RootsChat.Com
General => Ancestral Family Tree DNA Testing => Topic started by: kob3203 on Wednesday 09 October 19 01:53 BST (UK)
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Now I thought that the main purpose of taking an Ancestry DNA test (i.e. the ones targeted at matching your DNA with potential relatives) was to help put you in touch with those potential relatives.
But several posts on this forum seem to indicate that people often get no response when trying to make contact.
So why do you think that people fail to respond to enquiries from potential relatives ?
Here's a shortlist of the reasons I can think of:
- The person is interested in family history but...
- ...they've died
- ...they didn't realize that they needed an ongoing subscription to make full use of the service
- ...they received so many "We're related, can you tell me everything you know?" emails that they got fed up and no longer respond
- ...they only look at their family tree once a month/year
- The person simply isn't interested in family history but...
- ...they were given the DNA test as a present
Which do you think are most likely ?
Can you expand on any of these, or think of any other reasons ?
And what suggestions do you have if the most promising lead you've come across is one of these people ?
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Not the case for us.
We simply wanted to know our origins beyond the limited family trees that we had found.
As it turns out those origins have radically changed as Ancestry has updated its database.
We do not keep in touch with first Cousins so 3rd and 4th Cousins have no chance.
I did ask three first and second Cousins for help and info but they were not interested.
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I sometimes wonder how many people are seduced by the advertising. Websites tend not to explain at the outset the amount of research and evaluation will be needed - they craft their advertisements to make the process appear easy.
There have been posts on Rootschat mentioning how some people subscribe to a paysite believing that all they need to do is type in their name and they will be given an instant tree.
There are doubtless people who have invested in a DNA kit hoping for a quick and easy way to contact descendants of unknown ancestors or find new cousins - they do not realise the technicalities involved in interpreting DNA results and how distant matches might be. These are the people most likely to give up easily.
(There may well also be some people who will happily take but never give information). >:( >:(
A few years ago my daughter offered to buy me a DNA kit for Christmas. I did some research into how matching worked and decided that I would need to invest many hours in understanding the process before I could begin to interpret results, then I would need to spend much more time finding spouses (and perhaps also children) for all the siblings of the ancestors I had found in my direct line. Regretfully, I decided that this would require much more time than I could spare (so she bought me a new lawnmower :D :D).
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Some are only interested in Ethnic background and not really interested in making contact with relatives.
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Some are only interested in Ethnic background and not really interested in making contact with relatives.
This is the angle Ancestry DNA ads push, so I think a large proportion just want to know their ethnic percentages.
Similarly with the ads for the Ancestry subscription - they say you can enter your name and find your family tree. People believe them.
The ads work.
Ancestry have the biggest ad push for DNA tests and consequently they are the company with the largest number of participants. I’ve never seen ads for other DNA tests on TV.
Added: Philip, yes understanding DNA is a whole different world, and can take a long time (or forever or never if you are anything like me) to fully grasp, but once you take a test and you have the results and you can take as long as you want/need to understand and interpret them. It’s a gradual learning process I think and you don’t need to spend months or years studying the subject prior to taking the test. It may even be easier and more interesting/rewarding if you can learn from your own results. :)
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On the flip side, I have a 3rd to 5th cousin match who is very keen to workout how we connect. He has tried to help me with research suggestions but I found nothing.
I know which side of my family he matches but I only have a handful of names on that branch of my tree. His family come from a different part of the world from mine.
I really believe we have no chance of working out who our distant common ancestor was. He has contacted me numerous times, but I really don’t have anything more to offer.
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I have a problem I am a genealogical genius but lack advanced computer skills. Moved my old PAF file of about 10,000 names over to family search a year or so ago. Took me a few months under the direction of a computer expert who knew what he was doing. Same with Ancestry DNA. Had my Ancestry DNA Test but rarely check it.
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I think that some people receive the message from the Ancestry system in their e-mail Inbox but don't understand that they need to log-in to Ancestry and reply from there.
Instead they hit 'reply' from the e-mail programme and their reply disappears into the ether.
