Is This Possible?

[rmm0484]

My cousin Bill G, remotely matches persons A, B, C and D who are all related to each other on the same Sinclair line. These people do not match either myself or my Cousin John B using the FF matrix, and they do not come up on my FF matches.

My question is, could these people still be related to John B and I? I have a speculative paternal line that would place a William Sinclair as my 5th Great Grandfather (and John B & Bill G's as well) if this is the case...

My thinking is this - Bill G is the only one with YDNA that was tested. My cousin John B is not in the male line of the G's (his mother was a G), and I am a female G...

[MMaddi]

My cousin Bill G, remotely matches persons A, B, C and D who are all related to each other on the same Sinclair line. These people do not match either myself or my Cousin John B using the FF matrix, and they do not come up on my FF matches.

My question is, could these people still be related to John B and I? I have a speculative paternal line that would place a William Sinclair as my 5th Great Grandfather (and John B & Bill G's as well) if this is the case...

My thinking is this - Bill G is the only one with YDNA that was tested. My cousin John B is not in the male line of the G's (his mother was a G), and I am a female G...

In answer to your question, which I've bolded, the answer is maybe. The key to the answer is the phrase I bolded above.

You wrote that your cousin Bill "remotely matches" the four. I'm assuming you're talking about a remote match in Family Finder, not yDNA, which Bill has tested.

Remember that autosomal DNA undergoes recombination in each generation. This means that the probability that two paper trail cousins will share enough DNA for Family Finder to tag them as cousins decreases with each generation separating the cousins from the common ancestor.

Just about every relative 2nd cousin or closer in the database will be found by Family Finder. About 90% of 3rd cousins will successfully be found. Only about 50% of 4th cousins will be found. Probably less than 10% of 5th and more distant cousins can be found.

Since you mention that your cousin "remotely matches" the four, it's a good possibility that the relationship is 5th cousin or more distant. In that case, you and your cousin John B didn't inherit the segment that your cousin Bill did.

So, it's possible that you and cousin John B are also related to the four matches your cousin Bill is related to. However, that's not assured. If Bill is your 1st cousin, he shares one set of grandparents with you. It's possible that he's related to the four matches through the set of grandparents he doesn't share with you. Does cousin Bill share the same set of grandparents with you as cousin John B does?

The bottom line is that it's possible that you're related to the four matches too, but you may not be. Based on what you've described, the relationship between Bill and the four matches is too distant to say which is the correct answer.

[rmm0484]

Thank you for your response, and yes, my question is about family finder results. In reply to your question "Does cousin Bill share the same set of grandparents with you as cousin John B does?" The answer is yes, through the Graham line. John's mother is a Graham, as is my father, and my cousin Bill.

[MMaddi]

Thank you for your response, and yes, my question is about family finder results. In reply to your question "Does cousin Bill share the same set of grandparents with you as cousin John B does?" The answer is yes, through the Graham line. John's mother is a Graham, as is my father, and my cousin Bill.

The basic answer is still the same. Quoting my first post, "The bottom line is that it's possible that you're related to the four matches too, but you may not be. Based on what you've described, the relationship between Bill and the four matches is too distant to say which is the correct answer."

Remember that Bill has a set of grandparents that he doesn't share with you and John. It's possible that his common ancestor with the four matches is through the set of grandparents he doesn't share with you and John.

[Jim Barrett]

My cousin Bill G, remotely matches persons A, B, C and D who are all related to each other on the same Sinclair line. These people do not match either myself or my Cousin John B using the FF matrix, and they do not come up on my FF matches.

My question is, could these people still be related to John B and I? I have a speculative paternal line that would place a William Sinclair as my 5th Great Grandfather (and John B & Bill G's as well) if this is the case...

My thinking is this - Bill G is the only one with YDNA that was tested. My cousin John B is not in the male line of the G's (his mother was a G), and I am a female G...

Yes. I have a 4th cousin I match. I don't match his sister. When I compare the two of them, they don't match each other in the area where he matches me.