Dennis Steley

Ancestors Descendants

Biography

Birth^[1]

13 Feb 1951 at 11.55pm

Lady Musgrave Hospital, Maryborough, Qld

Weight 8lbs

Length 20 inches

My mother once told me (jokingly I hope!) that if I had been born 5 minutes later she could have called me Valentine! (as I was born 5 minutes before the start of St Valentine's Day- the 14th)

Six months after my birth, I apparently contracted Pneumonia so I guess I am lucky to be still around to write this. I have been told that my mother slept with me in front of the stove in the kitchen for many days with the fire going to keep us warm. My older brothers Bruce, Maurice and Stephan who were 10, 8 & 7 at the time, (Bob, about 18, was working by this time) had to make sure there was enough firewood every day to keep the fire going all night!

My earliest memory is of lying on the kitchen table having my chest rubbed with camphorated oil. I guess I had a cold at the time as this was used to help with breathing in those days (like Vix Vaporub). I can picture myself looking up at the shelf in front of the hallway where the bottle was kept.

I had an interesting childhood. There was always something to do. The younger children were tasked with gathering the kindling (or Morning Wood as we called it). Small twigs which were used to start the fire in the stove every morning. You would place some paper on the bottom, then the twigs, then some of the larger wood (which were sawn into foot-long lengths then cut with an axe), and a bit of kerosene, then light it with a match.

We kept the firewood and morning wood in separate boxes behind the stove. As you got older you graduated to gathering, sawing and chopping the other firewood.

Another task as you got older was to fill the lamps with kerosene before dark and light them. If the mantle was damaged it had to be replaced with a new one, a supply of which was kept on hand. You had to light the Handi pressure lamps by lighting a bit of metho (methylated spirits) placed in a special little tray in the lamp to start the process of turning the kero into gas so the lamp would work properly. The lamps were quite bright compared to the old lamps with just a wick that was lit.

Kitchen showing table, wood stove, 'Handi' kerosene pressure lamp, kettle, cat under stove.

We also had to walk over to the neighbouring Dairy Farm owned by Fred Howard and operated by him and his sons (mainly Mick). This was probably about a mile across the back of the paddock and the creek (which never usually had much water in it).

Crossing the Creek

The last part of this trip after crossing the creek was across Freddie's home paddock which was relatively clear of trees. Spur-Winged Plovers nested in the middle of the open area during the nesting season and we often had to pick up a branch or stick if one was available to ward off their attack. The males have spurs on their wings which can do a lot of damage.

We got to watch the cows being brought into the bails and milked quite often. The milk would go through to a large storage area where it could be separated into milk and cream after a while when the cream had all risen to the top.

We would carry the gallon billy of milk home (hoping not to spill any - which did happen on occasions!).

We sometimes made butter out of the separated cream (with a churn).

The older boys made forts in the back paddock, chopping small trees down with axes and binding the trimmed saplings together to create their own little hideaway, in which they (and their friends) spent a lot of their spare time.

We often went lobbying (catching freshwater crayfish - we called them lobbies) in the waterholes in the paddock or the creek using a piece of string with a small bit of fresh meat tied to the end as bait. You would slowly pull them in, then grab them from behind quickly with your free hand making sure to hold them securely so they couldn't nip your hand with their claws.

Two of the waterholes

Most of the lobbies were the red-tipped ones but one of the waterholes had mainly the blue-clawed ones. The blue claws had longer, thinner claws. We often had a feed of lobbies which were very tasty.

The two waterholes in the picture above were known as the First and Second because of their proximity to the house (obviously!). As you walked down the track from the house you encountered the first, then behind it and off to the left a bit was the second. There was also a third a bit further back & over to the left of the second.

They were all good for catching lobbies although the third often only had a little water in it as it was a little shallower than the other two. This one had a lot of freshwater mussels which seemed to thrive there. They would burrow into the mud if it was going a bit dry in order to survive until the next rains.

The second even had a colony of Funnelweb Spiders on one of it's banks which also seemed to thrive.

Another source of food were wild mushrooms (agaricus campestris) which we all learned early how to identify (plus learning which ones to avoid). They grew in amazing quantities after extended periods of rain. Mother would cook them for us in her beautiful white sauce.