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I have been told by someone who “knows all about it” that if you have a DNA test you can find out where your forebears came from “down to the road” !!!!!
Thus saving one from having to do any research whatsoever. There must be an awful lot of disappointed people out there.
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I think a lot of people have been lured into buying the DNA test for their ethnicity rather than anything to do with their family tree. A lot of people really aren't interested in anyone past their parents and grandparents and particularly not 3rd or 4th cousins etc whereas I looked at a person I added the other day and discovered it was 15th cousin....... getting a little carried away.
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YouTube is full of crass videos of folk opening their ethnicity estimates.
Martin
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Crass stuff?! On YouTube??!!
Surely not. Whatever next.
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I agree about the ethnicity element - and about the advertising. I'm sure they stay just the right side of actually misrepresenting the truth.
I've all but given up trying to get matches to reply. I'd be typing out these messages, all but spoon-feeding them where I think they fit into my tree and - nothing! I never try more than twice: a few people's consciences must have been pricked when I put 'I sent you a message some time ago but you never responded' - but not many!!
I just get so frustrated when it seems like every new match I'm informed of has no tree. The air around me turns a deep shade of blue !!
Oh and the other reason they don't reply? Sheer, unadulterated ignorance!! It takes seconds to run off a reply saying thanks but no thanks.
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There can be many reasons, but sometimes it is just a case of real life events taking over and genealogy being pushed further down their priority list. If they don’t respond don’t worry about it. Just figure out their tree by yourself or move on. Look on it as positive if you can establish a dialogue, but accept that nobody owes you anything. If they are not interested in contact then that is their prerogative.
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I assume all of us are fairly polite when making an initial enquiry and just see if there is any take up. Anyway that's the route I go down.
But as I have said on another thread I am being driven mad by ThruLines which is insisting a Half distant cousin relationship with 10 other people where I can prove that it is not a Half cousinship but a full one, although distant, cos a lot of these people have picked on my ancestor incorrectly and moved her to Australia.
Having contacted Ancestry and discovered that actually there is nothing I can do about this other than try and influence other people I winged off an email, which whilst not impolite, got straight to the point by telling them of the incorrect info in their trees upon which Ancestry was drawing for my ThruLines and that their mistakes were causing me a problem.
Lo and behold I have had a goodly number of replies all accepting what I have said so far and being willing to change their tree.
Maybe this is the route to go down - point out inconsistencies at the start and hopefully be able to tell them what to do to get it right!
Pheno
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Why Do People Feel The Need To Capitalize Every Word?
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1) Because it's a title ?
2) Following the practice of the forum names, e.g. Ancestral Family Tree DNA Testing ?
3) Typing without really thinking ?
4) Bad habits from other forums that we use ?
5) Why not ?
To be honest it's not something I ever really thought about. But looking at the topics I've started I seem to be rather inconsistent - sometimes capitalizing every word, other times just capitalizing proper names and first words of sentences.
Since this topic's subject is more an ordinary sentence than a title I do see your point. The edited title of this particular post does look better.
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I agree about the ethnicity element - and about the advertising. I'm sure they stay just the right side of actually misrepresenting the truth.
I've all but given up trying to get matches to reply. I'd be typing out these messages, all but spoon-feeding them where I think they fit into my tree and - nothing! I never try more than twice: a few people's consciences must have been pricked when I put 'I sent you a message some time ago but you never responded' - but not many!!
I just get so frustrated when it seems like every new match I'm informed of has no tree. The air around me turns a deep shade of blue !!
Oh and the other reason they don't reply? Sheer, unadulterated ignorance!! It takes seconds to run off a reply saying thanks but no thanks.
I now only try once. I've sent emails to at least four people who I appeared to be 3rd/4th cousins but whose trees have mistakes in my bloodline. I've never had a reply and in two cases, they've now removed their trees from Ancestry.
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Since my Wife and I did our Ancestry DNA tests the ethnicity breakdown of each of us has changed out of all proportion.
The results now are so totally different that they are not the same people.
So save your cash or if you are determined to part with said cash donate it to a worthy cause.
