I'm a Genealogist - AMA

[TheGenealogist]

Have loads of experience researching my family tree and academic qualifications to back my experience. Like to think I know what I'm talking about genealogy-wise, so ask away!

[EKGEMS]

Have you found really interesting or colorful ancestors you didn't know about prior to your research?

[WhoEatsPopTarts]

How do you go about researching family from non English speaking countries?

[TheGenealogist]

@EKGEMS

Have you found really interesting or colorful ancestors you didn't know about prior to your research?

Loads. I firmly believe that every family has a story and interesting characters. My dads side are all farmers back for centuries but there's still the odd outlier who joined the Army and went to India, or one who served in the merchant navy and was buried at sea in the 1870s after contracting a tropical disease. The ships logs have been digitised and they are just fascinating.

You don't have to be descended from royalty to have interesting stories.

[passthepoutine]

How would you go about researching a father of an illegitimate child? I have a possible name. It's in England in the late 1800s. Thanks!

[TheGenealogist]

@WhoEatsPopTarts

How do you go about researching family from non English speaking countries?

It's tricky. I speak a bit of French and Spanish and with other languages in Europe it's easier to search as we all use the same alphabet. You can search using names and a browser will translate results for you Russian, Greek, Thai - loads harder.

And also there's just not the demand for records from many parts of the non-English speaking world, or there were never records in the first place. DNA can be useful when there are no paper records.

[TheGenealogist]

@passthepoutine

How would you go about researching a father of an illegitimate child? I have a possible name. It's in England in the late 1800s. Thanks!

DNA. Never lies! You'd need to test the closest relative to the illegitimate child and start looking for matches, work out where they fit in and hopefully get an answer.

Will depend on how many people have tested though. Another thing to try is to read through local papers or applications for things like poor relief, you might find a mother appearing to claim maintenance for her child, and naming the father.

[dogistoobigforthesofa]

If we go back a few hundred years or so in our family tree, we have a large number of kings, queens and even an emperor (direct ancestors). We're a pretty average family now, though, so I wonder if everyone is related to royalty in some way if you manage to trace back far enough and are from a country where there is or was a royal family?

[DoingItMyself]

I've got that, aristocracy in every line and a perfectly ordinary family now.
My question - on something like Ancestry where I click on links to add, how do I know I'm not adding the wrong person? That person will turn up in my ThruLines, whether I'm dna-linked or not?

[TheGenealogist]

@dogistoobigforthesofa

If we go back a few hundred years or so in our family tree, we have a large number of kings, queens and even an emperor (direct ancestors). We're a pretty average family now, though, so I wonder if everyone is related to royalty in some way if you manage to trace back far enough and are from a country where there is or was a royal family?

Maths says it has to be true that we're all descended from someone notable.

2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents...4096 10x great grandparents.... 131,072 15x great grandparents.

Of course there's going to be crossovers and if you go back 400 years you might find your mum and dad are 16th cousins or something.

The issue is PROVING your link to royalty, it's usually pretty difficult to prove, and DNA's not going to help you that far back.

If you're male though you can go down the whole Y DNA route which is the gene handed from father to son through the generations, pretty much unchanged. That can help establish links with huge communities across the world which all have a common ancestor.

[TheGenealogist]

@DoingItMyself

I've got that, aristocracy in every line and a perfectly ordinary family now.
My question - on something like Ancestry where I click on links to add, how do I know I'm not adding the wrong person? That person will turn up in my ThruLines, whether I'm dna-linked or not?

Well the easy answer is to only add people you're 100% sure about. That you have verified as correct using other records.

Ancestry is a fabulous resource but a high percentage of trees on there are complete mince.

[NigellaSeed]

I asked my nana who lived to be 100 and she said all her family as far back as she remembers is English. Is there any chance I am slightly more exotic than just 100% English? Is there still some diversity in me from a loooong time ago or has it all be diluted out completely?

Is that weird, to hope to be at least 1/58 french or Spanish .

[merryhouse]

16th cousins? Ha! My great-grandmother's parents were first cousins.