One time in the 1970's mother wrote to us that she and one of the neighbours (Dot Hein Wolstencroft-110) - who lived on the corner of James and Annie Sts) had gathered a bathtub full of mushrooms which they took into Maryborough in Dot's car and sold to one of the shops there. Dot was a sister of my Great Aunt Sarah Wolstencroft-26 who was married to my paternal Grandfather's youngest brother William Thomas Steley (Uncle Bill).

We also went walking through the paddock and the large leased part adjoining the back and west side of the paddock which were part of Howard's dairy farm, looking for wildflowers. We were particularly fond of the little ground orchids (Caladenia) which were usually white or pink but occasionally blue. We called them Birds Feet and would usually come home with a small bunch.

Fish that could be found in the same area were usually only muddies (spotted gudgeons) or rainbows (which only grow a few inches long) but occasionally eels or perch could be found as well. Freshwater catfish (jewfish) were also in good supply out at the Gambie's place at Scrubby Creek.

Other jobs were emptying the Dunny (backyard Toilet) as we were too far out of town for the Sanitary Collection, (took quite a while to dig the hole to empty it in to) and killing (with an axe), plucking (removing the feathers) (in a washing-up tub with hot water added) and cleaning chickens, if one was needed for a meal.

Mother often made Jams and Jellies (jam with seeds strained out) from some of the fruit grown or found growing wild including Guavas, Cherry Guavas, Rosellas and Lilypilly (wild). To get the Rosella sepals (the large thick bracts around the flower which make up the bulk of the jam) we had a piece of the handle of an old bike pump which had been sawn across the middle with a hacksaw. It was the perfect size for separating the sepals from the flower & seed.

We also made Horehound drink from the plant and Ginger Beer using a Ginger Bug which we obtained from somewhere. We grew it in a large 4 gallon tin after feeding it with sugar and had to bottle it after a few weeks of brewing when, hopefully all the fermentation had finished. We had to store the bottles outside under the tank as sometimes they would explode a few days after being capped if it hadn't quite finished fermenting.

Living outside of town meant there was always plenty of wildlife to experience. As well as all the animals and birds we kept such as goats, ducks, chickens, quails, pigeons, guinea pigs, cats, dogs, horses etc, (and a pig!), we had interactions with a multitude of native animals.

Some of these were kangaroos & wallabies, bandicoot, koalas, hares, quolls, foxes, dingoes, many snakes, goannas & lizards, bats & flying foxes, echidna & platypus, a variety of possums and gliders etc.

There were also lots of birds such as black cockatoos, white cockatoos, corellas, kookaburras, kingfishers, eagles, hawks etc, pigeons & doves, a variety of parrots including blueys, greenies, parakeets, king parrots & rosellas, scrub turkeys, jabiru, herons, egrets & other large wading birds, wild ducks, ibis, owls & nightjars, crows, magpies, butcher birds, willy wagtails, peewees, wrens, drongos, and many honeyeaters & finches.

Ground nesting birds such as rainbow bee-eaters (which made long holes in the ground for nests) and pardalotes (which made nests by burrowing into the creek banks) were also not uncommon. A lot of the ant beds on the sides of the trees contained nests of birds like kingfishers etc

We often had the wails of Curlews to listen to, a sound I find quite relaxing although many others don't seem to agree!

We also had a few freshwater tortoises both short and long necked ones as well as a great variety of native frogs & toads (plus cane toads) especially after a lot of rain. One christmas after the end of a prolonged period of rain there were so many different frog and toad noises it was almost deafening. One of my brothers made a tape recording of it but, unfortunately it hasn't survived the years.

We had the benefit of having lots of bees around to pollinate any flowers on the trees as Uncle Sam had, years previously, installed a Beehive just near a large Gum Tree outside the fence around the backyard. It was just out past where the outside Dunny was situated. He (Uncle Sam) would occasionally come down with his veil and smoking equipment to rob the honey from the hive and put in new racks.

We had a large semi-cultivated area around the house with a lot of trees etc. There was a large Mango tree not far from the house with a long row of Spider Lillies growing along the western edge of the tree.

There were a few Orange and Mandarin trees between the Mango tree and the road and a Bignonia jasminoides creeper (now known as Pandorea) along the fence that extended out the front from that side of the house.

The main garden was at the front of the house and a few trees grew in that area. A Nectarine and green Apple tree, an Angel's Trumpet bush & a large White Cedar tree. A tall New Guinea Coleus bush was growing near the front steps. There were also a couple of Brazilian Cherries that always seemed to have fruit on. We had a garden bed with Gerberas which always seemed to have a flower or two on also as well as lots of seasonal flowers.