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The ethnicity estimates are being regularly refined and improved, so a change is not necessarily a negative. However, the real value of testing for a genealogist is in the matching, not the ethnicity estimates. Well worth testing to gain evidence to support or disprove your paper trail tree.
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Since my Wife and I did our Ancestry DNA tests the ethnicity breakdown of each of us has changed out of all proportion.
The results now are so totally different that they are not the same people.
So save your cash or if you are determined to part with said cash donate it to a worthy cause.
I think Colin's reply sums up the answer to your initial question, don't you kob3203?
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Since my Wife and I did our Ancestry DNA tests the ethnicity breakdown of each of us has changed out of all proportion.
The results now are so totally different that they are not the same people.
So save your cash or if you are determined to part with said cash donate it to a worthy cause.
I think Colin's reply sums up the answer to your initial question, don't you kob3203?
I think Colin's reply gives a highly biased answer to the original question as it shows no understanding of the genealogical value of matching.
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Exactly! ???
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Still waiting for the first responder with my surname after over 8 years
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So why do you think that people fail to respond to enquiries from potential relatives ?
Here's a shortlist of the reasons I can think of:
- The person is interested in family history but...
- ...they've died
- ...they didn't realize that they needed an ongoing subscription to make full use of the service
- ...they received so many "We're related, can you tell me everything you know?" emails that they got fed up and no longer respond
- ...they only look at their family tree once a month/year
I think this would be me
I am looking at the Black Friday November sale for DNA but I am not sure if I will buy a subscription until later (stretching finances) I may purchase a monthly one to get me going but any further may be a decision for the future[/list]
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So why do you think that people fail to respond to enquiries from potential relatives ?
Here's a shortlist of the reasons I can think of:
- The person is interested in family history but...
- ...they've died
- ...they didn't realize that they needed an ongoing subscription to make full use of the service
- ...they received so many "We're related, can you tell me everything you know?" emails that they got fed up and no longer respond
- ...they only look at their family tree once a month/year
I think this would be me
I am looking at the Black Friday November sale for DNA but I am not sure if I will buy a subscription until later (stretching finances) I may purchase a monthly one to get me going but any further may be a decision for the future[/list]
I know Ancestry are the most popular and therefore the most likely to find the most/best matches, but their popularity surprises me due to the above, due to the fact that they do not have a chromosome browser, nor do they allow uploads of raw data from other companies whereas others allow uploads from Ancestry, which doesn't seem quite fair.
They may offer a "better" test. I don't know .... :-\
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It's been about 18 months since I had my analysis results. In that time I've had about a 75% success rate in getting replies from people. What really puzzles me is why nobody has tried to contact me.
It makes me feel very alone in this great big scary universe...
Martin
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I know Ancestry are the most popular and therefore the most likely to find the most/best matches, but their popularity surprises me due to the above, due to the fact that they do not have a chromosome browser, nor do they allow uploads of raw data from other companies whereas others allow uploads from Ancestry, which doesn't seem quite fair.
They may offer a "better" test. I don't know .... :-\
Thats 99% why I am testing with Ancestry ( at some time in the future) the amount of matches and possibilities of deeper connections and links
The other 1% is to have a ''full suite'' of companies. I originally tested with ftDNA and have crossed to gedmatch and MyHeritage. As you point out Ancestry dont offer these options.
If they did I would download my ftDNA files and subscribe. So from a marketing view it seems odd they dont do it and bank on the subscription services
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I am interested in testing with Ancestry too as I am curious to see what new matches it will give me (but will only do so when they have a 'very' special offer).
I too tested with ftDNA (FamilyFinder) and uploaded to gedmatch and MyHeritage. :)
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My first test in 2011 was with FTDNA. I tested with AncestryDNA and 23andme in 2015 and with LivingDNA in 2017. I have also uploaded to MyHeritage and gedmatch. The company where I have had most success in identifying matches is Ancestry. I don’t worry too much about contacting people. If you build a tree and include collateral lines then a lot of the connections are easy to follow up if you are willing to subscribe. This means that you can expend your energy on making contact with those matches that do not drop naturally into place and trying to figure out where and why they fit in. Great if they answer. If they don’t then there is still a lot that you can do to figure out the connection.
