General Chat

Jean

You say you have done a DNA test if with Ancestry which is the only one i have used and followed up my matches, you dont say whether you have had any close matches.If your father married on his return to Canada and had children or grandchildren or even if he had siblings with their family, IF any of these people have done a DNA test you may be able to find a link to him, dont just look for a match with a surname Dawson in their Tree.

Best wishes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunsfold_Aerodrome

Worth a read…..

I had a message from someone who was a DNA match with me and who was desperate to find who her father was. I don't know if she is any closer to finding him yet, but I did track down one of my ancestors with the same surname as her, so that was a good starting point. The next thing to do was to check descendants further down that line to see if any of those were also showing as a match to confirm it. Then try and track down the whereabouts of the related men at the time of the pregnancy and see if any were in the same area as the mother. Family photos of possible descendants may help too. I discovered where my grandmothers golden hair came from for a few generations back by asking descendants.

Thankyou all for your help I will now take in all that you have kindly told me and do a bit more research very much appreciated for all your help you have all been very helpfull

I don’t believe that the Squadron or the RCAF would give out details of anyone named Dawson. I think it would be as difficult even if Jean had the full name and proof of parentage.

With a bit of luck you should be able to find the Squadrons that were stationed there when you were conceived which might then lead you to a person with the surname 'Dawson" by contacting the Squadron(s) concerned!

Here is another article about RAF/RCAF Dunsfold and it Canadian personnel

https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/heritage/dunsfold-and-langley

Dunsford has it’s own history society: wwwdunsfordairfield.org
Whilst it won’t find Jeans father she may find out about the role of the women at the airfield.

Thankyou very much LondonBelle .yes it definitely was RAF Dunsfold that’s interesting to know that it was built by the Royal Canadian Engineers thankyou

You might like to read the following about Dunsfold as it states the the Air Field was built by The Royal Canadian Engineers in WW2

https://dunsfoldairfield.org/tag/canadian-air-force/

There was a RAF Dunsfold near Guilford during WW2; could this be the Aerodrome ?Rather than Duxford which, I believe, is in Cambridgeshire

I'm just wondering whether your mother was a WAAF, Jean.....they ''worked on p!anes'.
Not sure if civilians would be allowed to especially during the war.

The Women's Auxiliary Air Force was founded in June 1939 to free up RAF personnel for front line duties. By 1943, the WAAF had 182,000 members. WAAFs undertook a variety of roles, including compiling weather reports, maintaining aircraft, serving on airfields and working in intelligence.

If she was you can get copies of service records as follows

Service records (1939–present)
The Women’s Royal Air Force was disbanded in 1920 and then reformed in 1939 as the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. It reverted to its original name in 1949, and finally merged with the Royal Air Force in 1994.

Visit the GOV.UK website for information about how to request a summary of a service record from the Ministry of Defence. These are not available to members of the general public, but next of kin may request access to them.

During WW11 unmarried women were called to take up posts vacated by men. Think Landgirls & Lumber jills.

It is quite possible that Jeans mother was called up to work with sircraft.

Maybe Jean could do some research into Duxford and the girls working there.

Edit: forgot that Duxford is a museum part of the IWM - so Jean could visit.

Hello Gwyn that I don’t know mum never talked much about it all she told me was she worked on the planes during the war. And no I was not baptised. I only found out my father was a Canadian because my husband took me to Canada for a holiday when his mother died and my mother said you are only going to Canada to find your father .my reply was how can I find out who he is when you only give me a surname .but she still didn’t give me his first name. In my mind I think she wanted to marry him and he probably didn’t want marriage and that’s probably when the relationship finnished.mum said he was a mummy’s boy. I think that’s why she met and married my stepfather a year later .and when I started school I took the surname of my step father and I was told never to ask any questions because there was always people that would talk and being young of course you listen to your mother . But I wished I did ask now at that age because I have left it to late and the adults that knew my mum are now no longer alive. As I got older I did ask a relation but I could have cried because I wrote her a very nice letter explaining I was searching for my father . And she wrote back and said don’t ever cross my door again I don’t know your mother who told you who I was ..there was no need for that and it put me off of asking other people

Was you mother in the Airforce or other wartime Service?

If so, have you applied for her Service Record?

If we knew where she was actually working, it might be easier to track which Canadian forces were also there or nearby.

On a diiferent track.....
Were you baptised?
I have known father's names to be included in a baptism record, whereas by law they could not be included on your birth certificate unless your father was present or had officially acknowledged parenthood.

Just to give you an example, Jean. My mother was Canadian, at least a 3rd generation Canadian. My father was English. My mother's father was Irish Canadian an her mother french Canadian. Ancestry can now give percentages of ethnicity that I inherited from each parent. From my mother I inherited

35% Ireland
13% French
1% Norway
1% Basque

Thankyou so very much everyone for your advice. Yes he was in the forces. My mum worked at Duxford Aerodrome in the war I was told working on the aeroplanes near Guildford so I assume that’s how she met him. Also as Sylvia has said it has been impossible to find any information from Canada as I do not know enough.in 1939 mum was a domestic servant in Hastings but her name was not on the household members list but there is an address the same year saying mum lived st Leonard’s on Sea at that time. I was born in south land’s Hospital Shoreham by sea in 1945 And the registration district was Worthing. The address given on my birth certificate where she was living was Stroud Green in Wisborough Green.but everything runs cold from there onwards until she married my stepfather in 1946 he came from Sparright near Amberley. But I found out he was not in the forces .but for some reason no information is forthcoming so I don’t know how they met but I do know after the marriage they lived in Greatham between Pulborough and Storrington .thanks again for your advice .and wish you all well Jean.

If Jean gets her mother( if she is alive) or someone from her mothers side of the family to also take a test she will be able to start sorting out which side of the family her shared matches come from.

I thought, that might be it, grannyfanny, but unfortunately it can confuse if you try to reduce it to only 1 generation.

I have a daughter, family, friends who are 1st generation Canada and are only just in their 40s .......... which I'm thinking is way younger than the man Jean is looking for. The family members will show UK and Swiss DNA, All married Canadians, and I haven't traced their families, so who knows what DNA mix the children who are aged 13 and under will show??

My son-i-l is the descendant of someone who apparently skipped ship in Newfoundland back in the early 17th Century. The family history is all East Coast Canada, no marrying or other mixing with any Indigenous people.

Yes, I know, sylvia, but I was trying to keep things simple.....