The House at Howard

We sometimes picked a couple of bunches of flowers from the garden and went walking out to the local cemetery to put flowers on the graves of relatives buried there.

It was an interesting journey straight out through our back paddock, across that part of Howard's paddock, over the railway line near the Gatehouse and past the old Slaughter Yards to the Cemetery.

We would usually put flowers on the graves of close relatives and look at a lot of the other graves there.

I do recall the first time that I spent a little time away from home. We had out of town 'neighbours', Cliff & Mona Hemsworth, who lived about 3 miles out of Howard along the Childers Road at the old Coach Change. It was called this, I believe, for the obvious reason that it was the place where Horses were changed for fresher ones back in the days when they were used for transport.

The Hemsworths were friends of my parents so I guess they offered to take me for a while. I think it was in the late 1950's as their daughter Donna was very young at the time. Not sure how long I stayed there though but it was several days to a week.

I also went up to the Jacobi farm at Dallarnil quite a number of times with brother-in-law to be Archie, who stayed with us for a time around 1959-61 and often went back to visit his family. We stayed with his father Dick on the farm, where he had a beautiful garden of Dahlias and Gladioli all around the house.

I met most of Archie's brothers and sisters and their young families at the time, some of whom lived around the area and others at Biggenden and Bundaberg.

As a teenager I did quite a bit of fishing & crabbing (with brother Maurice) on the Cherwell and Burrum Rivers. One was at a place known as Buffey's and was near the place that had belonged at one time to Abel & Leah Steley's daughter Matilda and her husband Thomas Watkins (Glenesk). I think it could be accessed by travelling along the road that goes past the water tower at Howard. There was another spot known as Pizzey's which I think was also on the Burrum.

Other good fishing spots were a couple of places on the Cherwell River. You had to cross over the Railway line and go down Richards Road to get there. I think the town of Pacific Haven is in that area now although there were no buildings there at that time. One of these spots was on the far side of a large treeless area we called the Plain.

I attended the Howard State Primary School from 1957 (Grade 1) to 1963 (Grade 7). I remember some of my teachers from that time. Miss (Moya) Heap (Gr 1), Mrs (Audrey) Case for Gr 3-4, Mr Rosen (known as Spike) for Gr 7. Others were Jack James & Eugene Hickey. May have had Robyn Bell (who married & became Robyn Shaw) for a while.

I was very uninterested in sport and athletics so didn't do much in that area. Didn't play football at all. Played a few games of cricket but wasn't much good at it. After the construction of the Swimming Pool during my time there, I did some swimming but wasn't much good at that either. I did get my long distance swimming certificate (using backstroke which I found easier than the other strokes).

When I was in grade 5, my father passed away from Lung Cancer. He smoked roll-your-own cigarettes (no filter!) but was also a Coal Miner all his life, so the cancer was probably a result of either or a combination of both.

Some time after this, Mother started working at the Royal Hotel in order to provide for her two youngest children who were still at home (myself and Gaynor). At first Gaynor and I moved in with our brother Bruce and his wife Ruth who were living in a house not far from the Royal Hotel, across and up the road a bit from the pub in Steley Street.

It was a house that was rented, the back part where we lived was a private residence and the front was, I think, a bank or something. It was halfway between Fred Woods' Drapery and Stevenson's Milk Bar.

Not long after their first child, Maria, was born, we shifted out into the Hotel and lived there for some time while mother was working there (a lady who worked in the Hotel Kitchen at the time wasn't impressed that we were there. She called us Bush Rats & Star Boarders!)

Not really sure how long we lived at the Pub, but we eventually went back to our own place outside of Howard (It didn't really have an address then. Was just known as Annie Street but is now the 56 acre paddock known as 13 Prawle Street).

As a teenager I kept an aquarium with native fish etc as well as freshwater tortoises at various times (one was named Murgatroyd). Some of the fish I kept were sourced from my uncle's place at Duckinwilla.

Uncle Sam (Gambie-45) was still working in the Coal Mines when his mother (my Grandmother) died in 1963 and I was in my last year of Primary School. Instead of going home to an empty house, I went to his place after school, unlocked it and lit the fire in the stove. I would usually put on his evening meal to cook as well so it would be ready when he got home from work.

