Family trees - Ancestry.co.uk

[Perfidious Albion]

I used to do this.... but lately I found that prolonged sessions brought on migraines...and I hit some "brick walls" .

Libraries are good , and for Sussex ancestors there is a local Family History Group based at The Keep, near the Amex, (at least there was...)
Best free site was the Mormon LDS site . It has a lot of stuff. There are forums of helpful enthusiasts too.
I got back to the mid 18th Cent. Sadly no nobility or notoriety though. Just lots of Agricultural Labourers. ..

 

[Albion my Albion]

My cousin had already done my mothers side of the family back to 1750 something, so I used a special offer trial month to look into my father's side. I found my grandmother's side quite easy, but my grandfather's tree proved a bit problematical.

All my mother's side are East Sussex and all my father's are West Sussex.

I've heard that family trees that have crossed Sussex relationships can be quite problematical, especially East Sussex with West Sussex. It leads to vastly over rated over-the-middle-sex.

 

[Mr Bridger]

I plumped up for the DNA test thing on Ancestry a couple of months ago.
Got the results and was a little underwhelmed, was hoping for something a bit more exotic.

I know what you mean, I got my wife one as she's been unsure for years whether her real father was her real father, but not sure what we were expecting it to say. It gives you possible related family, (nearest she got was 4th cousins) but I suppose it all depends on who is on the database and has the same test. It did say she was 94% British, 3% Celtic, and 3% Scandinavian. Most her her family originate from the midlands. Peaky blinders I reckon.
I've done mine recently and just waiting for the results.

 

[Fungus]

I used to do this.... but lately I found that prolonged sessions brought on migraines...and I hit some "brick walls" .

Libraries are good , and for Sussex ancestors there is a local Family History Group based at The Keep, near the Amex, (at least there was...)
Best free site was the Mormon LDS site . It has a lot of stuff. There are forums of helpful enthusiasts too.
I got back to the mid 18th Cent. Sadly no nobility or notoriety though. Just lots of Agricultural Labourers. ..

I joined the Sussex Family History Group recently, and there is a lot of useful info and advise. They are also one of the better uses for Facebook! Also found a group just for my surname, as well as local history groups. Wish school history lessons had been so interesting.

The best occupation I've found so far is mounted rural postman. Also found a lot of "very short pregnancies"!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

How is it ridiculous or tenuous. I was merely stating that it might be advantageous to research your ancestry to see if you qualify for a passport from another european country; In the event that Brexit ends free movement, you could still move/retire anywhere in the EU.

Back on track, my own research has shown me that I can obtain Italian citizenship under the "jure sanguinis" rule.

Funnily enough I have been thinking about this. My mother was adopted and I'd be interested to now know something about her past. If truth be told we never always saw eye to eye but I think/hope we made our peace before she died. Its a long shot as I am sure her history is English but it would be wonderful legacy if she was to leave me the one thing I really now want which is an EU passport.

The wife has a lawyer looking into her mother's family history so she, and possibly me by extension, could qualify via her side. Again, a lovely legacy. It's also quite fascinating as it all hinges on the exact date and the nature of how her mother acquired her British citizenship.

 

[Wardy's twin]

Has anyone used DNA testing for genealogy and if so was it of any use?

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Has anyone used DNA testing for genealogy and if so was it of any use?

I did. I was matched with a third cousin in Canada who turned out to be a grandchild of my paternal grandfather’s sister. She married a Canadian between the two world wars.
I was also matched with another distant cousin on my mother’s side where we had a great grandfather in common.

 

[amexer]

I had my DNA done through ancestry but everytime tried to take it further got fed up with Ancestry asking for £59

 

[Wardy's twin]

I did. I was matched with a third cousin in Canada who turned out to be a grandchild of my paternal grandfather’s sister. She married a Canadian between the two world wars.
I was also matched with another distant cousin on my mother’s side where we had a great grandfather in common.

What did it say about your ethnicity, i have a feeling it will just be a series of meaningless figures i.e. we are all made of a bit of everything....

 

[Thunder Bolt]

What did it say about your ethnicity, i have a feeling it will just be a series of meaningless figures i.e. we are all made of a bit of everything....

67% SE England, 26% Germanic and 7% Norwegian. So mainly Anglo Saxon with a hint of Viking.

 

[Mr Bridger]

67% SE England, 26% Germanic and 7% Norwegian. So mainly Anglo Saxon with a hint of Viking.

Is that the beard

 

[cloud]

Once you've done a test on Ancestry you can upload the data file onto the other genealogy sites for free (e.g. gedmatch, dnapainter, 23andme). This may help as some people upload their DNA to the other sites instead.
Ancestry don't measure Y dna, so if you are male and looking for male ancestors you may need to do a Y dna test as well, on another site.

Another thing to bear in mind is that in some countries (Germany?) dna testing is not allowed, so you won't get many matches. Also in some cultures/religions dna testing is not permitted, which means I have hardly any dna matches on my father's side.

 

[mune ni kamome]

I’ve had amazing fun over the last 25 years researching my family history. Then! I did my DNA and blew half of it out of the water. So my advice is to do the DNA first.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Is that the beard

I am not Graham Potter.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

I have traced my family tree surname in Sussex back to 1700s and this DNA result was interesting. I knew of some links but others I will probably never know what the connections are. I do get updates from Ancestry when they improve their methods, even though I am a lapsed Ancestry payer.

England & Northwestern Europe 69%
South East England
Surrey & Sussex
Devon & Cornwall, England

Sweden16%
Scotland7%
Germanic Europe4%
Ireland2%
Norway2%

 

[Fungus]

What did it say about your ethnicity, i have a feeling it will just be a series of meaningless figures i.e. we are all made of a bit of everything....

To be honest, most (UK) genealogists / family history researchers dismiss the ethnicity figures as meaningless estimates. The real meat of the test results is in the matches that are listed - your close and distant cousins. But you (and they) still need to put some effort into researching your tree, to understand how they fit.

 

[Fungus]

I had my DNA done through ancestry but everytime tried to take it further got fed up with Ancestry asking for £59

Yeah, you really need a subscription as well as the DNA test, but it's not cheap. Otherwise you won't be able to see the historical records, but it's free to build your own tree, and there are other sites with free records for census, births, marriages and deaths.

 

[BLOCK F]

77% Scottish, mainly from the Outer Hebrides.
20% English and North Western Europe.
3% Irish.
That certainly ties in with the research I have done.

 

[Rogero]

I have been working on the family tree for years.Originally I was on Genes Reunited and am now on Ancestry . It is really like a huge jigsaw and it takes lots of detective work and new discoveries turn up now and again. I found out recently one great grandad took cyanide to end it all. I took my DNA test and currently this morning I have 409 fourth cousins or closer. I have met several second cousins and one is a huge Albion fan. I would advise building a family tree and having a DNA test as a DNA test on its own may be a little underwhelming . Is there any one on here with Ancestry world membership (thats expensive ) who could look up a name on USA census.Please PM me if you can. Thanks

 

[Wardy's twin]

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.