Ian very quickly hit a brick wall on his paternal line, when he got to his great grandfather. Working independently, Jane also hit the same brick wall. The image above is the record of a marriage for Joseph Leigh Hunter and Jane Johnston nee Kerr. Above was the start of Read more
We tried searching for Leigh Hunter and Kate Walton. The searches returned results for Kate or Catherine Walton, though nothing linked her to a Leigh Hunter! Searches for Leigh Hunter turned up a Leigh Rigby Hunter from Shropshire though the dates etc. were all wrong, ruling him out. The following Read more
5 years had passed since Ian first discovered the brick wall, though he tried to crack it a few times. Ian retired in late 2016 and seriously started to try to crack the “Leigh Hunter” brick wall. Ian came to the conclusion that he would never make any progress using Read more
Ian received his Ancestry DNA results, all these new relatives he shared DNA with. How to proceed with any of this information? Ian started with people who shared the greatest amounts of DNA with him. He placed these matches into a family tree. Ian tried to discover his connection to Read more
November 2018, Ian uploaded his Ancestry DNA test to the MyHeritage.com website. Hoping that someone connected to his paternal line might have a DNA test at MyHeritage. Ian was still searching for the Hunter family that we think Leigh and Joseph Leigh belonged to. We found plenty of people with Read more
As more time passes, Ian decides that another approach might be necessary to try and crack the family mystery. Ian was getting sort of desperate by this time. Still, he had not made any progress in finding Leigh Hunter. Ian considered trying different approaches, anything to make any progress on Read more
Joseph Leigh Hunter’s marriage certificate above shows his father to be Leigh Hunter, Coal Miner (deceased) and his mother to be Kate Walton. This is the first official record that Jane and Ian could find for their great grandfather. The wedding took place on 28 October 1898 at Tradeston, Lanarkshire, Read more
By mid February 2019, Ian still hadn’t made any progress with either Leigh or Joseph Leigh Hunter. He decided that another DNA test might possibly help. 23andMe is similar to Ancestry in the fact that you can’t upload a DNA test from elsewhere. Ian made the decision to order a Read more
A new relative popped up on a DNA site matching Ian. Ian wondered whether she was the daughter of a musician, that Ian has been a huge fan of since the 80s, based upon surname. Ian sent a message to the lady, though he didn’t anticipate a response. The young Read more
By the middle of November 2018, Ian still hadn’t had any luck on his paternal line. After looking into what other tests might be available, he purchased a Y-DNA from FamilyTreeDNA. Ian ordered the Y-DNA12 test as he didn’t want to spend much money, as no progress had been made Read more