When he, Uncle Sam, was in his late 50's, he decided to get his driver's licence and buy a truck to drive out to the farm at Duckinwilla. Prior to this he used to walk the 11 miles there and back every weekend.

He would often take us (Myself, Gaynor, sometimes Mother) out to Duckinwilla (Scrubby Creek as it was usually called then) for a visit. (Sometimes brother Maurice would take us out there also in his blue Mini Minor). He mostly kept his Ponies (Welsh Mountain Ponies) out there and went out every weekend with cane grass that he grew for them in his backyard at 34 James St Howard. Now and again he would bring one into Howard if he wanted to keep an eye on it.

He had ponies named Susan, Sally, Cindy etc and even one named after my sister which he called Miss Gaynor! These were the favourite ones which he hept in the main yard near the old shack (a large shed in which he slept when he stayed there overnight).

Gambie shack at Duckinwilla

This picture shows the shack/shed on the left, Sally in the foreground and the tea shack in the right background.

From the top of the tea shack was hanging a long wire. It was half open so he could build a fire in the centre, hang a billy of water from the wire and make a beautiful cup of true billy tea (best tea ever!).

I wrote a poem in the 1990's describing one such visit.

A Day at Duckinwilla (poem by Dennis Steley)

It was the property originally owned by my Grandparents and still had some fruit trees growing on it from their farming days (various types of Guava, Cherry Guava, Persimmon etc). There was a very thick scrub in one part (temperate rainforest) and at the back of this was a very deep lagoon (which they had never seen go dry). I later wrote a poem about this lagoon also.

Duckinwilla Lagoon at the back of the Gambie property

******

Up until 1963 there was an Honour Board at the Howard State School where the names of the top boy and girl who graduated from grade 8 were put. That was stopped the year I finished primary school (the Grade 8 class of that year were the last) so I didn't get the chance to have my name there like two of my siblings (Bob & Stephan). Until that time Primary School had finished in Grade 8, so I was in the first batch of students to attend High School in Grade 8. My cousin, Joyce was a year ahead of me so she was in the last group of students to attend Primary School in Grade 8. Because of this we started High School together, she in Grade 9 and myself in Grade 8.

We were also the first lot of students to attend the Isis District State High School from Howard, catching a School bus to Childers driven by Les Llewellyn who ran the local picture theatre. Prior to this time, Students from Howard had attended High School in Maryborough, catching the train there from the local Railway Station.

As I lived out of town a little, I rode a bike (bought for us by Mum's brother Uncle Sam Gambie-45) up to Aunty Jess & Uncle Claud's place (Joyce's parents) in Phillip Street

Dennis Steley ready for another day at High School.

and walked up the road to the Bus stop from there.

I went to Isis High from Grade 8 to Grade 12 (1964-1968).

I played a little sport at High School, mainly Basketball which I enjoyed more than any other sport I had tried. I even took up Chess which we were allowed to do (as a sport!).

When I finished High School, I got a Scholarship to go to the QIT in Brisbane (Now known as QUT) near the old Botanic Gardens. Stephan was working in the Bank in Brisbane at the time and he arranged for me to live in a room at the Boarding House where he was. It was in Wooloowin and was owned by Mrs Grace Voysey.

We were there for a couple of months until Gaynor eventually also came down and the three of us rented a flat together in East St., Lutwyche for some years.

During my time at QIT I was in the draft for National Service and (unfortunately) my birthdate was picked out. I deferred it until I finished the Degree but I failed to pass the final year (due to a number of reasons) and so went into my unwanted Army career two weeks before my 21st birthday! (Oldest brother Bob had also spent time in the Army in the 1950's as a result of being drafted for National Service)

I did Basic Training at Singleton in NSW, followed by Corps Training at the Army Medical training base at Healesville in Victoria. I then spent the rest of my Army time at the Military Hospital at Yeronga in Brisbane as a Medical Orderly.

Dennis Steley in National Service Uniform

Following the victory of the Labor Party in the Federal Elections in December of 1972, I took advantage of their offer to leave National Service early (on the Grounds of Exceptional Hardship!) and also of their offer to pay me to actually finish my degree, which I did in 1973. It was called a Diploma at the time but was changed to a Degree (Biology/Environmental Science) a few years later.

