* Half cousins

[Johnr65]

I have problem in that my  4 x great grandfather married twice, once in 1759 then after his 1st wife died again in 1769, the children > from his 1st marriage appear as half 3x great aunts/uncles but his 2nd wife's children appear as just 3x great aunts/uncles not half-is this a tree program fault/bug  do you think?

[LornaCraig]

It's correct. A child from his first marriage and a child from his second marriage will be half-siblings (because they have only one parent in common). So there will always be a 'half' relationship between their descendants. I assume you are descended from his second wife, which is why the children from his first wife have a 'half' relationship to you.

[Johnr65]

Yes I'm descended from his 2nd wife whose daughter was my 3 x great grandmother and whilst I understand that the children from the 1st marriage would be half siblings, it seems very odd that the 'half' follows down into their descendants. My 4 x great grandfather is related to me and presumably that can be said for the 1st wife's children?
I'd have thought the 1st wife's children would have priority over the 2nd wife's?

[LornaCraig]

My 4 x great grandfather is related to me and presumably that can be said for the 1st wife's children?

Yes, but they are not as closely related to you as the second wife's children. You share more DNA with the children of the second wife, from whom you are descended, than with the children of the first wife. You didn't inherit any DNA from the first wife.

I'd have thought the 1st wife's children would have priority over the 2nd wife's?

It's nothing to do with the priority/order of the wives. It is just to do with biological relationships.

[Mark1834]

It can help to rationalise relationships if you look at the common ancestor(s). If two people are both descended from the same couple, it is a full relationship. If there is just one common ancestor, it is a half relationship, irrespective of the number of intermediate generations.

[Johnr65]

Thank you.