52 Ancestors #15: DNA

My maternal grandfather, Douglas Howard Parker, always told a story about his mother, Frances Parker, that had a lot of mystery about it, especially when I started working on the family tree, and was unable to prove any of it.  Not that I didn't believe the tale, it was just that there was nothing to link any of the principle characters.

In 2017 I had my DNA done through Ancestry, and convinced my mother to do the same.  That took some talking, but she finally agreed.  When the results came back they were exciting, and confirmed some of the lineage that we knew to be true - nothing unexpected there.  We were British, British, British lol.  I created an account for my mom on Ancestry, and filled in the names of the people that I knew to be correct.

My great-grandmother, Frances Hannah Parker, was born in 1868 in Capetown, South Africa while her father was a member of the British Armed Forces serving during the Boer War.  Several of the children were born in different countries, as it was common for the entire family of servicemen to accompany them on their postings.  Upon her father's retirement from active service, the family returned to Devizes, in England. 
Unfortunately Charles Parker died suddenly and his spouse, Catherine, was left to look after the large family on her own.  So she packed them up and returned to her home in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.  Frances entered the Kilmarnock Infirmary and graduated with honours as a Nurse.  She was 25 and the year was 1893.

Frances was able to find work as a district nurse, working for the local doctor, who would send her out as a home care nurse for new mothers, or critically ill patients, or individuals who required special nursing care.  One of those patients was a woman by the name of Mabel Twist (nee Warren) who was the spouse of Canon Thomas Howard Twist from Edinburgh.  It was during this time that the Canon made advances toward Frances.

My grandfather wrote his mother's story in a book and prefaced it with "this work is dedicated to the Memory of Frances who was deceived in love; bore her shame alone; and, with Faith, Courage, Integrity and Determination, fought to support her children in the face of great odds."

The story is no doubt not a new one, of a young woman seduced by her employer, but when I went searching, found that my grandfather's birth certificate stated he was "illegitimate".  I can only imagine what hearbreak that must have been for him to look at.  Douglas was born in 1897, and his sister Catherine in 1899.  I needed to prove that the story was true - not because I doubted it - but because there was the possibillity that there were relatives out in the world somewhere.  So I waited patiently and finally one day there it was: confirmation from Ancestry that Thomas Howard Twist was indeed my mother's biological grandfather,and my great-grandfather.  Frances Hannah Parker died in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1958 and is buried on Mont Royal.