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I think that some people receive the message from the Ancestry system in their e-mail Inbox but don't understand that they need to log-in to Ancestry and reply from there.
Instead they hit 'reply' from the e-mail programme and their reply disappears into the ether.
I meant to reply to this before. Not sure why I had never thought of this before but you are absolutely right :o! I had a look at one of the emails and absolutely nowhere on the message does it say not to reply through email! I bet a huge number of messages are lost this way, 50%? Possibly! I think we all need to complain about this so they put a clear message right at the top of these messages copied to email that you have to go to your ancestry account to reply.
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I've accidentally sent messages to the person whose tree matches instead of the person who manages the trees ...will they still get them
I should know answer because I manage 2 other trees .
Have had quick responses recently .
Contacted someone with a private tree but a couple of public pictures .
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I've accidentally sent messages to the person whose tree matches instead of the person who manages the trees ...will they still get them
Not sure if I am understanding your question correctly, but if you used the contact button on the DNA page the message will go to the person who manages the kit.
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I just get so frustrated when it seems like every new match I'm informed of has no tree.
Hello Jill and All
Some have the misconception that a DNA Test will somehow link them to a ready made Tree - No research and job done they think.
Trees seen, have fairly simple errors during the Census & Civil Certificate period and the wrong ancestor.
Therefore, I don't think many will have the faintest idea, when you discuss what you have researched and ask a question.
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Jill, regarding Bathsheba and your Family, have you looked for any Jewish records and where they might be?
Quakers and Jews were both granted their own system of record keeping, long before Civil Registration.
Mark
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Thanks, Mark. Yes, I've tried what little online Quaker records there are for Bathsheba with no luck. I wouldn't know where to start looking for possible Jewish connections.
I emailed Huddersfield FHS yesterday asking if they could help. I'd received an email from them as I've bought stuff from them before and part of the email was the offer of help with brickwalls - at a price of course. The price seemed pretty reasonable. My theory is that Bathsheba was probably baptised in a nonconformist (probably Wesleyan Methodist) in the Huddersfield area but that the records are not online. I suppose I'm really asking them if they have access to any other noncon records they could check. Wish me luck!
Oh, and I finally got notification of a new DNA match today, after a fallow couple of months. Guess what? Right! No tree!!! Agh!!!!!!! >:(
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Hello Jill
Visited a long time ago, to see an Estate document found in a Handlist (summary of a Collection from a Mansion House).
However ...
"Since its earliest days, the John Rylands library has been active in the collection of archives, manuscripts and printed material documenting the birth and development of Protestant Nonconformity in Britain. ...
Both The John Rylands Library and Victoria University of Manchester Library had built up outstanding Special ... Particular strengths include Nonconformist archives (especially of Methodism) ... "
https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/search-resources/special-collections/guide-to-special-collections/
I often wonder if their records, mention the rank and file members, and record coverage.
Mark
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Craclyn I know there are 2 different wayss to send messages but I forget which works best I think I usually go into matches profile then send it in the envelope rather than the speech bubble
Jill even if match is closed if you look at your shared matches then use the search function for specific names and places you can gradually work out how they connect I colour code Smith Jones
Llanorman and Birkenhead ...so can sometimes separate which great grandparents they descend from ..tho of course lots have Smith Jones and Roberts from subsequent or prievious marriages too ...but places like Bugbrook Cambuslang and jacobstadt help me to pin point more of them .
Unfortunately American documents don't specify aces of origin beyond England Scotland Russia and even those definition s and always accurate .
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The new messaging system with the speech bubble is not available to all of us yet. It is being rolled out gradually. Apparently the last to get it will be those who have used messaging a lot and have messages sorted into folders.
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I had an issue with a triangulated match. Myself and one other are trying to find where we match (still a work in progress). It turned out that the third match had only done a DNA test to find their birth mother and they did find her. They were not interested in genealogy outside of this at all and had done no research into family history.
