Mum didn't register birth

[Glen TK]

Originally Posted by Mary from Italy

You lost your Goulsons?

Based on dna results I sure have, several descendants have tested and aren't matches to me, my paper trail 1st cousins only share enough dna to be half cousins and somehow I'm related to descendants of a long established fairground family but those half cousins aren't.

[Mary from Italy]

Goodness, that's a blow after all the research you've done into them!

The same happened to me a few years ago, when it turned out that my grandmother's father wasn't the man named on her birth certificate. Had to bin a large part of my tree and the associated research...

[kiterunner]

I haven't "binned" the parts of my tree that turned out not to be biologically related to me, just kept them as "step" relatives. They are still my relatives on paper, and also the tree and the research can help other people.

[Olde Crone]

Ooh Glen, I do feel for you.

I never bin anything because I cannot bear to waste the research and as Kate says, it may help someone else (although a contact to whom I gave 200 year's worth of research was very cross with me when I said that this family was no relation to me after all - why have you researched them then?).

Twice I have had to unhook a large part of my family when it turns out that biologically they had an unknown father, who was probably/certainly not the man who brought them up. In one case I only discovered it by accident and realised that people often didn't worry about telling lies to the registrar but couldn't quite bring themselves to lie to the vicar! They are still on my tree though.

OC

[Glen TK]

When it boils down to it the bits that aren't 'mine' anymore could still be the ancestors of my half cousins so it stays in my tree. The downside is the hints that keep coming up, even when I dismiss them someone else will accept it (often without checking), and then it comes up as a hint again.

[Mary from Italy]

Originally Posted by kiterunner

I haven't "binned" the parts of my tree that turned out not to be biologically related to me, just kept them as "step" relatives. They are still my relatives on paper, and also the tree and the research can help other people.

Oh yes, I've also kept the research for other people to use, but I'd spent an awful lot of time on it, and had to start again from scratch.

I've only kept the husband and his parents on my own tree; no point in having 5 generations' worth of his ancestors on it.

[JBee]

When I failed to buy a marriage certificate because I assumed - yes terrible - that I knew who grandfather was but was wrong I kept the file and certificates etc.

I'd visited record offices hundreds of miles away and spent a lot of time researching. However last year I was able to share my research with two different people.

As for DNA my son and OH have done theirs but I'm not getting the results that I want to break down brick walls.

I'm now awaiting the results of my DNA test but am not hopeful.

[Glen TK]

I've got certificates but the dna results contradict what the certs show, all my cousins dropped from full to half cousins and I have try and find two grandfathers now.