JANET WRITES:
I read your column in Family Tree magazine with interest each month. It is amazing what advancements in solving family relationships DNA has made. I have a family mystery which I think may intrigue you and a question – can you triangulate DNA to give a likely place for someone on a family tree?
Our mystery relates to the Pyatt family and we have three DNA matches for myself who has a Pyatt grandmother, ‘Emma’ Pyatt and Hannah Hamilton née Pyatt. Our mystery surrounds the identity of Hannah’s paternal grandmother. Her father, Peter, was placed in a home only knowing that his birth certificate recorded his parents as John and Marjorie Pyatt. Using DNA, we have identified that Peter’s father was in fact a Greek gentleman, which leaves us to assume, as the three of us have reasonably close DNA matches, that the Pyatt connection must be through Hannah’s paternal grandmother. Obviously as I am writing to you a Marjorie Pyatt cannot be found anywhere. Despite creating a tree relating to the Pyatts, I appear to have ruled out most as candidates and wondered if your experience of DNA could help us narrow down where she would sit on our