I had to respect that and leave it there.
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It's been about 18 months since I had my analysis results. In that time I've had about a 75% success rate in getting replies from people. What really puzzles me is why nobody has tried to contact me.
It makes me feel very alone in this great big scary universe...
Martin
No one has contacted me either about our DNA matches. I've sent out emails and only received a couple of responses. They probably took the test but don't have a paid subscription.
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I think the list of reasons against is missing one important one.
The Christmas and Birthday present scenario
Bought, sent but not bothered with the result.
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Very likely true about presents, probably unsolicited.
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I sent a match a message 19 March 2018, got a reply this evening.
How mad is that......;D
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Probably the main reason is due to something many genealogists used to mention on mailing lists and forums.
The fact that many genealogists only follow their main lines and not their ancillary lines. This means they may be told of a match but due to lack of "wide" research do not have any names in common.
Cheers
Guy
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I expect that the numbers of people taking DNA Tests will rocket when the Ant and Dec TV Programme about using DNA to trace your ancestors is aired:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ojx/
Who knows, - perhaps one of my Matches will finally reply?
Romilly ;D
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I expect that the numbers of people taking DNA Tests will rocket when the Ant and Dec TV Programme about using DNA to trace your ancestors is aired:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ojx/
Who knows, - perhaps one of my Matches will finally reply?
Romilly ;D
I only caught the tail end of a trailer for this the other day. Do we know when its being shown and is it a series or just a one off? If the latter, I expect it will be less WDYTYA and more X Factor, but I'd be happy to be proved wrong. And, as you rightly say, Romilly, if it encourages a few more people to take the test its got to be a "good thing". Unless, of course, they are the kind of people who expect it all to be spoon-fed to them a la Ancestry ads and can't be bothered to do any research - or reply to other testers' emails!!! >:(
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Hi Jill
Regarding your ancestor problems, have you looked to see if those buried amongst or alongside your ancestors were actually related?
From the Selby Council Cemetery Grave Plan, one of those of a different surname with an initial and grave number (no headstone), buried mid 19th Century alongside my Hood and Richardsons was related.
With the Selby Plan and a Howden M.I. Book purchased & research, we suddenly have a large pre-Census Richardson family, including non-Richardson surnames and places, linked to a Richardson 18th Century.
One a Birthplace, but no corresponding Birth recorded there. A later 1840 Sale advert, confirms a Richardson was the owner and his 1849 Death notice links him to three other Yorkshire places.
Mark
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I don’t think they have published the actual date yet Jill. All of the trailers I have seen and comments about the show on facebook have just said November.
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I only caught the tail end of a trailer for this the other day. Do we know when its being shown and is it a series or just a one off? If the latter, I expect it will be less WDYTYA and more X Factor, but I'd be happy to be proved wrong.
At the end of the press release (a few replies above), it says it is a two-part series; sounds like it's just the ancestry of Ant and Dec.
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This is a preview of the TV Programme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGUZXslLopY#action=share
Hope that works!
Romilly :)
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I only caught the tail end of a trailer for this the other day. Do we know when its being shown and is it a series or just a one off? If the latter, I expect it will be less WDYTYA and more X Factor, but I'd be happy to be proved wrong.
At the end of the press release (a few replies above), it says it is a two-part series; sounds like it's just the ancestry of Ant and Dec.
https://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/ant-decs-dna-journey
"Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey is a Voltage TV and Mitre Television co-production for ITV. It was commissioned by Siobhan Greene when she was ITV’s Head of Entertainment Commissioning and Louise Major Assistant Commissioner, Entertainment, ITV. The Executive Producers are Kathleen Larkin and Sanjay Singhal and the Director is Iain Thompson, Voltage TV."
10th November 2019
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Thanks. That makes it a week on Sunday, if I'm not mistaken.
I'll give the first one a watch and see how much (or little) has gone into it before I make my mind up about the second part. I'd assume they'd be doing one of them one week and the other the second week, but they seemed as glued together as usual in the trailer so perhaps not!! :-\
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I had my DNA test with Ancestry.com The results that came back were very general about my racial origins, suggesting that my ancestors originated in several areas of Britain and Europe.
