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!

@Flaxmeadow

When you first started, was you surprised at how huge the English working class is on the census. I know I was

You don't have to go far back to find most people leaving school at 14 and going into manual occupations, farming or similar.

@louloulemons

Can I ask about military records?

I have a great uncle who was killed in the D Day landings. Because he had emigrated to Canada and was in the Canadian army, I’ve found his whole military file scanned in and available to view online. It’s amazing! Complete with handwritten letters from family members and even a scan of his pocketbook with a bullet hole through it!

A great uncle on the other side of my family was on a ship that was bombed in the war and perhaps was a POW before he died. I wrote off to get his records and got a single piece of paper with basic details I already knew. I’m desperate to find out more for my grandfather who has always wanted to know what happened to his brother.

Forces war records has stuff. However there are privacy limits on things under 100 years old which means ww2 stuff is a lot harder to access. I think next of kin can apply, or other people if you can prove the person is deceased.

We have the same issue with DH's grandfather who served in ww2, no records, and FIL isn't interested in chasing.

North America - well the US at least - operates on a 72 year privacy rule rather than 100 years, so in 2022 we'll get access to the 1950 US census.

@PrincessNymeria

Me, my sister, mum and dad have all done DNA tests.

The confusing thing is, my sister and I have nearly 50% shared DNA with each parent, about 45% with each other, but we both have ethnicity estimates our parents don't?

My sister has over 45% "English" DNA, neither me nor either of my parents has any, my dad and both have 75+% Irish, Scottish and Welsh, and my mum around 60%.

I have a small % of "Mesoamerican" DNA which neither of my parents or sister share?

Any ideas how that works, or where I could find that info?

Also, I saw above that 18% ethnicity indicates a grandparent with that ethnicity, my mum has around 20% Scandinavian DNA, and nearly 20% Eastern European, does that mean that DNA comes from more recent ancestors than I'd assumed? I'd put the Scandinavian in particular down to ancestors with large amounts of viking DNA, breeding other ancestors with large amounts of similar DNA, passing it on, and on?

Ethnicity estimates, especially at lower percentages can give false Nat he's. I ran my dna through Living DNA and it said I was 2% Middle East. I'm definitely not. When they update their algorithm, I'd expect those anomalies to disappear.

@EachandEveryone

No it was definitely my dads mum without stereotyping she definitely looked it. I’ve showed her photos to Jewish colleagues who have said yes she is, even if they changed their name at what point would they do that? I’ve gone back to her grandparents and all born in London all with English names

The name would often be changed as soon as they arrived in the Uk. DH had a jewish grandmother and her name had been changed to a much more common similar sounding English one. The whole family had changed their name, but I found one record that listed both names.

@PastMyBestBeforeDate

I'm utterly stuck on my Irish ggg grandparents. They just have Ireland as place of birth in the census and inconsistent ages. I have their father's names from a wedding certificate and that's it. The names aren't especially unusual. There won't be any travel records given the timing and destination. Any suggestions other than DNA although even DNA might be useless this far out?

I hear you! I recently did a client report with the same issue. Parents names recorded as John and Mary Doyle on a Scottish marriage certificate for their daughter Catherine but couldn't find her birth, their marriage, their births... total dead end.

Try the 1901 and 1911 Irish census - free online through the Irish register office.

Barry Griffin has a map showing distribution of surnames www.barrygriffin.com - might give rough pointers of where to start looking.

But Irish records are a brick wall for many.

@IdblowJonSnow

I'm keen to know more about my mum's dad and his dad who were both in the merchant navy. My great grandad was killed at sea on the SS Volo off the coast of Egypt.

I'd like to know the countries both travelled to during their careers. Any idea how I'd find this out please?

There are lots of passenger and crew lists on Ancestry, mostly i19th century though.

There are lots of in digitised records held at the national maritime museum in Liverpool, you'd need to contact them about access. If you know which company he worked for then there might be staff records there too.

[quote elsaesmeralda]@CliffsofMohair he does have the same name as his father, tried that but hasn't worked still. I will try the different versions of his surname. It's just so frustrating, I've also been told now his middle name could've originally been a girls name ! So I'm thinking did he change it officially, does that make things even more complicated [/quote]
Middle name was probably Mary/Marian in that case. Boys were given that name

OP do you do this as a job ? Eg do you get employed to help with difficult trees ?

@Curioushorse

I have a relative who is involved in researching an aspect of DNA (deliberately being vague. Apologies!). He swears that up to 10% of people (it varies by age and region) are not fathered by who they think they are i.e. their mum lied/was unsure about their biological parentage.

I think he said they estimated that figure was probably accurate going back centuries too.

How far does that knowledge impact on you?

It's something you have to be aware if and we've always been taught to raise the possibility with any client you're working with. Finding half siblings you never knew existed.

It's also important to bear in mind that not every case of an unexpected father is an affair or even consensual. Suspecting your parent ir grandparent was conceived as a result of rape is a lot to process.

I'm very aware of the pitfalls and would always advise people to think really carefully before doing a dna test about how they'd feel if the results are unexpected. And whether or not to share that with other family members.

