Most importantly, my cousin and I took a decision at the end of 2019 to get my aunts DNA assessed. We ordered the kit from My Heritage and my aunt supplied a sample for analysis. When the results came back, I uploaded my own DNA results from 23andMe to My Heritage so the two samples could be compared. This made it possible to separate the DNA relatives on my maternal grandparents’ side from the DNA relatives on my paternal grandparents’ side
Even so, the process of tracing family lines is fairly complicated. Most of the DNA relatives that come up are third to sixth cousins. They could relate to people in my grandmother Sandy’s lying and not my grandfather David’s line. I will have to keep plugging away until I find DNA relatives with surnames I recognise or, at least, from distinctive locations in the UK before i can say for sure that a particular grouping of matches belongs to David himself.
Other news is that I have made an application for David Scott Ritchie’s unabridged death certificate in the hope that it will show his place of birth. As described earlier in this blog, all attempts to find his birth certificate have been in vain. In order to apply for UK citizenship, I need some sort of official documentation proving that he was born in England. The unabridged death certificate should, theoretically, have this information on it although I still don’t know whether it does because it has not yet been found. This in spite of the fact that I have been waiting on the South African Department of Home Affairs for a full 12 months.
Such are the challenges of tracing ones lineage! I could get frustrated but prefer to keep a positive outlook and regard it all as one big, fascinating adventure. When all is said and done, the past is the past and we must live in the present.
Photo credit: "DNA Kit" by Geoff Stearns.