It specifically stated that I was 39% Irish.
My results were recently updated and they are considerably different to the original ones. This latest analysis shows no Irish connection whatsoever. I am left wondering about the accuracy and usefulness of these tests. Will there be a future update with another, different conclusion?
I , like many, wanted to get an indication of my racial origins but I find it difficult to trust the information given as regards this. It has thrown up the names of near and distant relatives who have taken the test though. A couple have contacted me and I have responded to them. However, none of those where I initiated a contact have responded.
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Welcome to Rootschat Aegean.
The ethnicity estimates continue to be refined as more data becomes available for reference populations. Each update enables identification of new communities. Yes, there will be future updates improving the estimates.
The genealogical value of the test is in your match list, but you do need to put some effort into analysing where your matches fit into your tree to get the full benefit.
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I've just finished watching the Ant & Dec DNA programme mentioned above. It was both amusing and poignant watching, as you might expect when that pair is involved. There was some very thoughtful commentary, particularly from Dec but also quite a bit of stuff that might affront relatives who took part in good faith e.g. "extracting the Michael" after meeting then leaving relatives. Ant and Dec didn't care a stuff that scoffing to the camera after meeting relatives might be pretty hurtful - what fun to have met our peasant relatives!
Like other family history programmes a huge amount of background was done by researchers for the pair. So there was no real comparison with what posters here would be familiar with. This meant that they were able to get far further back than most of us could with limited budgets, time and resources. So anyone just starting out might be misled by what in fact was a huge expensive advertorial by Ancestry for their DNA service that they will get similar results.
Also both Ant and Dec ended up with Irish "royal" ancestors and this panders to the type of family historian who gets into the hobby hoping to find lordly ancestors. Reading up on the subject suggests that if we go back only about 1000 years we are all related to each other and we might as well include the odd king or queen in that motley collection of ancestors i.e. a connection with so-called royalty is a certainty. That's not my aim and I am content to have found humble "ag. labs." are mainly my ancestors but who include a sprinkling of criminals, residents of workhouses and asylums as well as births prior marriage - in other words just a normal, fascinating family.
Nevertheless and getting back to the question of whether the programme will lead to more people getting DNA tests, the likely answer is "yes". But mainly because it will have misled them into believing that it is easy to do it by yourself and that you'll likely end up having kings and queens as ancestors and taking part in family reunions with relatives who never knew about each before even though they won't have the promise of the bar bill being paid for by someone else and appearing on tele.
Tony
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Like other family history programmes a huge amount of background was done by researchers for the pair. So there was no real comparison with what posters here would be familiar with.
Also both Ant and Dec ended up with Irish "royal" ancestors and this panders to the type of family historian who gets into the hobby hoping to find lordly ancestors.
Nevertheless and getting back to the question of whether the programme will lead to more people getting DNA tests, the likely answer is "yes". But mainly because it will have misled them into believing that it is easy to do it by yourself and that you'll likely end up having kings and queens as ancestors and taking part in family reunions with relatives ...
Hello All
Agree Tony.
Despite 25 years, I can't confirm my main line yet beyond 1785 - 1786. The furthest back is a 1746 Marriage, which needed 6 Wills Proved 1800 to 1828 (3 not online) of both sides of the 1746 Marriage, to confirm a solid paper link back to that Marriage.
2. People must realise that Lords and a number of Trades, Yeomen, to peasant Farmers under each Lord at local and regional levels supported a King and therefore can't all be related to King / Queen too.
3. Specialist Historians are probably employed to check a researcher's research for possible Royal links!
4. An online Tree had not even checked the 1911 Census, which says he was born Staffordshire. The Tree author has simply took Yorkshire from a suggestion on another Forum.
People are being mislead I feel, about all this advertising! DNA testing does not exclude significant document research as well, many of which are not online.
