Last week I gave some background information and shared my objective and limitations for my current DNA project, Finding William’s Father. I also sent a letter to a potential Y-DNA test taker.
On Sunday afternoon I uploaded my Dad’s DNA data to MyHeritage and DNAGedcom. It should be done processing by next week so I can use some of the clustering tools to try to identify a cluster with unknown ancestors. I’m also excited to be able to add segment data and triangulation to my research plan.
The upload process took just a few minutes, so I spent the remainder of my allotted time creating and analyzing a timeline of Williams’s mother Ann Munford’s life.
The purpose of the timeline for this DNA project is to find out as much as I can about Ann’s location in England at the time William would have been conceived. Then, when analyzing possible fathers for William, I will look for a candidate who was in the same place at the same time as Ann. I found a few clues that I hope will help with additional research to locate Ann in the correct time period. I always create a timeline in Google Sheets, but I did think it was fun to view the timeline for Ann at FamilySearch too because it includes a map of event locations alongside the timeline.
- Ann was born in Costessy, Norfolk, England and lived in nearby areas through at least 1858 when William was born . He was reportedly born in Hethel, although no documentation for his birth is attached to his profile at FamilySearch.
- Ann’s FamilySearch profile shows that she was christened in London, which is about 120 miles from Costessy. A christening location that far from her birthplace doesn’t make sense, and her birth and christening are undocumented, so I need to discover a christening record for Ann.
- Ann’s father Robert Munford’s history states that the family were originally members of the Church of England, but joined St. Walstan’s Catholic church around 1831, so Ann’s christening record may be in Catholic Parish registers.
- In 1851, Ann was enumerated as a servant in the household of Robert Horne in Heigham Hamlet, which isn’t too far from Costessy.
- She was also baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1851. Because of her membership in the church, I may need to look for William’s birth in their records.
- Ann has not yet been discovered in the 1861 census. Robert Munford’s history states that the family left Costessy and moved to London and joined the Reading branch of the church in about 1860, moving to the Walworth Branch and living in the E. Leo Cottages on North Road in Merton. Perhaps Ann was enumerated on a census in one of these areas in 1861.
- Ann and William, along with Ann’s parents and brother Thomas, emigrated to the United States in 1863. A few records for events that occurred after that time in England have been attached to Ann and William at FamilySearch. These records are almost certainly attributed to the wrong people, as Ann and William were no longer in England after 1863.
In addition to clues that will help guide my research plan, I also found a couple of really fun things that I hadn’t seen before. The first was this photo of a younger Ann:
It was attached to her profile in the”Utah Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Database, 1847-1868,” which also listed several sources I haven’t seen before, including three newspaper articles about her. Apparently she was the oldest resident of Parowan before she died at age 90. Here is a great photo of a much older Ann with grand-daughter-in-law Fannie Stubbs and great-grandson Keith Stubbs:
I always enjoy creating a timeline and analyzing all the sources. It’s amazing the clues you can find as you examine every record. As I learn more about my ancestors’ lives, I experience a deeper connection with them. This is one of my favorite benefits of doing family history research.
I look forward to analyzing DNA matches next week. I am hoping that the clustering tools I plan to use will provide some great clues and I can begin charting matches that belong to the Stubbs branch of the family to find possible common ancestors.