And another great-grandmother had children with her uncle's wife's sister's husband's cousin.

And a completely different 4-greats grandmother was in a small community and married the brother of her two siblings-in-law (I have 90% of the parish register on my tree...)

[TheGenealogist]

Of course there's a chance. It would depend where your family is from. There's a huge crossover between Irish and Scottish genes and family trees. I have some Scandinavian DNA according to my test - probably though my Scottish highlands line.

And in any big city - especially London, Liverpool, Bristol, Glasgow with lots of shops coming and going - there is every chance that a foreign sailor stuck around long enough to get someone pregnant.

[ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba]

I'd love to do that DNA testing when they find out how many % of whichever origin I am - what's the best test to do in the UK, please?

[TheGenealogist]

Ancestry. They have the biggest database, and the biggest number of people in the UK.

The ethnicity estimates work by comparing your DNA against everyone else who has tested, shows you people who match some aspect of your DNA and also breaks your DNA down into large groupings.

Mine, for example, says i'm 98% UK - mostly Scotland, Northeast England and Northern Ireland, and 2% Scandinavian. You are not going to get it broken down much more than that - a DNA test can't pinpoint a town, or a city.

Keep your eyes peeled for deals on Ancestry, they had a special offer last week for father's day and they'll have another one soon. Regular price is £79 plus postage, when there's a deal on they'll do it for £59.

[BrilliantBetty]

If a person was adopted and wanted to trace their biological ancestry, but not be 'found' by living biological relatives.. is that possible using the DNA testing kits and Ancestry etc.. do those databases automatically name you and show you as actively looking?

[GreatBigBird]

I thought it said gynaecologist 🤦‍♀️ Glad I didn’t ask any questions 😆

[Gingerkittykat]

My mum was adopted in 1950 and I've been trying to find her biological parents. An ancestry DNA test turned up a woman who came back as a cousin but who (from conversation) I suspect actually might be my mum's sister.

How accurate are the Ancestry relationship matches?

Would a genealogist be able to help me in this search?

Other biological relatives of my mum have not answered messages I have sent.

[TheGenealogist]

@BrilliantBetty

If a person was adopted and wanted to trace their biological ancestry, but not be 'found' by living biological relatives.. is that possible using the DNA testing kits and Ancestry etc.. do those databases automatically name you and show you as actively looking?

Yes you can do it on the sly. There's no requirement to give your "real" name when you're testing.

You're also under no obligation to answer any emails from people who contact you saying you're a match with them. Lots of people have managed to find birth families using DNA. Sometimes there's a happy reunion, often there's not.

You may not get very many close matches though, it will depend on who else on your family has tested. My closest match was a second cousin, we share great grandparents. You'd be very lucky to find half siblings or aunts or uncles.

I would also recommend talking through the issues with a counsellor or something before going into DNA, it can open up a huge can of worms for some people and it pays to be prepared.

[NigellaSeed]

@GreatBigBird

I thought it said gynaecologist 🤦‍♀️ Glad I didn’t ask any questions 😆

Hahahaha same!

[DoingItMyself]

Ancestry is a fabulous resource but a high percentage of trees on there are complete mince

[PegasusReturns]

This is a bit specific but I was a twin, lost before birth. I don’t know whether there is a birth or death certificate. Is there a way of finding out?

[CobraChicken]

From Ancestry's FAQ:

"Full Sibling

Someone in this category is likely a brother or sister who shares both biological parents with you. In the rare situation that you have a half sibling who is also your first cousin, they may appear in this category too. You will share about 2,400–2,800 centimorgans with a full sibling."

Could this person be both a cousin and a half sibling do you think Gingerkittykat?

[ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba]

sorry @TheGenealogist

I should've clarified that I'm Hungarian. I live in the UK, but my ancestry consists of Hungarian,Austrian, German, Italian & possibly Jewish, Turkish & Slavic origins.

would Ancestry be useful for me or do you have an idea how to search for main land European roots?
thanks

[dancealittleclosertome]

What kind of academic qualifications do you need to work as a genealogist?