grandmother, but I had a bit of a poke around for you, based on what you've provided here.
Not much comes up in trove under "Gorrian" outside of the mention of an estate, so I'm curious about the spelling. I'm also curious how you know Mary Ann was illegitimate if you've been unable to locate a birth record and she married under Walker?
There was a Mary Going/Goring who married a Samuel Walker in 1852, Victoria (it is indexed twice under both spellings.
They have five (5) children with registered births Sarah (1854), Thomas (1857), Samuel Thomas (1858), Rosella (1859) and Henry (1864). Mary variously appears in the index for these records as Gorrion, Goiron, Goiran and Gorien. Samuel appears twice as Samuel Thomas Walker.
Following your mention of QLD, Mary died in 1917, as Mary Walker, daughter of Sarah and James Gorron.
Of course this may not be your family at all, there is still no mention of Mary Ann and I'm really taking a stab in the dark based on the information you've provided. But it does illustrate a couple of things. Firstly, the wide variation in surname spelling that would suggest broadening your search parameters may help in your search. And second, this may be a case of needing to undertake lateral research, investigating any known siblings for further clues.
If this is your family, it would suggest that Mary Ann wasn't illegitimate and Samuel Thomas Walker was her biological father, and either her birth wasn't registered or it was registered under a spelling variation, or they were in a different geographical location at the time of her birth. (Do you know when exactly she relocated to QLD?). …Though if that's the case, I'm not sure where the name Ferguson that you mentioned in relation to her mother comes in…
If you provide a bit more detail, I could be a bit more targeted, but otherwise I hope this may help in your search.
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Hello RaniM,
Many thanks for your information. Yes, the Mary Gorrian who married Samuel Thomas Walker is my family. Now, information on my G-Grandmother Mary Ann is as follows. Mary Walker/Ferguson nee Gorrian came to Elmhurst in around 1863, by herself. She left Samuel at Mr. Cole. She took the children, Sarah later (M) William Rapkins (Avoca), Rosella later (M) James Underwood, also at Avoca, she also bought Samuel Thomas (jun) and last of all little James Walker also with her……no birth or baptism for James Walker, but all attend the school in Elmhurst…..I have the records. In and around 1865 Mary has her first illegitimate child….Robert Hindaugh, registered at St.Mary's as her child. Then she has the second illegitimate child……….my G-Grandmother Mary Ann. By the way, Mary's husband Samuel Thomas was "floating" around N.S.W at this time and I believe since leaving Mt. Cole, Mary did not see him again. Mary Ann's birth is not registered and I have scoured almost every church for miles around in order to find her baptism, but to no avail. Mary Ann is not registered with the other children at the school at any time. In fact, there is NO RECORD for her until she marries Robert James Healy up in Nerang Qld around 1893? I have the certificate………After the birth of Mary Ann in 1869, Mary Walker meets a man called George Ferguson and they marry in 1871. Mary is pregnant, and she suffers a terrible time at the hands of George (he is violent) and is thrown out. Matilda Ferguson is born, but when Matilda marries, she also marries under the name of Matilda Walker and (M) Berg in Qld. Between 1873-3 Mary sells every thing up and goes up to Nerang to be with her sister Rose Duncan nee Gorrian. Robert Hindaugh does not marry or have children and dies in Qld. James marries twice…….no children. Samuel Thomas Jun marries…..no children. A very involved story…………one that I have just finished putting into a book. Now, I know that Mary Ann is Illegitimate as I have no "hits" with D.N.A through her, ONLY on Mary Walker/Ferguson nee Gorrian's side of the family. I have a couple of "hits" on the Rapkins line and also on the Underwood's line and even a "hit" of D.N.A on Matilda Berg/Walker nee Ferguson's line…………At one point I thought that Mary Ann may have been adopted? , but since having a D.N.A hit on the Gorrian side of my family, this should mean that Mary Walker/Ferguson nee Gorrian would be her natural mother. Many thanks for your interest and knowledge…………best wishes…….(name removed).
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It sounds like you've been incredibly thorough in your research. Full credit to you. I'm sorry I wasn't able to be of more help.
Based on your findings, circumstantially it certainly sounds as though Mary Ann was most likely illegitimate. Though as far as "hits" go, my understanding is matches are only as accurate as the data pool of submissions. ie if no-one from Mary Ann's paternal line has also submitted DNA to match with, you won't get a hit, Walker or otherwise. So it's not fool proof as far as ascertaining illegitimacy, unless you have also been able to trace her siblings via DNA and they do match with Walker lines.
I would say she would have been too young to register in VIC school records, but not appearing with her siblings in QLD is a head scratcher.
Again sorry not to be of more help. I hope you are able to find answers, though in the end it may be one of those mysteries. Best wishes, Rani.
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Hello Rani,
Thank you again for your help. Rani, can i now delete my question and your answers from this session? Many thanks again for your interest. Best wishes…….(name removed).
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We users cannot delete our posts or comments. And, they may be useful to others.
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@Cinny22 Mod note: Community is a public online forum. For your privacy, your posts were edited to remove a name that is not part of your username. Please see the Community Code of Conduct for more details.
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