Who was George's mother?
Can we find the identity of George's mother by analysing our 'X' DNA results?
The 'X' chromosome has special inheritance properties and it is through matches on this chromosome that have given us hints on the identity of Georges mother. Both my mother and her sister Margaret inherited an identical 'X' chromosome to their father Edward Arthur Roberts, from his mother, their paternal grandmother - Abigail Courtney b1871. It was handed down 'in tact' from their father, as men do not recombine the 'X' when they pass it on to their daughters.
Given the properties of the 'X' chromosome Georges mother should be able to be identified from one of these groups provided Abigail's recombined ‘X’ chromosome contained both paternal and maternal segments. So far, our analysis shows the following break up for Abigail's 'X' chromosome and by using other matching results for segments on chromosomes 1-22, it has been concluded that segments on both the paternal and maternal sides exist.
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| Chromosome 23 (X) - Abigail Courtney c1871 |
The genetic analysis of Abigail Courtney's genome to date, has identified several segment areas passed to her from her father Arthur George Courtney. Two family groups have emerged from this analysis, these families have both been the subject of previous posts.
* Webster/Reneson of Middlesex - via descendants of Nurse Ann Muggeridge, b1820, who was residing with George and his family in the 1871 census; and
* Williams/Taylor also of Middlesex - possible connections to a Romany family via the daughter Ada Edith Williams b1892, who married firstly James Dean and then James Rae. Based on the dates our connection is likely to be via an ancestor of Ada. Our X match with one of these descendants is 96cMs over two segments on X, plus additional triangulated matches on chromosomes 10 and 16.
We only have a limited number of matches to both these couples, but interestingly, there are members in both groups who are shared matches at AncestryDNA and we have members from both groups being part of the same triangulated groups (TG's) on other chromosomes. Clearly there is a connection between the two.
Persons of interest
1. Ann Muggeridge/Rudd, nee Webster b1820
Ann Muggeridge (nee Webster) is of particular interest given she can be found living with George in 1871, described as a nursemaid presumably looking after twin daughters Abigail and Alberta who were 3 months old at the time. George was said to be born in 1841 and Ann in abt 1820, so where does Ann fit into our story?
* Could she be George's mother? Ann was born in the right timeframe to be George's mother, however in 1841 she can be found living at Burn Street, Marylebone, Middlesex with husband James Rudd and son William aged 1. It seems unlikely that George would be a child of this couple, unless William changed his name later in life. His wife Abigail (nee Paice) does name the twins father as George 'William' Courtney when registering their births in 1871. We have at least 8 confirmed auDNA matches from Ann, through both of her husbands (John Muggeridge and James Rudd) so it seems more likely that Ann is the blood relation, not one of her husbands. If she was George's mother, why not record that when they are together in 1871, unless George was disguising his identity for some reason?
* Could she be George's aunt? It would seem more viable that Ann might be an aunt or other family relation. Ann's parents were James Webster and Elizabeth Reneson, so could George be a child of one of their other children? To date, I have identified only 3 siblings but there could be more - Thomas 1816, Emma 1828 and George 1832. Given the span of years there are likely to be more children in this family group, more research is needed to identify other possible siblings, or perhaps half siblings as Ann's mother did marry twice, secondly to a man named Job (Joseph) Sangwell in 1843.
* Could she be George's sister? Ann did have a brother George (b1832) who is not that much different in age to our Arthur George Courtenay who, if we can believe the 1871 census was born circa 1841. Could he be the same person? See #2 below.
* Could she be George's cousin? To be a cousin George would have to be descended from one of the siblings of either James Webster or Elizabeth Reneson. Elizabeth had at least three siblings, Edward b1790, Thomas b1794 and Sarah b1797. James' siblings are unknown and his parentage unclear.
2. George 1832, child of James Webster and Elizabeth Reneson
3. What became of William Rudd b1840/1, son of James Rudd and Ann Webster?
William is the about the same predicted age of George, could this be him? I've always thought it was unlikely but what happened to him? It is possible that he might be the William Rudd who married Sarah Evans in 1862 (both their fathers were James), but there is no other evidence that confirms this contention. To date I have been unable to find him in the census records for either 1851 or 1861.
The Rudd line may no longer be in contention, as we now have matches down from Ann, via both husbands, suggesting the segments are more likely from the Webster line. However, William would have inherited his mother's X chromosome.
4. Henry Taylor - witness at the wedding of Ann Webster and James Rudd in 1837, who is he and could he be connected to our Williams/Taylor Romany family group?
