Be Prepared For an 'Oops'

Any genealogist who's put off DNA testing because he's confident where his Y chromosome came from might want to reconsider.

Genetics students, reports Steve Olsen, are commonly taught that 5% to 15% of the men on birth certificates aren't the biological parents of their children.

As more people opt to have DNA tests to check for genetic diseases or to explore family history, the more geneticists are discovering false paternity assumptions.

"Any project that has more than 20 or 30 people in it is likely to have an 'oops' in it," says Bennett Greenspan, whose company, Family Tree DNA, traces ancestral links. [Link]

Did Polar Explorer Plant His Flag?

Anne-Christine Amundsen Jacobsen, a great-niece of polar explorer Roald Amundsen, wonders if he might have fathered some children while living in the Arctic community of Gjoa Haven in the early 1900s.

"You know, I don't think there are many Europeans having Inuit cousins so I would be very proud if I find some," she said.

At least one Inuk in Gjoa Haven claims to be related, Amundsen Jacobsen said, and she plans to meet with him after she arrives in the community Wednesday, accompanied by her husband and two children. [Link]

One Prolific Painter

Art historians are trying to spot the face of Mary Alford in the works of Victorian painter William Powell Frith. Photographs of Mary—Frith's longtime mistress—were made public only yesterday.

An upmarket version of the picture book game Where's Wally? is to be found in checking masterpieces such as Derby Day and The Railway Station, using two grainy images of Mary which make their public debut today. One shows the dimpled, round-faced Mary on an undercover picnic with Frith; the second is a family group after the death of his first wife, when he finally made Mary what the Victorians called "a respectable woman".

The pictures have been revealed by an anonymous descendant of one of seven children Frith fathered illegitimately with Mary, while maintaining his official family, including another 12 children, a mile up the road. [Link]

Royal Bastards on the Telly

A new documentary on ITV1 will find "Lost Royals" by probing the infidelity of British monarchs.

The experts hope to uncover details of the children of unfaithful monarchs such as Charles II (1630-1685), who publicly acknowledged 14 children by seven mistresses.

ITV controller of current affairs and documentaries Jeff Anderson told Broadcast magazine: “For generations, illegitimate royals have been spirited away with a few quid and told to keep quiet.

“Now we’re going to unmask their descendants and reveal how close they really are to Britain’s most privileged family.” [Link]

Who's Your Daddy?

From WebMD:

Paternity Study Shakes Up the Family Tree

British Researchers Look at How Many Dads Are Unknowingly Raising Another Man's Child

By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Aug. 10, 2005 -- New British research is rattling the roots of the family tree, citing paternity "discrepancy" in perhaps 4% of fathers studied.

"Paternal discrepancy" is a delicate term for a loaded subject. It refers to a man who wrongly thinks he's a child's biological father.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

What Lewis and Clark Left Behind

From the Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune of June 26, 2005:

Corps of Discovery descendants abound

By ERIC NEWHOUSE
Tribune Projects Editor

Darlene Fassler of Great Falls has known all her life that she was the great-great-great granddaughter of Pvt. Patrick Gass of Lewis and Clark Expedition fame.

But last summer at a family reunion in Astoria, Ore., Fassler discovered Gass had 1,061 descendants over nine generations.

"I met 167 relatives in one day," said Fassler, who also volunteers at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.

Fassler's not the only one with lots of famous relatives.

The members of the Corps of Discovery have thousands of descendants — both from their later lives and from sexual encounters during their passage two centuries ago, including many Native Americans with strong evidence of family ties.

The Clatsop Genealogical Society, a key repository of expedition records in Oregon, has identified 1,669 descendents of about half the expedition's 32 permanent members.

Many may not know of their heritage.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

I guess they'd try anything to win over the natives.