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Italian pow ancestor

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Barry

Barry Report 30 Jun 2023 20:10

Hi all,
difficult one this my wife has just done a DNA test confirming a family Rumer that she has Italian grandfather.
It would seem that her grandmother had a affair with Italian pow who was working on her farm about 1944 [think in Malton] We have so far been unable to find his name.

The grandmother was called Gladys G Johnson born in Driffield Yorkshire 1922-1977
she was married to Charles Pinkney

Wifes mother is called Diana Pinkney b 1944 the result of the affair with the pow

Dont know where to go from here

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 30 Jun 2023 20:23

Presumably not named on the birth cert, so the rumour can’t be confirmed. The assumption would have been that the husband fathered the child and the birth registration on freebmd (OND 1944) reflects exactly that.

Gladys and Charles didn’t marry until JAS 1942……………….

I note that Charles re-married in 1951……….died in 2012

Barry

Barry Report 30 Jun 2023 20:32

Her DNA says she has Italian DND so this would tie in with the rumour

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 30 Jun 2023 20:36

Unfortunately, the name of the man probably died with her mother. I assume you’ve googled to see if POW records exist

One source of info would possibly be the IWM

The farm was in Settrington, for anyone else trying to help

nameslessone

nameslessone Report 30 Jun 2023 21:11

How.much Italian dna does she have?

Barry

Barry Report 30 Jun 2023 21:26

15%

nameslessone

nameslessone Report 30 Jun 2023 21:52

Thanks, yes that could equate to a grandparent. Are there any possible shared matches?
I don’t know who your mother tested with but personally I have found that I have more European matches with My Heritage. Not that any of them are remotely close.
You would be very lucky to pin a family down, but you may be able to work out which part of Italy would match best.

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 1 Jul 2023 08:12

Wikipedia says that the first Italian POWs were moved into Eden Camp, Malton about mid 1943, and they were moved out again around the end of 1943.

That could fit - or the POW may have stayed on in the area.

Lots of stuff about Eden Camp online.
Some photos of Italian POWs here:
https://tinyurl.com/y7edpyry

But not "smiling broadly" as the first photo claims!

And of course the Eden Camp website:

https://edencamp.co.uk

But even if you had a list of all the Italian POWs' names, it wouldn't help, unfortunately. There were hundreds of them.

Researching:
Old genealogists never die.....they just lose their census.

Barry

Barry Report 13 Jul 2023 20:32

thanks everyone