@SirVixofVixHall

OP do you do this as a job ? Eg do you get employed to help with difficult trees ?

At the moment I'm just doing project as part of my Masters but yes I'm the near future I'll be trying to get work doing this if not full time, at least part of the time.

Hi OP, I’ve always loved family history. Can I ask what qualifications you’ve done and whether you can earn a decent salary doing this full time?

I am asking as there have been times when I have felt very stuck and been willing to pay for some help.

@Cloudhopping

Hi OP, I’ve always loved family history. Can I ask what qualifications you’ve done and whether you can earn a decent salary doing this full time?

I'm doing a Masters through Strathclyde. There are other institutions doing similar levrr we l postgrad courses around the world, look on the websites of the various industry bodies to see their criteria for membership.

Lots of people earn a full time salary in family history research so as for earnings it's a bit of a how long is a piece of string question.

Ancestry ethicity estimates are really not that accurate, especially when breaking down closely related populations like English, Scottish, Irish, etc. Take them with a massive pinch of salt.

@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.

I did one of these DNA analysis tests, I was really excited about it! The result came back that I was 65% Scandinavian, 8% British, and smaller percentages of other areas. A year later I got an email saying my results had been updated. Another year later the same thing happened again! Currently I am 30% Scandinavian, 30% British and bits of elsewhere. I'm so disappointed in the randomness of it, since it's changed twice already I don't trust the results anymore.

OP, can I ask, how much would you expect to earn if you worked full time after you finish studying?
I'm fascinated by this work, potential for a career change!

@EachandEveryone

My dads mum always told us she was Jewish and my DNA test said i was 18% so she was right her mum probably was. I cannot find anything on ancestry that points to it no Jewish sounding names and everyone was married in church/baptised they were from the East End and ive gone back to the 1800’s they were all poor and all born in London. I cant see it at all. And my granny wasnt brought up Jewish in any shape or form but she knew that she was its all a mystery. Any pointers?

There were different waves of Jewish immigration to the U.K. The 1900s was mostly arrivals from Poland and Russia, and before that it was Sephardim. The Bevis marks synagogue (oldest Sephardi synagogue in the U.K.) in the city of London maintains records so maybe get in touch with them? They would probably have registers if marriages that took place there as well as births. Otherwise there’s Sandy Row synagogue which is also in the city and still operational. It’s the oldest Ashkenazi synagogue in London and again, they probably have records.

Sorry, not just 1900s. 19th century into early 20th

@TheGenealogist
I've been a keen amateur genealogist for over a decade and have a degree in history. I have looked several times at the Strathclyde course and would be interested in how you rate it. The content looks good, (better than alternative courses?)but it is expensive if I was doing it just for personal pleasure - not with a view to a future career.
Is it worth just signing up for year 1 ? How many hours a week do you spend on the course?
TIA.

Placemarking for all the links. Thankyou!

What are your views on how the Golden State Killer was caught?
Is forensic genealogy the future of criminal investigation? Does it raise concerns for people submitting their DNA to companies like Gedmatch with the possibility that it could be used in the future to track down relatives suspected of crimes.

A combination of my DF dying unexpectedly followed by lockdown sent me so far into the Ancestry rabbit warren I fear I may never emerge.

My question is - how common was it for people to evade the census? I uncovered an intriguing little family knot around 1870, when my widowed greatx4 grandmother had an unexpected 'fatherless' baby, and her three teenage sons promptly voted with their feet - one to Australia, one to Manchester, and one vanished completely until 1881, when he reappears in his aunt's house. I've searched versions of the name, fiddled with the birth date, checked newspaper reports... can't find him in 1871 anywhere. Any suggestions? Or did he just not want to be found? Was that even an option?

@Corndollie

What are your views on how the Golden State Killer was caught? Is forensic genealogy the future of criminal investigation? Does it raise concerns for people submitting their DNA to companies like Gedmatch with the possibility that it could be used in the future to track down relatives suspected of crimes.

The police in the Uk aren't doing thus yet, matching people through commercial databases. It is a worry though, when you do an AncestryDNA test you're basically signing away your rights.

Doesn't really bother me to be honest but it's certainly something which people should be aware of.

[quote mateysmum]@TheGenealogist
I've been a keen amateur genealogist for over a decade and have a degree in history. I have looked several times at the Strathclyde course and would be interested in how you rate it. The content looks good, (better than alternative courses?)but it is expensive if I was doing it just for personal pleasure - not with a view to a future career.
Is it worth just signing up for year 1 ? How many hours a week do you spend on the course?
TIA.[/quote]
Part time is about 15 hours a week. Yes you can just do the one year and leave with the certificate. There might also be loans towards fees if you dint have a higher degree already.

Cant recommend it highly enough- the teaching staff are fab and my tutor has been brilliant. It's a very international cohort, people on the course from all over world.

My Dad did this and found a relative. We share a victorian ancestor and my dad and this lady each had one of his possessions ( with his name on). I love a bit of family history!