A Bullock Breakthrough

My father-in-law Ernie grew up in Liverpool, England. He was orphaned and he had very little information on his ancestors. What little information he gave us was mostly incorrect, which blocked any progress in discovering his ancestors. But he knew the names of his parents, and when records became available online, the search began in earnest. His parents and siblings were easily findable online. And this made it possible to find many of his ancestors, But the ancestors of his grandmother Jane Bullock remained a mystery. I found that Jane's father was Edward Bullock from Wales and her mother was Margaret Curphey from Douglas on the Isle of Mann. I had some success with Margaret's ancestors but Edward's ancestors were another matter. (BTW the Isle of Mann seems like a fascinating place)

Then I found Edward Bullock mis-indexed in the 1851 census as "Edwd Botock Head 44 1807 Male Montgomeryshire, Wales". This was information I needed! Recently. I found his christening 6 March 1808 in Berriew, Montgomeryshire, Wales. Parents were John Bullock and Elizabeth Edwards.

John Bullock was christened 10 June 1778 in Velindre, Montgomeryshire, son of John Bullock and Elizabeth Davies.

John Bullock was christened 10 June 1750 in Manafon, Montgomeryshire, son of John Bullock and Elizabeth Cowdell,

This John Bullock was christened 13 January 1704 in Welshpool, Montgomeryshire, Wales, son of Charles Bullock. I have found no wife for Charles.

There are too many Elizabeth Edwards and Elizabeth Davies in the Welshpool district to know which ones were the mothers in the Bullock line ... at least for now.

Fortunately Cowdell is not such a common name.

Elizabeth Cowdell was christened 28 April 1722 in Manafon, Montgomeryshire, Wales. She was the daughter of Richard Cowdell and Mary.

Richard Cowdell was christened 29 April 1693 in Manafon, Montgomeryshire, Wales. He was the son of John Cowdell and Anne.

John Cowdell was christened 2 Apr 1643 in Forden, Montgomeryshire, Wales, son of George Cowdell and Ann.

I would start by researching each person in FamilySearch, then in Ancestry.com, and then in fandmypast. I was very impressed by each of them, and I found the Welsh christening records in findmypast especially helpful in the early years. 

DNA Research

Over the past few weeks I have had frequent phone calls from a man I will call "Kay". It has been an interesting journey with him.

Kay had taken a"family finder" autosomal DNA test from AncestryDNA. To his surprise he discovered that his father was not his biological father. Out of curiosity, he was trying to see if he could find his biological father.

In his DNA matches, Kay noticed several matches to the name of Buchanan. He was contacted by someone who was related to President James Buchanan, and wondered if I had any suggestions to identify which Buchanan family he was related to. I told him that my Buchanan family has no known connection to the family of the former president of the United States, although both families came from County Tyrone in Ireland.

He offered to let me look at his DNA matches. When I did, I was surprised! Of the closest matches that showed a pedigree or a common ancestor, over 70% were members of my great-great grandparents family! So now we knew which Buchanan family he was related to. Welcome to the family, Kay!

From the Common Ancestor information, Kay appears to be a descendant of Robert Buchanan (born in 1815 near Castlederg, County Tyrone), my great grandfather's oldest brother, and of Robert's second wife, Margaret Booth. (born about 1832 in County Tyrone). Some of Robert's great grandchildren lived in the general geographical region of Kay's birth. But who is his father? There are many possibilities.

Kay's next step was to take a YDNA test with Family Tree DNA, to see whether there are matches to known members of my family. If there is a match, we will know that Kay's birth father had the surname of Buchanan. If there are no matches to my family, the test may be even more helpful, because it should indicate the surname of Kevin's biological father, which should greatly limit the number of possibilities.

Why? If it is Kay's biological father's mother or grandmother who was a Buchanan, his father's name will not be Buchanan but should appear on the list of known descendants. And it should be a much shorter list.

Now we are waiting for the results from Kay's YDNA test to see what clues it can offer. He says that he will always love the father who raised him, and he will always be a member of that family, even if he succeeds in identifying his biological father. I think it is the only attitude that makes sense. Family is much more than biology!  Family is love.