Can anyone help with this DNA match please

[Lensgirl]

Hi

my husband has a DNA match of 288cm, but i have no idea who this gent is! My husband was born in 1979 and the match was born in 1948, so i think several options can be ruled out as well as the fact this is probably a half relationship?

my husbands mum was born in 1959, grandparents born 1939 and 1934 and great grandparents born 1901,1902,1908 and 1918
matches parents were born in 1917 and 1922, grandparents born in 1888-1899 and great grandparents born 1859-1871

My options are:

59% 2C, Half 1c1r, 1c2r
27% gg uncle, half g uncle, half 1c, 1c1r
14% half 2c, 2c1r

Second cousins would mean they share great grandparent(s), so i think that can be ruled out.
1c mean they would share grandparent(s) so i think that can be ruled out
gg uncle would be a full sibling to my husbands great grandparents? The mothers of his great grandparents were born in the 1870s, so I think based on that age this can be ruled out

I have highlighted the relationships i think can be ruled out in red above, is there anything else i can rule out based on the information i have?

1c1r would be a grandparent to one and great grandparent to the other?
1c2r would be grandparent to one and gg grandparent to another?
g uncle would be sibling to grandparent?
2c1r would be great grandparent to one and gg grandparent to the other?

Unfortunately the shared matches dont give me any hint on where to look further, they both have a nice high match 353 to the match and 123 to my husband, but the name is very vague so no way of trying to establish it on my own. I have messaged both but not sure if i will get a response. Locations dont really match either

My husband has DNA matches that go back to all further generations except to his great grandfather born 1901, i have absolutely nothing on both sides. I have searched the surnames on the matches tree, but nothing is coming up on my husbands DNA matches either.

Apologies if i am not being very helpful here!

[Anne in Carlisle]

If the match has a tree of some sort the thing I do is build a tree for the match myself, bearing in mind the unknown match may not have their tree correct. I have had a good number of successes with the barest of starting information by building a tree. I have even managed it with some who have no trees but an unusual name. The trouble with looking at lists of surnames is that you may not know the surname which links the two and by working through it you add a new branch to your own tree.

It's hard work but rewarding if it works!
Anne

[PhotoFamily]

OH has 4 grandparents, and has close matches representing 3 of those 4 branches, right?

Match288 doesn't match any of OH's known close matches, right?

If the above are true, I would be focused on trying to figure out if Match288 has common ancestry on OH's unmatched 4th branch.

Looking closely at the matches OH had in common with Match288, do any matches resemble that 4th branch? Even if only by location?

Yes, some times the tree isn't put together properly - but sometimes genetic genealogy uncovers things that would never show up on paper. It can be shocking to both parties involved.

Hazarding a guess on the exact relationship based on shared cM is beyond me.

Sometimes the match's public profile may provide clues about them.

Hope that they respond to messaging, and that they are willing to other platforms.

Good luck!

[Lensgirl]

Thanks both. I have created the matches tree myself as they only had their name and then their mothers name. So far none of the locations match, the great grandfather that has no DNA matches was born in Portsmouth but the 288cm is from Buckinghamshire. I have gone back to generations born c1820, and nothing doing so far. Will keep plugging away!

[kylejustin]

Bear in mind you may never know the link, as the paper trail might be the wrong bit...you never know how many paternal events have slipped into trees.