My Ancestry DNA kit arrives tomorrow...

[Arlanymor]

... I was inspired to buy one because my late uncle was really interested in genealogy and did a lot to track back his family line - this was before DNA tests were commercially available. I have often thought how interesting it would be to pick up where he left off and a random conversation with a BT engineer (!) a couple of weeks ago convinced me to do it. Obviously - and egotistically! - the starting point is me and working out what my initial results tell me. I think something like 80% Welsh, 20% English - but with some Irish chucked in for good measure - just based on knowing where great and great-great grandparents came from. If you've done it, do you have any advice on next steps? I know our family are on Ancestry and I will now have my own log in. But I am very much a novice. If it turns out I am 99% Viking I may have to talk to my parents (!) but truly I am just interested in tracking a trail back through history. I used to work in archaeology, so I've always been very interested in this area.

All the strong "don't do it" opinions from people who aren't into genealogy....

And yes, I have listened to the podcast, well, some of it. It's not all about finding your dad is not your dad or you have a half-sibling. Personally, I didn't like it much as a series, quite preachy I thought. I have lots of experience with DNA testing for genealogy, although not quite at the spreadsheet level. I have done basic Ancestry tests on both me and DH, and a Y-DNA test on my dad.

The NPE - not parent expected - is nothing like 5% or 10%, it's more like 1% or 2%. https://isogg.org/wiki/Non-paternity_event Although you could argue that DNA tests are throwing up a higher percentage than in the general population as people who are unsure about their parentage are more likely to test than others.

My test showed very little of interest. My paternal line all came from the same small rural area, worked as agricultural labourers, and did so for centuries. I had very few matches - probably because everyone knows that their ancestors have deep roots. My maternal side has very few matches, but again, no surprises.

DH's test was fine on his mother's side but had no matches with his surname on the paternal line which was the first indication something was off. His g grandmother was 7 months pregnant when she married in January 1905. His grandfather was born on 30 March of the same year. The person she married was not the father of her baby. This may be a NPE, may not. We do not know whether her husband knew he was not the father of the baby, or whether he was well aware and didn't care.

The DNA matches, several of whom had the same surname, have given the bones of the story. Martha, who got married at 7 months pregnant, was living in the NE of England in a port town. The DNA matches indicate that the father of her baby was a man whose surname is strongly associated with the NE of Scotland and fishing communities around the Moray Firth. Unfortunately these families with that surname all had multiple sons who went to sea so we haven't been able to narrow it further.

You misunderstand.

In the UK, police cannot access DNA on private databases like Ancestry or 23andMe. They just can't. It's illegal.

Police CAN look for family matches on their own police DNA databases and you're only going to be on that if you have been arrested and had fingerprints or cheek swabs taken. This is how the police solved the cold case of Melanie Roads - the perpetrator's daughter had been arrested and swabbed. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36256790

Police can't access other databases whether they are looking for a murderer, trying to trace the parents of an abandoned baby or anything else. Yes they can order swabs be taken on suspects but that's not the same thing at all, is it?

Oh I know that, there was another poster claiming that if reform got in they could demand access to DNA on those platforms to deport people.

Mine was so disappointing. Literally I’m as british as you possibly can be. No exciting extra relatives found. I have met someone though whose Mum got one for Christmas and found out she had been swapped at birth.

Ah I see. SO much misunderstanding about these tests.

Thank you for being another normal, rational person on this topic! Honestly, some of 'vapours' around all of this are insane. As long as you are a rational person going into this with your eyes open then there really is very little risk. And as I say, if you're rational, then you'll take any unexpected results on the chin. I have no interest in listening to preachy podcasts, so it's very helpful to have your balanced view. Not that I had any intention of listening to it either. And the people on here who view it as a gatekeeping requirement of getting a genealogy test really need to focus on their own genes and not mine!

As I speak, I recently received notification that my lovely spit has had the DNA separated and is a viable sample and is being processed as we speak. Should have the results on or around 5 July and I can tell you now, that while I will come back to this thread and update (mainly for the naysayers) it will be completely boring, prosaic with maybe a 1% of 'ooh!' in there!

DNA testing is so very new, the programmes are interesting because of the new things that can be discovered through it. To not do a DNA test because of some of things it can potentially show up.would be like never having a relationship with someone in case they became violent.
I'm sure your results will be just as boring as mine are.

