Week 18: Bald #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

As a woman, the onset of baldness is something I won't have to deal with. The men in my family haven't been as fortunate.

Being a 'late' baby, (my dad was 43 when I was born) I never knew my dad when he had a full head of hair. In fact, as far as I was concerned, he always had grey hair.

My dad and me (2 years old)

He must have started going bald in his 20s as his wedding photo below in 1940 shows. Beside him is his brother, George, who, at four years older than him, is also starting to lose his hair.

George is also showing the same balding pattern, receding from the sides, then the centre. This pattern was also shared by his older brothers, Jim and Will, so I'd surmise this is the family balding pattern.

Jim and his wife Agnes, Will and his wife Inez

The genetics of balding is very complex. However, research suggests that the X chromosome plays an important part. Given that a male only has one X chromosome and that he inherits it from his mother has led to the idea that a man's baldness pattern comes from his mother's side of the family, in my dad's case, the Walkers. Another Walker descendant, my dad's first cousin once removed also seems to be part of the gang!

My dad, Jimmy Connor and his wife.

However, there do seem to be other factors at play, so you might not necessarily turn out to look like the males in your mother's side of the family - which is probably good news for my son!!! :)

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2024 Week 43: Lost contact #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

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Looking at my DNA matches over various platforms and my family tree research, it is obvious to me that my paternal grandmother's line - the Walkers - are the line which have the most descendants (or at least the most descendants who have tested) and who have spread out furthest over the world. My great great grandparents James Walker (1777-1862) and Ellen Muir (1790-1866) from Linlithgow in Scotland had ten children - eight boys and two girls. Such large families were not uncommon in those times. Two of the boys never married, but between them the other eight siblings produced at least 52 grandchildren! The eldest of the siblings, George Walker was, however, the only one of the children to ever leave Scotland and that was later in life, when he followed his son John, a miner, over to the USA. It is, however, many of the grandchildren of James and Ellen who decide to leave their homeland for the USA and for Australia. Their USA destinations included Kansas, Colorado, Ohio and Maryl...

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