Finally DNA evidence that Mary Ann and Hannah Maria are the children of Peter and Mary Lutge
Here's an article that's just been published in Descent, The Journal of the Society of Australian Genealogists, where I detail recent AncestryDNA matches that evidence Mary Ann (born about 1869) and Hanna Maria (born about 1872) are the children of Peter Benson Lutge and Mary Bonner.
The transcript is also attached.
If you're interested in taking an AncestryDNA test to further our Lutge research, please contact me at chrisw9953@gmail.com.
We hear the mantra that “genetic genealogy is only one of the tools of family historians”…but what a powerful tool it can be! With a well researched family tree and understanding where your DNA matches fit within that tree, you can answer some niggling questions. Here’s a recent breakthrough that I’ve made…
One reason for starting my family history journey was to find out more about the people in these pictures which are over 120 years old. The first is my great-grandfather, John Henry Lutge, who was the oldest child of Peter Benson Lutge and Mary Bonner. He was born in 1866 at the family home in Cumberland Street, The Rocks. The other is his brother, Patrick Walter Lutge - taken in 1895 at the time of his marriage to Jessie Mary Theresa Samora.
The NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages shows two births for Peter and Mary Lutge - John Henry in 1866 and Peter Benson in 1870. I knew there were more children and tried every name variation possible without success. A newspaper clipping in my mother’s papers showed that there were, at least, three other sons. I knew there were daughters was well.
The transcripts of Peter and Mary’s death certificates showed 10 children - John Henry (1866), Patrick Walter (about 1867), Mary Ann (about 1869), Peter Benson (1870), Hannah Maria (about 1872), Robert (about 1874), Catherine (about 1876), Denis (about 1879), Margaret (about 1881) and Joseph (about 1885). Where were the other 8 birth registrations? The family had lived in Cumberland Street, Kent Street, Princes Street and Gloucester Street before they moved to Military Road Mosman in 1886. I’d heard many family stories of these people and knew some of their children!
Peter Benson’s 1870 birth certificate muddied the waters when it showed he was the second child. He was the fourth based on his parent’s death certificates. I spent many hours at the NSW State Library looking for baptismal records without success.
When my first DNA results came back in 2016, I looked for “Lutge cousins” and continued that search until 5 months ago! I did have matches with “Lutge cousins” but none were from descendants of the children with missing birth registrations. They were either my 2nd cousins (also descendants of John Henry) or 4th cousins in the US! While Peter Benson had come from Denmark in 1862 and married Mary Bonner in 1864, two of his siblings settled in the US.
Another strategy was required….find descendants of the other 8 children and ask if they were interested in taking a DNA test! I also started a “blog” and Facebook group to record what I was finding out about the family in Australia. This was a way of sharing information with interested “cousins”.
My family tree expanded quickly as I searched for descendants assisted by birth, death and marriage registrations, electoral rolls, newspapers, public family trees and social media. Other than John Henry, my great grandfather, it seemed most likely that only Mary Ann, Hannah Maria and Denis have living descendants. In 2017/18, I contacted 12 people by letter, phone and/or social media. The “cousins” who responded were interested in the family story but not in DNA testing.
As new matches were reported on AncestryDNA, MyHeritage DNA, FamilyTreeDNA and GEDmatch.com, I worked out my relationship with those predicted to be 4th cousins or closer but none were Australian Lutge “cousins”.
I started developing more farfetched theories about the children of Peter and Mary Lutge. But each time I looked at the photos and the newspaper clipping, I was sure there were 10 children but for some reason eight births weren’t registered!
The first breakthrough came in March 2019 with a new match on AncestryDNA. Sue was predicted to be a 4th cousins. We shared 47 centimorgans* of DNA. Our shared matches were on the Lutge line! Opening Sue’s tree of 10 people showed 9 were “private” but the name of her grandfather, Arthur Plumber, shows the benefit of knowing your tree. Arthur was the husband of Joan Crowe, my Lutge 2nd cousin 1x removed and grand-daughter of Hannah Maria (born about 1873). Genetic evidence of the link between Hannah Maria and her parents! Sue’s my 3rd cousin 1x removed.
In April 2019, Rosanna reported as a new match on AncestryDNA. She’s predicted to be a 4th cousin. We share 49 centimorgans* of DNA. Our shared matches are also on the Lutge line! Rosanna’s tree showed she was the great granddaughter of Mary Ann (about 1869). She’s my 3rd cousin. Generic evidence of the link between Mary Ann and her parents!
I messaged Sue and Rosanna as soon as their matches were reported. Both responded that they’s taken AncestryDNA tests to find their ethnicity and were interested in learning more about our shared family through the Facebook group.
All of this from two beautiful old photos and a newspaper clipping. Genetic genealogy is better than Sudoku!
- Centimorgans measure how closely two people are related. The higher the centimorgans, the closer the relationship.
(The names of Peter and Mary Lutge’s children are correct but all others have been altered.)
