Family trees - Ancestry.co.uk

[Fungus]

I have done some family tree work. My mums paternal line I have got back to mid 17th century in St Austell (cornwall) they pretty much stayed there. At one stage they moved all of 10 miles away , had my great grand father been born first I would probably have been a farmer as thy are still there. My GGgrandfather went back to St Austell to the clay mines.

My fathers side is Belfast and I got back to 1840s but can't get back further at this point as records are thin on the ground due to their destruction in two fires. It would appear he my GGgrandfather came from north of Belfast. What is strange is he was catholic and where he came from was very predominantly protestant so wondered if he arrived there from England / Scotland his family name is not Irish and pretty much all the boys names were English. So I guess I was wondering what a DNA test might tell and the accuracy of such.

Cheers for the help.

The Ancestry DNA test will give you some cousins with common ancestors going back about five generations, so I get some useful results re the early 1800's. But matching that far back does get patchy, because each generation is halved. Cousins can have useful information, especially if they still live in the same area as your ancestors.

You'll also get general ethnicity estimates, but they probably won't tell you an awful lot. A Y-DNA test might give you some matches for your father's father's father's father's father's father's father's father, etc, but disappointingly few people pay for that.

PS. I wouldn't advise using other DNA companies - they have much small databases than Ancestry, and anyway you can copy your Ancestry data to all of them (free or cheap) except 23andMe.

 

[Wardy's twin]

The Ancestry DNA test will give you some cousins with common ancestors going back about five generations, so I get some useful results re the early 1800's. But matching that far back does get patchy, because each generation is halved. Cousins can have useful information, especially if they still live in the same area as your ancestors.

You'll also get general ethnicity estimates, but they probably won't tell you an awful lot. A Y-DNA test might give you some matches for your father's father's father's father's father's father's father's father, etc, but disappointingly few people pay for that.

PS. I wouldn't advise using other DNA companies - they have much small databases than Ancestry, and anyway you can copy your Ancestry data to all of them (free or cheap) except 23andMe.

Thanks for the info.... I think I will follow up with a bit more reading to see exactly what it would give me.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

I went right back to the very beginning and was shocked to find out I was related to Adam & Eve.

But then, aren't we all?

 

[Nitram]

Fascinating stuff especially if there’s illegitimate lines or adoption in the family. My wife had been researching her father’s line for years through non DNA information without much success, but DNA gave extra clues to family ties.
I did mine recently and much to my surprise found out I was 40% plus Irish and slightly higher percentage Scottish and the rest was Northern England.
Also contacted two half sisters in USA which turned out really well and am now in regular contact with.

 

[Wozza]

Ancestry.com’s New Terms Allow it to Use Your Family Photos for Anything
https://petapixel.com/2021/08/09/an...ow-it-to-use-your-family-photos-for-anything/

 

[Eeyore]

Well, my DNA results were freaky. The lab telling me that I most likely had dark brown hair, brown eyes and even a widows peak. I am British/Irish (98 percent) with Spanish ancestry going back. Most of the far biological family live in America. They have found a first cousin in Liverpool. I was told years ago that an American branch of the bio family very much existed and that I was a cousin of James Best, who played Roscoe in Duke's of Hazzard. Those who have watched the show will be in no doubt...