Genetic genealogy will almost always result in mystery DNA matches, some closer than others. A couple of years ago a mystery match appeared on a paternal branch of my family, one that I was eventually able to work out.

Cousin A matched with me and a number of my close relatives including a great-aunt. Unfortunately cousin A was adopted and knew very little about her birth father. However, because she matched with my great-aunt, I was able to narrow down our connection. She shared her matches with me and when I grouped them, I was able to identify our most recent common ancestors (MRCA) as my 2x great-grandparents, Abraham Hodge and Eliza Grant.

Most Recent Common Ancestors

Abraham and Eliza had seven children born between 1883 and 1899. Based on those dates, and cousin A’s date of birth, I knew her birth father must be related to one of Abraham and Eliza’s children or grandchildren. Some were able to be eliminated as the dates and locations didn’t fit.

Cousin A had a separate group of paternal matches who were not shared matches with the Hodge and Grant families. By building out trees for those matches I was able to identify the intersection of the matches and their MRCA as William Gower and Olive Godenzi. William and Olive had nine children born between 1904 and 1924. I was able to eliminate some of them due to dates and locations which didn’t fit. There was one child who was to prove to be the link. Her name was Vera.

Fortuitously, my grandmother had long ago written down for me what she remembered about various relatives. One of them was her favourite uncle, one of Abraham and Eliza Hodge’s sons, known as Stan. She remembered Uncle Stan as having been married to a woman named Vera and that they had a son named Peter. Stan’s death registration also names both Vera and Peter. Sadly, the relationship broke up when Peter was about six.

Stan and Vera were the link, but I couldn’t find a marriage record for them, and perhaps they weren’t ever actually married. The Gower family lived in the Wilcannia region of New South Wales, near Tilpa, and Vera was born there. Stan’s father Abraham worked in the Wilcannia region in the 1920s and 1930s, including on Marra Station adjacent to Kallara Station where the Gowers lived. As far as I can tell, that’s probably where Stan and Vera met.

Stan, Vera and Peter

There was an age gap of 24 years between Stan and Vera, who lived in Sydney from 1930 to 1935, then in Wauchope on the mid-north coast of New South Wales in 1936 and 1937. Electoral rolls show that Vera must have left around this time, which fits with my grandmother’s memory of them and Peter’s age at the time. By 1939 Vera was certainly living in Sydney where she married a man named Arthur Smith, whose surname it appears Peter used.

As an adult Peter went on to change his name to something else entirely which added some complexity to my search. However, I was able to find and trace him through electoral rolls, which showed he was living in the right place at the right time to be cousin A’s birth father. Relatives on his mother’s side of the family who I found online were kind enough to share information and photos for cousin A.

Via a serendipitous internet search I also found information about Peter’s later years as a fisherman with his own trawler. Interestingly it was quite similar to that of his father. There’s also a definite resemblance between them in photos.

Sadly, cousin A was unable to meet Peter who died in 2021 and had no other children. However, she was able to meet people who knew him well, and I’ve been able to pass on information about some of her birth family.

Having used a combination of traditional research and genetic genealogy I now know cousin A is my second cousin once removed, and have a new relative on my family tree.

Do you have your own mystery match/es? Don’t just rely on DNA, remember to find documentary evidence and build trees as well.

Special thanks to cousin A who gave permission for me to share this story.