Ancestry DNA

I have always known that I am half Irish, half English. My Ancestry DNA confirmed this. It also enabled me to have contact with 2nd cousins. We have shared photos and letters to/from our parents. One 2nd cousin’s biological father was a child of the Irish forced adoption scene. I love that I have all of this information and (Covid allowing), I will visit Ireland (I haven’t been since childhood) next year to meet up with people.

Both DH and l have done the Ancestry DNA tests - we both found first cousins we didn’t know existed - mine lives in Canada and we were able to meet up over there, which was fantastic. My DH’s newly found 1st cousin happens to live 3 miles from us - which was a total shock as my DH had moved away from all his family some 50 years ago (for work reasons, then marrying me and settling in the south of England - he regularly saw all the family back in the midlands but this new 1st cousin was a secret that was never spoken about) - so l have joined Ancestry as a member and have done heaps of research - loved finding family and for me having lost all my close relatives, it has given me a lot of joy and satisfaction.

I am not a wizard on DNA, but been using ancestry for over 8 years doing my family tree. Found all sorts of interesting things out. One fourth cousin even sent me an unseen( by our family) photo of my dad as a young boy. And l now correspond with an American lady who was able to solve some puzzles as to unknown relatives in old photos, l love it

Did the DNA test abut 5 years ago. It told me nothing that I did not already know. The 3 cousins I already know from childhood also did it - we came up as a match, other than that zilch. No contacts for any of us.

Like you PennyWhistle I have been researching both mine and DH family history for many years. After doing our DNA tests we both discovered several relatives both in the UK and round the world which helped to confirm, not only family stories, but we also discovered distant cousins who were able to provide photographs and fascinating stories of our ancestors.
Hope you are documenting everything you have found. I took the opportunity of lockdowns to produce books of our various grandparents and their ancestors. Our children and siblings have enjoyed reading the stories of their Ancestors and the part they played in history.

I've just sent mine off. Excited to see the results.

I have been researching my genealogy/family history for over 35 years, and have found DNA results to be of great help in both confirming my research and also advising that one man I thought to be my maternal 3 x great grandfather to be of no blood relation - thus eliminating one whole branch of research. It is good to have positive as well as negative confirmation when one is researching.

Mum said she was relieved that my brother and I were confirmed as her children when all of our DNA results were received

Also, I would recommend that anyone considering getting a DNA test on Ancestry or similar get the oldest person in each line of the family DNA tested while you can - as their results will help you to go further back potentially with more confidence.

Happy researching!

I found I have so many 3rd - 5th cousins all round the world, I'm wondering when I will find I am related to the Queen and the Pope!!

Even though Ancestry regularly update the ‘accuracy’ of the estimates of ‘where’ your DNA comes from that is all they are, rough estimates. Because the vast majority of Ancestry DNA tests have, and are likely to continue to be, taken by Americans, it will always be the case that the common emigrant communities: Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Scandinavia, England will always dominate those estimates.

Do NOT bank much hope on accurate estimates of Place, that is a bit of a joke at best for the reasons expressed above. On the other hand, relationships: Cousins, Aunts, Uncle’s etc will be much more accurate, but will run into many hundreds of people, very loosely related to you.

I was hoping a cousin I haven’t seen since childhood resident in Canada would get in touch. No-one at all has. Plus: the results were different when updated.

I did this hoping to find long long relatives in Ireland and Somerset. All I got were really distant relatives...none of whom have answered messages....well except one. It did confirm my Irish and Somerset roots though. Overall I was a bit disappointed.

Both my husband and myself have done this and I find it fascinating. I am an only child , and knew my cousins on my mother's side , but very little in my father's side .
He was a menopause baby and had brothers / sisters that were grown and left home , never to return. I have found a first cousin and a few 2nd cousins. You can also link in your DNA to others to find something they call thru lines. I've found out I have a link to some ancestors who were ' someone ' way back when who lived in houses that are now national trust properties , so found that interesting . Just a shame they are not close direct family. I wouldn't mind being a lady or a duchess !

I know one person who did it because she's never felt she fit well with her family and wanted to check if they really were her genetic family. So there's one application that helped someone resolve a concern.

BeverleyJB

Whilst tracing your ancestors may be, for some, just an absorbing hobby, I would advise caution before using a DNA service, such as Ancestry.