After Mother passed away in 1980, some of us became interested in our Family History. Stephan, Gaynor and myself travelled far and wide around the district to many of the Cemeteries looking for relatives.(Stephan had been living at Howard when Mother died and stayed there for a few years afterwards). We copied the inscriptions on any of the Graves we thought might be related at lots of Cemeteries including Howard, Apple Tree Creek, Maryborough, Gayndah, Deborah, Brooweena, Teebar and Agnes Vale.

Maria Steley grave in Agnes Vale Cemetery

This photo was taken on one of our many excursions looking at gravesites.

We also kept copies of birth, death & marriage notices from many newspapers with relevant info.

Bob was also helpful at gathering info from around the Sydney area where he lived.

Stephan wrote to some relatives seeking any info they might have as well as visiting any relatives in the Howard area. He gained a lot of information (via letters) on the Steley's from our Grandfather's youngest sister Aunty Daisy Burgess who lived in Ingham and on the Giles family from Dick Giles (aged about 90 at the time!), whom we also visited, at Gayndah.

I gathered info from the State Library in Brisbane as well as going through many Microfiche on ancestral info from the Mormon centre at Kangaroo point, (they had to be ordered in from Salt Lake City in Utah USA) as much of the information that is now available online wasn't around in those days.

Following all this research into our family's past, Stephan and myself compiled a family history document which we titled A History of the Steley Family in Australia. It includes sections on our Gambie and Griggs ancestors from our Mother's side as well as a section on our 5 convict ancestors through our father's paternal Grandmother, Mary Ann Giles. These are Thomas Eather, his wife Elizabeth Lee, Joseph Onus, William Eaton and his wife Jane Ison (Lloyd). In recent years I have added lots of Family Photographs to this document which is now well over 300 pages in length.

We found out about a Group of the descendents of our first Convict Ancestor to arrive in Australia, Thomas Eather (originally Heather) called the Eather Family Society. The Society had been formed in the early 1970's. We didn't join until the 1980's. They compiled a newsletter with family news about six times a year at the time (later reduced to 4 per year).

John St Pierre, whose wife was an Eather descendent, was the Newsletter Editor at the time and kindly supplied me with some back issues and articles on our convict Ancestors.

The Eather Family newsletter was issued from it's inauguration in the early seventies until it finally ceased about 2014 after issuing over 200 family newsletters.

When I was a teenager, not sure exactly when, my sister Gaynor bought a guitar and lessons from the Melody School of Music and she learned how to play it. She let me learn as well so it wasn't too long before we were both playing.

We learned to play and sing Country Music since we liked that genre of music and many of the family were Country Music fans. Older sister Allison played guitar and sang as well. Oldest brother Bob had been in an Accordion band when he was young, playing as a trio with two brothers (Thompson) at dances out at Duckinwilla Creek (the Scrubby Creek of Chad Morgan fame). Our mother was also quite competent at playing the harmonica. (This may have led brother Bruce and myself to also teach ourselves this instrument later on).

The oldest five of my siblings all received Piano lessons from the local Music teacher, Sarah Hardy. She retired from this before Gaynor or myself could learn.

When I was in my early 30's I decided to go along to one of the local Country Music clubs. This was the Northern Suburbs CMC on Brisbane's northside. I met a lady there, Thecla Macklan who invited me to go along to a club that she was involved with. This was the Pine Rivers CMC and at the time was held at Jim's Barn at Narangba (owned by Jim & Amy Marshman).

I also went along to the Southern Cross branch of the Australasian Country Music Association (ACMA) about this time as Thecla was a member of that club also. Southern Cross was located in a hall at Sandgate.

Some time later some of us decided to form our own branch of the ACMA and the Min Min branch of the ACMA was born. I was a member of Min Min for most of the time it existed until it closed down a few years ago. I have also been a member of the Pine Rivers CMC on and off since first joining in the mid 1980's.

Shortly after we formed Min Min, my sister Gaynor and a couple of her friends, Ken Skelton, whom she worked with at Remington, and his wife Yvonne (nee Raison) also joined the club.

The four of us formed a group which we called Late Harvest and have been singing and playing together ever since then, winning awards at numerous festivals around the area. The Late Harvest design was created by Ken's father Rex who passed away not long after this.

Late Harvest - designed by Rex Skelton

One of our successes gave us some recording time at a studio in Gympie and we recorded and released a tape (First Crop) with a dozen songs, four of which were written by myself.

We later compiled a CD, which we recorded and edited ourselves at the Skelton's home at Everton Hills (Vintage).