Mark
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Hi
I wish to add that Rootschatters have made absolutely brilliant suggestions, leading to some brilliant document finds of several types. The date and name of one of the 6 Wills (mentioned above) came in a PM, for me to obtain, Thank you all, Mark
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Despite researching for 10 years only Farm worker and related activities for many of my family.
When we research there are certain surnames that can trigger a deluge of hints on Ancestry. With the surnames like Neville, Stanley, Strickland, Southward, Montague often the key in the part of England where I live (North West).
Literally only this week I found one of these names in my line and as it happens the family concerned still live in part of the ancestral home where the remainder is a National Trust property and one that we have visited often in the past. Sir William is the very first out of some 1500 on my tree with any title.
My Wife found a Stanley in her line that we traced to King Edward III and she now has a huge tree covering all Europe and going all the way back to William the Conqueror, Rollo, Alfred the Great, the Medici family, even HRH The Queen is on her family tree (16th Cousin, 1 removed).
If I read posts that say we are not bothered about finding royal links, then you are missing out, it opens up a whole new world of intrigue, murder, mutilation, persecution, and nasty deeds that make Horrible Histories child’s play.
We are all related one way or another, it is a case of finding the link and going down that link is fun and fascinating just thinking about the social activities that ensued.
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The name Luffman is prominent in my tree, at its least uncommon frequency historically in Southern and South West England. During the Anglo Saxon period there was a Leofman (its early form) recorded as a moneyer (coin maker) in Ethelred the Unready and subsequent kings. There was also a Leofman Thane of Hayling Island who is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Have not yet attempted to trace any of these forwards, though I am specially interested in why the Hayling Island thane left the area. I suspect that he had gone North in 1066 and supported the Scandinavian invasion that was defeated at Stamford Bridge immediately (3 weeks) before Hastings. If it is documented then the records involved have not yet been transcribed. The surname as Loveman appears in the Prologue to Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer 250 years later, and from then keepscropping up from time to time in archaic or more modern forms.
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I believe that these people are only interested to discover their own origins, and do not participate any further.
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I had researched my line fairly extensively so was very surprised when 2 unexpected close matches came up as 2nd and 3rd cousins respectively, probably uncle and niece. I sent both a general query about their possible links to my maternal line, which they came up as shared matches for.
He replied saying it had been a present and he had over 20 first cousins and wasn't interested in looking further, she hasn't replied.
This is a little frustrating since the level of DNA match, using the tool suggested by a responder on here, indicate that he is a half first cousin. I knew my grandfather had abandoned his family but nobody had ever suggested that he had fathered other children although he may have been unaware of the fact since the surname of the unexpected matches does not tally with his.
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I had researched my line fairly extensively so was very surprised when 2 unexpected close matches came up as 2nd and 3rd cousins respectively, probably uncle and niece. I sent both a general query about their possible links to my maternal line, which they came up as shared matches for.
He replied saying it had been a present and he had over 20 first cousins and wasn't interested in looking further, she hasn't replied.
This is a little frustrating since the level of DNA match, using the tool suggested by a responder on here, indicate that he is a half first cousin. I knew my grandfather had abandoned his family but nobody had ever suggested that he had fathered other children although he may have been unaware of the fact since the surname of the unexpected matches does not tally with his.
Yes, I absolutely understand how frustrating that is.
However, if you look at it from the other side, the 'uncle' you contacted may still have parents alive, or fond memory of parents and grandparents, and may be very reluctant to throw a Non Parental Event into the mix.....
I remember reading a book by someone who had discovered post DNA that he wasn't the son of his 'father' and the difficulties ( ::)) that created with his mother, who was still alive.....
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Which of course is utter rubbish. Which rag did he read that in? Assuming he can read
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Which of course is utter rubbish. Which rag did he read that in? Assuming he can read
Sorry, Roger, do you mean the book written by someone whose DNA test demonstrated he wasn't the son of his father?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Griffeth
His memoir is called "The Stranger in my genes"
I've read it, including the conversation he had with his mother. And the further research he did to discover who his father was.
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Well just been onto Ancestry and yet again they have updated their analysis.
