Genealogy, family research and DNA analysis

Reese Withouterspoon

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I may have mentioned previously that I'm a keen amateur genealogist and have been working on my own family research for the best part of 2 decades now. A couple of years ago I finally decided to take an Ancestry DNA test, after swearing blind that I never would. It didn't throw up anything very exciting - and nor has it opened the door to finding hundreds of distant cousins either but it was interesting to see that, as expected, I am not very exotic and the regions from where my ethnic origins arise tally very accurately with what I have been able to establish from documentary research of my own. i.e. all of my ethnicity percentages come from regions in the British Isles PLUS Norway. Ancestry has apparently now been refining some of its ethnicity estimates and it now provides a breakdown of the ethnicity percentages from each parent... and it's interesting to see that this more refined breakdown of ethnicity also tallies with my own research.

I have 89% ethnicity arising from the region of Scotland, with 4% Norway, 3% Wales, 2% England & NW Europe and 2% Ireland and indeed based upon what I know already, my 2% ethnicity estimate from England & NW Europe is from my Mum's side only - presumably via my 2 English great-grandmothers. On my Dad's side, that's where my 2% Irish ethnicity arises and my 4% Norwegian ethnicity presumably comes from my Shetland ancestors - also on my Dad's side.

The 3% Welsh ethnicity is more of a mystery but my Irish 2x great-grandfather was a Jones... so perhaps there's a Welsh connection via him.

I know these ethnicities are not nationalities and I also know they are estimates but it's been quite gratifying to know that my own documentary research bears out these findings and that I haven't veered off on completely the wrong track and that I'm only now discovering that I'm actually descended from Turks or Russians! :laugh:
 
Well, that’s the best part of two decades you won’t get back. Seems like a waste of time for 2% of this and 2% of that. And you might have a Welsh connection because your Irish 2x great grand father was a Jones. :D
 
It's almost like they know :eek:
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It would be good to hear about others' genealogical research or DNA analysis outcomes - and any unexpected or good news outcomes from research or from DNA findings, if anyone has any stories to share. :)
 
I love it when Americans (white or black) take these tests, and show no Native American dna despite being told (and believing) all their lives they’re half Cherokee/Navajo/other tribe (sorry, unsure the names) because their great-great x 10 grandma’s half brother’s uncle’s dog’s cousin was full-blooded 😆

I think it’s particularly interesting for people with mixed ethnicities or mixed race to do the test.

Personally I wouldn’t take the test as I know my whole family and ancestors originate from one region (it’s a myth that “we all have ancestors from different places, no-one is 100 per cent one race/ethnicity” - actually yes, some of us are).
 
I did one of these tests and was found to have a bit of French and a touch of Polish in my DNA which is probably why I I love dusting it would seem. 😃😃
 
I have 4% Klingon ancestry... 2% Clanger... and 1% Borg.

Explains a lot.

Two minutes of my life, and one hundred Republic Credits I'll never get back.
 
I've done some family tree research and found a mixture of English, French and Irish. Planning to do a lot more when time allows.

I've considered these dna tests but never looked into it properly.

@Reese Withouterspoon do you mind me asking how much you paid and which company? Thanks.
 
My ancestry isn’t exciting either but it has answered some puzzles. Being brought up on Tyneside never felt right even though my family seemed rooted there. Even the accent sounded odd. I remember my mother being irritated that people asked why I spoke differently to them when I started school.
We moved to Scotland when I was 16 and it felt right instantly. The accent thing took a funny turn when people started asking if I was Irish and that’s still happening 40 years later. I’d never set foot in Ireland until I started working there 15 years ago. I had the strangest feeling of familiarity landing in Belfast for the first time. I didn’t even notice the accent there. It just sounded right.
I started researching ancestry during lockdown and didn’t have to go far to find my mother had strong Scottish roots. The not unexpected surprise was that my fathers family were all from Ireland with Scottish links too. My DNA test shows 53% Scottish pinpointing particularly Orkney and Shetland. The 32% Irish result was lower than expected but the 5% Swedish result is interesting because it’s one of my favourite countries.
 
I've done some family tree research and found a mixture of English, French and Irish. Planning to do a lot more when time allows.

I've considered these dna tests but never looked into it properly.

@Reese Withouterspoon do you mind me asking how much you paid and which company? Thanks.
Hi @jole26

I used an Ancestry DNA Kit, ordered via the Ancestry.co.uk website. I did my test around the end of 2020 and at that point the test was on an offer price of £59.99. It is usually around £79.99 but they have such offers frequently. There's a shipping fee on top of that. It does take several weeks for them to run the tests and then give you your results but they do keep in touch and let you know of its progress.