Totally agree, thank you, and mine will be dull as ditchwater too I am sure! You are so right - why do people even bother leaving the house if they see the potentially of risk in every activity. And also why do it, if you aren't emotionally equipped to deal with the results? I've been around the sun enough times to have my feet firmly on the floor. The shroud-waving on here to force compliance with some people's narrow view of the world and subsequent doom-mongering when I have refused to kowtow to listening to a bloody podcast (!) has been really disappointing and patronising. Some of us are grown adults with life experience and brains and resilience. It's also a burgeoning area of interest for me and something I am thinking of training in as a second career potentially.

Hi OP my results came back this week - no big surprises - no mystery relatives. I was hoping to have some Mediterranean dna as I always thought the Italians were my kind of people and I was once mistaken for one by a timeshare salesman back in the day - but sadly they aren’t. I am 18% Scottish though so the World Cup is even more exciting due to my additional and unexpected skin in the game. Good luck with your quest 😊 you might receive your results faster than predicted - mine took 2 weeks

Exciting, thinking of a second career!
I enjoyed listening to the programmes, personally. But the stories are notable because they are rare.

I finally did my Ancestry DNA test and sent it off last week. I know my family background on my mum's side all the way back to the 1500s, but not on my dad's. It'll be interesting to see what comes back.

Random double post - think the internet is having a twitch!

Ah this is a brilliant update - thanks for sharing! I would like a bit of French to be honest (and then I can join in the World Cup too! Although Scottish would be equally good and also interesting as no proper knowledge!) I love your unexpected skin in the game, that's brilliant! Thanks so much and it would be really great if it came back sooner - my parents are fascinated too and I am seeing them at the weekend for Chocolate Day, sorry, 'Father's Day' (he only ever wants chocolate as a gift now he's 80! And would be rather fun to open the reports with them. Well @SnugQuoter - Lang may your lum reek!

Absolutely - the percentages are really, really low. Yes I am looking into lay person opportunities, I don't have a scientific background so I can't be a clever lab person - but there are lots of analytical opportunities so it appears.

Wow that's incredible that you already know your mum's background that far back - that's great! Definitely interesting - hope you get some fascinating insights!

We have some theories, but we'll see!

We do too! My mum is interested in the Irish side as she's convinced her great grandmother was Irish - surname Mullins. My dad wants his own late mother's assertion that we're related to Dic Penderyn (Richard Lewis) to be true. I pointed out that I don't think it will have that level of detail, but that if it turns out we can isolate some of our ancestors to Merthyr Tydfil then I promise to look into it further! I think a random 1% Egyptian or something will pop up and then we'll all go: "OOOH!"

Martha, who got married at 7 months pregnant, was living in the NE of England in a port town. The DNA matches indicate that the father of her baby was a man whose surname is strongly associated with the NE of Scotland and fishing communities around the Moray Firth. Unfortunately these families with that surname all had multiple sons who went to sea so we haven't been able to narrow it further.

Snap! We had very similar in the 1920s.
You have the name of the mother and the port. Backtrack 40 weeks* from the child’s date of birth (baptism records).
Next stop is Shipping News to discover ships which docked in the port on that date. You’ll find where the ship came from, the name of the ship and the captain. It’s a lengthy process but records are thorough. Yours probably had cargoes of herring/coal. Merchant seamen’s families often featured fathers and sons. Census records (if you can access them for Scotland) will give names, occupations and employers if they’re like those in England. We had 4 potentials. Elimination of the descendants of their wives led to success though I appreciate it might not be as easy for you. I hope some of this might help.
*our 40 weeks proved to be 39+1.

@LaliqueSaltGrinder I think this is some advice for you!

I haven’t done my Ancestry DNA but I have to admit to being tempted. My DM never found out who her father was and my DGM wouldn’t tell her. I suspect it’s because she was a 15 year old child when she got pregnant by probably one of 2 men (aged 34 and 41 at the time) so it was at best grooming or at worst rape. I suspect she was traumatised and felt terrible shame. My mum was passed off as her DM’s sister until she was in her teens (not uncommon I believe in the past). In fact my DGM was supposedly my Auntie until the beans were split when I was in my early teens. The whole episode affected both my DGM and my DM throughout their whole lives.
So if I did send off my DNA I would be expecting some potential surprises.
My Dad’s mother’s side of the family tree has been traced back to 1607.

It is indeed for @LaliqueSaltGrinder
Thanks @Arlanymor!

No worries lovely!

I’ve DMd you @Arlanymor.

Yep, thanks lovely and have responded. 😊

I'm always amazed that they managed to id Richard III by checking 2 decendant lines. Really surprised that there was no unexpected parentage in all that time.