Read the Terms and Conditions carefully - not least because, once they have your DNA it may be stored in a jurisdiction where the laws of your home country (including laws relating to privacy and personal data) do not apply.

Companies like Ancestry will also usually have the right to use your DNA with “partner” companies for other purposes without having to seek further permission from you.

Speaking personally, I'm not sufficiently interested in what my DNA may tell me about my ancestors to give away control over personal information that has value to others….and for them to charge me £ for the privilege!

Can I just add that Ancestry has proved a real boon to me . It has put me in touch with relatives I could confirm were family but I do not know of their existance. Through this I have managed to share so many family memories and passed on loads of reseach I have done which was much appreciated.

Germanshepherdsmum a good point, although I'm afraid I'm not convinced of the accuracy - which will be improving, of course.

Just to say, Ancestry has just updated their results based on all the masses of new information that keeps coming in. So it might have changed in the last few days.

Neen, I don't believe you need an Ancestry subscription to message your DNA contacts, so if anyone is shown fairly closely related then you could make contact. I appreciate you haven't done your tree because you're adopted, so there's not much more for you to do if you are not planning to do your biological tree. Just send a message to those closer DNA links if you want to. Otherwise just study the percentages shown.

CafeAuLait

Beverley, if anyone in your family has done the test, that ship has already sailed somewhat. If anyone has access to that person's data, connecting to you is not that many steps away, only one if it's an immediate relative.

Thank you CafeAuLait. I appreciate that others would be able to see a family connection to me if one of my family members has had their DNA tested.

What won't happen though, is my DNA will not be sold on or otherwise shared with pharmacy companies for example, for them to use for research etc for profit. Nor would my DNA ever be made available to authorities in other jurisdictions.

Maybe I'm just «old and grumpy» to think that I've lived my life without knowing and distant & unknown relatives and can,t be bothered now!

Thank you everyone. I do find it all interesting and as I'm adopted it gives me a sense of where I come from I guess.

My granddaughter did her DNA with ancestry it gave her No percentage English at all but I have done my own family tree back to 1600 s and my roots are firmly English back to then
So how come she doesn’t have any of my DNA she’s my full granddaughter by my eldest daughter

Septimia, the DNA test can show your ancestry from centuries earlier than most of us could trace through documents. It’s interesting to find, for instance, that some of your ancestors are likely to have been Vikings. The test can also show that someone you believed to be an ancestor wasn’t, as I think you were suggesting. Yes, I would find that interesting. I enjoy a good detective story!

If you're tracing your ancestry already, as I am, why do you need the DNA test? Most, if not all, your forebears will appear on your family tree as you research it. Do you really need to know that you have 6th cousins 10 times removed?

Obviously there will be people whose family background is a bit of a mystery and, for them, the DNA test may be invaluable.

Of course, it's always possible that there's been a bit of sneaky hanky-panky which has put different DNA into my cells - but do I really want to know?

Thank you. I do have the free access, subscription, just not gone as far as paying for the next level subscription yet.
It's clever stuff.

Beverley, if anyone in your family has done the test, that ship has already sailed somewhat. If anyone has access to that person's data, connecting to you is not that many steps away, only one if it's an immediate relative.

Whilst tracing your ancestors may be, for some, just an absorbing hobby, I would advise caution before using a DNA service, such as Ancestry.

Read the Terms and Conditions carefully - not least because, once they have your DNA it may be stored in a jurisdiction where the laws of your home country (including laws relating to privacy and personal data) do not apply.

Companies like Ancestry will also usually have the right to use your DNA with “partner” companies for other purposes without having to seek further permission from you.

Speaking personally, I'm not sufficiently interested in what my DNA may tell me about my ancestors to give away control over personal information that has value to others….and for them to charge me £ for the privilege!

I think you need to subscribe to Ancestry to check how these second cousins are related to you. I’ve had a subscription for years so have been able to identify the relationship with some people flagged up after my test but the relationship with others remains a total mystery as they haven’t posted any family history details. You can contact these cousins via Ancestry but I haven’t done that. I haven’t been offered a gift card either, I assume that’s just for non-members. I can thoroughly recommend tracing your ancestors via Ancestry, very absorbing hobby.