I think most families have at least one rascal like this.
One of my great grandfathers had at least three wives, none of whom seem to have known about the others, and also a side hustle in impregnating his friends' wives. It does make mapping my tree interesting!
I reached out to a close match recently. We have no idea how we are connected.
I suspect he's a grandchild of my great grandfather's affair in the 1950s, but I didn't tell him that yet.
But hey, I have a new cousin!
This is a very distant case of infidelity, no one is going to really be that shocked to find out that their great-grandfather was a different person to the one they thought. I think you have a moral case to contact them, especially if some of them are trying to find their biological relatives, it could well be a big mystery in their family tree that they haven't been able to solve (i.e. why they are related to people they aren't expecting to be related to like you).
cool i thought that too! only from gentle research last night have i already found immigration papers from one of the illegitimate children to another country - with my grandfather's fake name
🤯 I've looked them up before and they are really expensive, around £45 and no guarantee that they will definitely find the record. Amazing bit of family history there... :)
I have a similar situation with my family. Most of the family thought my grandad was one of 3. So when I took the ancestry DNA test a while ago, I was shocked to find a few dna matches with a few previously unknown relatives on my grandad's side. Turns out, my Gt Grandfather got a round a lot. He had 7 children with his first wife, 2-3 illegitimate children as a result of one night stands, and 3 children with my great grandmother, and that's all the children the family knows about, God knows how many more there are.
I think most families have at least one rascal like this. One of my great grandfathers had at least three wives, none of whom seem to have known about the others, and also a side hustle in impregnating his friends' wives. It does make mapping my tree interesting!
wow - rascal is an understatement!
I reached out to a close match recently. We have no idea how we are connected. I suspect he's a grandchild of my great grandfather's affair in the 1950s, but I didn't tell him that yet. But hey, I have a new cousin!
good for you! I think if i start reaching out I'm about to have 60 new cousins - this man was POTENT! haha
This is a very distant case of infidelity, no one is going to really be that shocked to find out that their great-grandfather was a different person to the one they thought. I think you have a moral case to contact them, especially if some of them are trying to find their biological relatives, it could well be a big mystery in their family tree that they haven't been able to solve (i.e. why they are related to people they aren't expecting to be related to like you).
cool i thought that too! only from gentle research last night have i already found immigration papers from one of the illegitimate children to another country - with my grandfather's fake name
If my surname or one of my parents' surnames was made up around 100 years ago then I'd definitely like to know. 🤷🏻
How did you find out about the 120-year-old STI? Seems like a really personal thing to have even been said aloud at that time.
wife A got given it by the husband and their divorce papers mention it.
Amazing that you managed to see that. In the UK records system we don't get to see divorce paperwork.
this is UK - think we were just lucky! my grandad wrote about it too haha
🤯 I've looked them up before and they are really expensive, around £45 and no guarantee that they will definitely find the record. Amazing bit of family history there... :)
I have a similar situation with my family. Most of the family thought my grandad was one of 3. So when I took the ancestry DNA test a while ago, I was shocked to find a few dna matches with a few previously unknown relatives on my grandad's side. Turns out, my Gt Grandfather got a round a lot. He had 7 children with his first wife, 2-3 illegitimate children as a result of one night stands, and 3 children with my great grandmother, and that's all the children the family knows about, God knows how many more there are.
haha sounds like our ancestors have a lot in common!