My client had been searching for her grandfather for over twenty years to no avail, she enlisted my help to find him. By using DNA analysis and records the following story unfolded, with a twist in the tale.
She remembers visiting her grandmother in London before her parents moved their family to Australia, just after the Second World War. A picture of her grandfather sat on the mantel piece at her grandmother’s house. When she asked her grandmother about him she was told he was a Scottish Soldier who died during the First World War, and that is all you need to know. She longed to know more about him, and despite all her efforts she could not find any information to progress her research. There was no paper trail.
My client decided to have her DNA tested and hoped it would provide some more avenues of research. Surprisingly, the results revealed little Scottish ancestry, the results also provided a close match to a second cousin living in Australia. It became evident that my clients grandfather was not a Scottish soldier but an Australian. Careful analysis of the matches led to the discovery of two candidates; both brothers born in Australia who potentially could be my clients grandfather.
During the First World War my clients grandmother was working in Dublin, and gave birth to a baby girl in 1918. In order for this to occur one of the two brothers must have been in Dublin in approximately 1917-1918. The only logical conclusion was that one of the two candidates went overseas to serve during the First World War. A search of the Australian Service Records revealed that one brother tried to enlist in 1915 and was rejected, not making it out of Australia. The other brother enlisted to serve in 1916, his service record indicated that he potentially was in Dublin at the right time to have met my clients Grandmother. The service records also contained correspondence letters, amazingly one of these letters was from the Reverand of St Agatha’s Presbytery in Dublin. He wrote on behalf of my clients Grandmother to the Australian Army stating that the said soldier had fathered a child, and to kindly ask if this information and the letters written by my clients Grandmother be forwarded to his corresponding address. This was like finding gold, a definite Eureka moment! The correspondence letter within the service records provided details that simply would not have been found or known elsewhere. The letter also provided the paper evidence required to support the DNA analysis.
However, further research conducted on both brothers in Australia raised anomalies and questions that needed to be addressed. It appeared as though the brother who had enlisted in Melbourne in 1916, and served overseas was also living in Sydney, working on the railways at the same time. He was married and had three children, one was born in 1918, when he was meant to have been overseas in active service.
The brother who enlisted in 1916 was repatriated to Melbourne in 1919, he had left England in December 1918 just after the birth of my clients mother. The repatriation file was ordered from the National Archives of Australia to try to gain some clarity. This raised more anomalies. The repatriation file related to someone living in Melbourne, not
Sydney, who was trying for approximately ten years to obtain a disability pension for contracting tuberculosis. He was an inmate in two sanatoriums, the correspondence between Doctors raised questions regarding his given name. The repatriation file, coupled with other records and further research revealed that the brother who had actually served was the younger brother, who had originally enlisted in 1915 and been rejected. He had re-enlisted in 1916 using his brother’s name, and was therefore the soldier in Dublin in 1916, and my clients grandfather.
I thoroughly enjoyed conducting this research with the many twists, turns and Eureka moments. It was an absolute pleasure and a joy to present the report to my client, who is now able to get to know her ancestors.
My client sent me the above photograph after going to introduce herself to her grandfather. She placed a ‘remember me’ rose next to his grave on behalf of her grandmother and her mother.
I am currently writing up this research as a portfolio piece for my post graduate Diploma in Genealogy at the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies. The above is a very simplified version of events. I hope to be awarded the Diploma in 2026.
