Who is my grandfather?

Question

Dad never knew his father. His cousin (+90) claims his father was a Hall. This may be likely because his middle name is Halls. So far Hall or Halls has been elusive both in terms of DNA and genealogy. Any thoughts on where to go from here.

Comments

I did a bit of a search but was unable to find anything more than you already have.  I don't know what to suggest.  Sorry.  Good luck.

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Thanks for trying.

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You can look forward to the 1921 census being released in a few years. Given that your father was born Sep 1921 there's a strong chance Mr Hall(s) will be in close proximity to your mother at the time of the census.

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Yes I'm looking forward to the 1921 census.  I'm hoping for a strong lead there.  Also wondered about the church.  Dad's grandfather was a lay preacher in the Primitive Methodist Church, Brownroyd, Girlington, Bradford.  I'm not sure about getting more information about members, etc.  I checked through records on Ancestry but no leads.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Answer 1

Perhaps the cousin is correct about the elusive Hall, but that your grandfather may also have had an unknown paternal line and carried his mother´s name. First I would do more analysis on the Y-DNA results. Are you seeing any consistency there that might point you in a particular direction.

I see you have registered an autosomal test with FTDNA. It would also be worth testing with the other major companies to widen the pool you are fishing in. If you have not already done so, then I would recommend testing at AncestryDNA as they have the largest database and this could give you a better chance of finding a closer match to set you on the right track.

Comments

Yes the unknown gt grandfather is a good point that I hadn't considered before.  I need to sort that out too.  

I did an autosomal test with AncestryDNA recently and need to add it to my profile.  One match is working with me and her tree to identify our MRCA.

Thanks for your ideas.

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Good luck with the Ancestry match. Are you getting any recurring surnames from the Y-DNA results?

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Interestingly I've had Hall, Abbott, Smith, Jones, Brown.  I'm working with a Brown but nothing yet.