I can't vouch for any other test as the only people I know who've done one have used the Ancestry test but maybe others on here could advise, if they've used a different test.
 
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I love it when Americans (white or black) take these tests, and show no Native American dna despite being told (and believing) all their lives they’re half Cherokee/Navajo/other tribe (sorry, unsure the names) because their great-great x 10 grandma’s half brother’s uncle’s dog’s cousin was full-blooded 😆

I think it’s particularly interesting for people with mixed ethnicities or mixed race to do the test.

Personally I wouldn’t take the test as I know my whole family and ancestors originate from one region (it’s a myth that “we all have ancestors from different places, no-one is 100 per cent one race/ethnicity” - actually yes, some of us are).
Well, as you can see from my own results, the origins of my DNA are fairly limited geographically but still broken down into the Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Nordic groups... but that came as no real surprise to me either.

I laughed at your first paragraph because I'm sure you're absolutely right about that. I do think that, generally speaking, North Americans will usually have very interesting ethnicity profiles, given the diverse migratory patterns of settlers in the American continent. Sometimes their origins are already reasonably explicit, with people's surnames often giving a very good clue to their ancestral heritage but America and Canada are incredible mixed bags of ethnicity, with all sorts of stuff in the mix.
 
My ancestry isn’t exciting either but it has answered some puzzles. Being brought up on Tyneside never felt right even though my family seemed rooted there. Even the accent sounded odd. I remember my mother being irritated that people asked why I spoke differently to them when I started school.
We moved to Scotland when I was 16 and it felt right instantly. The accent thing took a funny turn when people started asking if I was Irish and that’s still happening 40 years later. I’d never set foot in Ireland until I started working there 15 years ago. I had the strangest feeling of familiarity landing in Belfast for the first time. I didn’t even notice the accent there. It just sounded right.
I started researching ancestry during lockdown and didn’t have to go far to find my mother had strong Scottish roots. The not unexpected surprise was that my fathers family were all from Ireland with Scottish links too. My DNA test shows 53% Scottish pinpointing particularly Orkney and Shetland. The 32% Irish result was lower than expected but the 5% Swedish result is interesting because it’s one of my favourite countries.
See! You're descended from Vikings too!

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Well, as you can see from my own results, the origins of my DNA are fairly limited geographically but still broken down into the Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Nordic groups... but that came as no real surprise to me either.

I laughed at your first paragraph because I'm sure you're absolutely right about that. I do think that, generally speaking, North Americans will usually have very interesting ethnicity profiles, given the diverse migratory patterns of settlers in the American continent. Sometimes their origins are already reasonably explicit, with people's surnames often giving a very good clue to their ancestral heritage but America and Canada are incredible mixed bags of ethnicity, with all sorts of stuff in the mix.
I actually do find your results interesting, because Norway and Scotland in modern times are now very different. Migration patterns and history are pretty fascinating.

Coincidentally I was very recently watching a short documentary about a Scottish lady native to the Highlands (while going down a rabbit hole trying to create an itinerary for a future visit) and her dna test showed a huge percentage of Norwegian that she didn’t previously didn’t know about, iirc something like 50%!

Several of my mates and also my husband took the test and all have interesting results, they all know they are mixed but all of of them showed dna from places they hadn’t expected.

My results would literally show 100 per cent of one ethnic group only, and I already know where we started off and how/why we moved, so for me personally it is not money well spent. But definitely worthwhile for a lot of other people to do.
 
I actually do find your results interesting, because Norway and Scotland in modern times are now very different. Migration patterns and history are pretty fascinating.

Coincidentally I was very recently watching a short documentary about a Scottish lady native to the Highlands (while going down a rabbit hole trying to create an itinerary for a future visit) and her dna test showed a huge percentage of Norwegian that she didn’t previously didn’t know about, iirc something like 50%!

Several of my mates and also my husband took the test and all have interesting results, they all know they are mixed but all of of them showed dna from places they hadn’t expected.

My results would literally show 100 per cent of one ethnic group only, and I already know where we started off and how/why we moved, so for me personally it is not money well spent. But definitely worthwhile for a lot of other people to do.
As you probably know, lots of the descendants of people from the Northern Isles - Orkney and Shetland - and from the north of Scotland have Nordic DNA because Orkney and Shetland were colonised by Scandinavian invaders over 1000 years ago.

My great-grandmother was born in Lerwick in 1875 and I've managed to trace one of her ancestral lines back to my 5x great-grandfather who was born in Northmavine (also in the Shetland Isles) around 1745. Not sure if I'll ever manage to trace that line back any further though.
 

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