During our early years in the Music clubs I had met various members of Thecla's family including her niece, Kerry, daughter of her sister June. Kerry later (1987) became Mrs Steley.

Other Hobbies

In addition to Country Music, I have had a variety of hobbies over the years. In the mid 80's (I think!) I started writing poetry, much of it about various aspects of my family life growing up. Gaynor has been compiling and typing up a list of my songs and poems to put into book form in recent years.

One of my favourite poems that I wrote was inspired by an interesting saying that my mother used to come out with sometimes whenever she saw someone sitting or walking with their back very straight. I incorporated that saying into the last lines of the poem.

I was working down at Eagle Farm at the time and used to catch the old Rail Motor which had individual compartments in each carriage with two bench seats across from each other in each compartment. Sitting across from me was a man who immediately reminded me of my mother's saying so I decided to write a short poem about it. I called it The Broomstick Man.

The Broomstick Man

I have also written a novel that I called 'The Rainbow Waterfall' but gave up trying to get it published after the first couple of rejections. Still have copies of it though! Also a few (very) short stories.

My other main interest, apart from Music & song writing, Poetry and Family History has been art, more specifically painting landscapes, many of which were inspired by the bush around our property at Howard.

Dennis the Artist!

The above picture was taken about 1994 when we were living at Keperra.

My art has been mainly using Acrylics with one or two oil paintings (or mixed media) thrown in for good measure.

Looking at the Creek

This was also done in 1994. Must have been an Art year.

I would often write a short poem on the back of the painting describing (vaguely) what it was about.

Some painting poems.

Kerry and I were married at the Registrar General’s office in Brisbane on Feb 3, 1987 with only a few people in the wedding party including Kerry’s mother June and my sister Gaynor who acted as witnesses.

The twins were born in early May of that year and we moved from our flat at Eagle Junction into a rented house at Kedron in a street off Kitchener Rd across and down the road a bit from the Lutwyche Cemetery. We were kindly given a new twin pram which could be separated into two individual ones by an acquaintance of ours and good friend of Gaynor and her partner Gary’s, Myra Lowe who lived with her husband Alec (who was a close friend of Gary) at Clear Mountain. Myra had also been in our wedding party.

We lived there for about a year before moving to a house at Keperra where we lived for about 20 years. A year after moving in our family was completed by the birth of our son. The children went variously to the Grovely State School, Ferny Hills State School and The Gap High School. Jack Eales who was a keen birdwatcher and father of footballer John was the Principal of Grovely for most of the time they were at that School.

Finally, another poem that I wrote back in 1991 giving a little insight into my views on life.

Perspective

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Sources

• First-hand information. Entered by Dennis Steley.

1. ↑ Queensland Births Deaths and Marriages (https://www.familyhistory.bdm.qld.gov.au/)

• Paternal and Maternal relationships are both confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Dennis Steley and G.S., his sister. Their most-recent common ancestors are Harold Steley and Queta Gambie, the parents of both Dennis Steley and G.S.. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: Sibling, based on sharing 2378 cM across 51 segments.

• Maternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Dennis Steley and J.G., his 2nd cousin . Their most-recent common ancestors are Elias Gambie and Matilda Hayden, the great grandparents of both Dennis Steley and J.G.. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 2nd Cousin, based on sharing 255 cM across 13 segments.
• Maternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Dennis Steley and K.L., his 3rd cousin . Their most-recent common ancestors are Henry Griggs and Frances Gillham, the great great grandparents of both Dennis Steley and K.L.. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 3rd Cousin, based on sharing 123 cM across 6 segments.
• Maternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Dennis Steley and S.P., his 3rd cousin . Their most-recent common ancestors are John Hills and Eliza Fisher, the great great grandparents of both Dennis Steley and S.P.. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 3rd Cousin, based on sharing 57 cM across 5 segments.

• Paternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Dennis Steley and L.P., his 2nd cousin . Their most-recent common ancestors are John Steley and Mary Giles, the great grandparents of both Dennis Steley and L.P.. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 2nd Cousin, based on sharing 351 cM across 15 segments.
• Paternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Dennis Steley and S.M., his 2nd cousin . Their most-recent common ancestors are Peter Petersen and Susan Gallagher, the great grandparents of both Dennis Steley and S.M.. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 2nd Cousin, based on sharing 167 cM across 10 segments.