Who is Henry Taylor and how might he be related to James or Ann? Ann's father James is listed as a coachman. Interestingly, on the same day Frances Taylor marries William Willington, her father listed as Henry Taylor, horse dealer. Are they the same Henry? Were James and Henry acquainted through their occupations?
There were 216 Henry Taylors recorded as living in Middlesex in the 1841 census. If Henry was indeed Frances' father then he is most likely to have been born before 1800. If however, they are two different Henry's then he could be much younger. It is understood that there was no minimum age requirement to be a witness, just that they understood their role and knew the person, so we are looking at Henrys aged perhaps 15 or older in 1837.
- Born before 1800 - 19
- 1800-1812 - 41
- After 1812 - 156
Of those born before 1800, none resided in Paddington, however 2 were registered at Marylebone which is in Paddington parish and also the birthplace of both my George Courtney and Ann Webster.
More research is needed!
5. John Williams - father of John, Ada and Emily (Williams/Taylor group) - is he the key to our mystery?
John's ancestral line remains elusive, so perhaps he is the missing link - see my previous blogpost.
This article was also published in the December 2023 edition of the 'Romany Routes' Journal of the Romany and Traveller Family History Society, Vol 16, No 5, pps 218-220. Sadly, neither have yet produced any feedback to help answer this question.
Connecting the 'X' dots - aiming to utilise Ancestry ThruLines and Common Ancestors
TRIAL #1, June 2023: The following 'temporary' changes were made to my tree to test this out. These assumptions may not be correct, but I've tried to utilise the X inheritance analysis so far to identify possible hypotheses:
My first change was to suggest that Ann Webster was likely to be a sibling of George, making his parents James Webster and Elizabeth Reneson. Could he be the George Webster b1832 discussed previously?
- Genetic Evidence TG 026: C23_O_VM_M136 (145-155) - The first most promising match I had for the Rudd/Webster line on the X chromosome was back in 2016 where we matched with descendants of Ann. I wrote about this match on my Genemonkey blog in 2018. Since then we have unearthed many more triangulated match groups sharing Ann on chromosomes 1-22 and no longer believe the Rudd line is in contention and that this segment has been inherited via one of her parents James Webster or Elizabeth Reneson.
- Genetic Evidence TG 026: C23_A_JCP_M002 (2-40) - This segment is expected to be a connection to the Williams/Taylor group. Many in this TG have French origins. I have searched very hard for 'tree triangulation' within this triangulated group, in accordance with X inheritance patterns.
- The closest I could achieve with another 'X' match to connect the Webster group was by assuming that Mary ROSITOR c1768 was the same person as Mary RESTIEAUX c1770 both of Middlesex. Mary Rositor was the mother of Elizabeth Reneson, Mary Restieaux the ancestor of a 19.7cMs match in the TG. Could the difference in spelling be the result of poor anglicisation? If this is correct (and there is no direct evidence that it is) then the question still remains how does the Williams/Taylor group might fit in.
- Another two matches in this TG share the common ancestors of Frans Klausson b1901 of Denmark and his wife Muriel Ann Peckham of Surrey England, being 1st cousins once removed. This couple may be clues to connecting the group, requiring further research. If our connection is via Scandinavia, this might explain the lack of matches?
- Genetic Evidence TG 026: C23_M_VP_M166 (120-142) - No clear common ancestor has been identified between the triangulated matches in this group. Common surnames include Weston, with possible connections to others with French/Swiss ancestry.
TRIAL #2, September 2023: In the first trial I limited the connections to those emerging on the 'X' chromosome for the Rudd/Webster/Reneson group as these were matches probably coming from George's maternal side. In the second trial I added Ann as the mother of George but also connected him as a 'cousin' to the Williams-Taylor group given the number of other autosomal matches. However, once again, no new identified connections emerged after many weeks.
In February 2024, a paper summarising our 'X' connections was developed to create a hypothesis for the 'likely' mother of George. The document was prepared for the Society of Australian Genealogists, for discussion at the DNA Research Discussion Group - it can be accessed here. The output from this review enabled the following SPECULATIVE tree to be developed, as a potential hypothesis for how George's mother might be connected to these DNA matches. Ongoing research is still required.
It should be noted that not all DNA matches are included in this chart, it is limited to relevant 'X' matches and highest autosomal match from each of the identified family groups of Williams/Taylor and Rudd/Webster.
TRIAL #3, February 2024: TBA
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This blog is dedicated to finding my second great grandfather Arthur 'George' Courtney c1841. To see a summary of my research click here. If you can help answer any questions raised in this blog, please contact me via the contact form on the sidebar on this page, or send me a private message via Wikitree, Ancestry or Facebook.
