DNA matches Q

[Merry]

Previously I said on another thread I did wonder if my great-grandfather was really my great-grandfather or whether he was duped into marrying his housekeeper because she was expecting a baby (my gran).

Looking at my DNA matches I see Ancestry has picked up that I am 'extremely' likely to be a second cousin to an individual (Shared DNA: 246cM across 14 segments). This person's grandmother is sister to my grandmother and both those woman are children of the housekeeper and maybe of my supposed great-grandfather.

My Q is, if the two grandmothers/sisters had different fathers would I be able to tell by the degree of DNA match, or are there too many variables to make any assumptions?

[Phoenix]

Best mate's closest is third - fourth cousin: Shared DNA: 191 cM across 13 segments.

Slightly further down the pecking order, a third cousin (tho' possibly removed) ranks lower than a fourth cousin.

I suspect that the balance of probability is that you share a great grandfather. Do you have matches with anyone men of his surname? Or is it Smith?

[kiterunner]

Have you looked at the shared matches, Merry? Maybe some of them will be on your great-grandfather's side to confirm him as your blood ancestor?

[Merry]

I have looked at the shared matches, but this cousin and one other person are the only two I have any idea about. This one I have known my whole life and the other one is a fourth cousin match with my dad's surname (so other side of my tree), but I have no idea who he is (no tree uploaded). All the rest of the names mean nothing at all at the moment.

[Phoenix]

I have been working backwards from the most obscure 5-8 cousin matches to build up ancestor profiles. I do not understand why A matches B and C, B matches A and C, but C only matches A.

Making notes on the matches does ultimately build up profiles. But it has taken up my entire life for two months, and I have only eliminated 11,500 poor matches so far!

[Merry]

lol Phoenix, I think I will have to wait until January!