The result is that my breakdown is totally different.
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I've just checked mine again. Now 100% England, Wales & NW Europe (though their map shows my NW Europe to include only very small bits of Belgium and N France!!).
I have a quite important, not very far back Scottish branch which doesn't warrant a mention. I have no known ancestors from Wales (though a main line in Shropshire, which is 'nearly Wales' Sorry, all you Welsh RCers!).
I just look at it for fun these days and feel a bit (but not very) sorry for those who took the test merely to find out their ethnicity. To these suckers, I say: make the most of the money spent and for goodness sake put your tree onto Ancestry. It doesn't have to be huge: a couple of generations will do, preferably with dates and place names.
You know it makes sense!! ;D
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Since my last post I have been on Ancestry looking at the so called matches.
I went down the list until it showed .... Common Ancestor..... then looked at there trees, so far the only common ancestor being in Surname only.
This is the case with two with so called Common Ancestors.
There is one, a first or second Cousin, with no tree and no recollection by me of any distant Cousin with their forename.
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I find Ancestry's Common Ancestors to be really good. I've had the odd one that doesn't pan out but in the main they're usually correct, though sometimes you have to really look for the connection.
One thing that is puzzling me at the moment is that I have a couple of common ancestor links (on the same branch) where Ancestry are naming the right names but - for some reason - listing them as 'half brother/sister' etc when the lead ancestor (the common denominator) didn't remarry. I can't understand why they're down as half brothers/sisters when I'm convinced they're full siblings.
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I find Ancestry's Common Ancestors to be really good. I've had the odd one that doesn't pan out but in the main they're usually correct, though sometimes you have to really look for the connection.
One thing that is puzzling me at the moment is that I have a couple of common ancestor links (on the same branch) where Ancestry are naming the right names but - for some reason - listing them as 'half brother/sister' etc when the lead ancestor (the common denominator) didn't remarry. I can't understand why they're down as half brothers/sisters when I'm convinced they're full siblings.
Likely because of how persons are named in both trees, if the way the names are written doesn't match exactly they can show as half.
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Which of course is utter rubbish. Which rag did he read that in? Assuming he can read
On rereading it seems I had completely misunderstood the posting. I apologize. Please put it down to a "senior moment"!
Sorry, Roger, do you mean the book written by someone whose DNA test demonstrated he wasn't the son of his father?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Griffeth
His memoir is called "The Stranger in my genes"
I've read it, including the conversation he had with his mother. And the further research he did to discover who his father was.
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I agree with Sinann regarding the listing by ancestry of a match as a 'half' brother/cousin or 4th cousin once removed, for example.
I have a branch where the Surname has been given as :- McTaig/McTague/McTaigue/Montague. Common ancestors where the first common ancestors are a marriage/couple where one of them is from this family, are often given as half relatives. In these situations the family trees of the 2 matches will have one partner with identical naming, while the other partner has the surname in two of the alternative forms.
Similarly, there are times when you wonder why someone isn't a common ancestor. Again with the family group mentioned above, in my tree there is an example where I didn't have the name of the partner (they emigrated and married in the US, which I am unaware of), so if ancestry found the connection, it would be listed as a 'half' relative. But this is not the case, because the 2 trees have the Mctaig partner, spelled in alternate ways. and so the match is not listed as a common ancestor at all!
This sort of problem is quite common, especially if the family were illiterate (which was for a long time the norm), and wouldnt know the 'right' or wrong spelling for their name, and would not have been able to indicate it was wrong when written on a document that a century later becomes the source of names in all our family trees!
Surnames are not likely to be the only source of this problem. I'm sure the same thing will happen with First names that can be written in many alternative versions!
Jane
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Hi Jane,
I think that might explain my quandary. The surname in question is that of my maternal grandmother and, in our family, it has always been Patchett.
However, most people seem to have the same family roots as either Padgett or Paget.
Thank you!
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Just a point,until the late 18th century there was no standard spelling for anything, let alone names. Shakespeare spelled his own name 5 different ways in his own will.So this will compound any spelling differences.
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I get that, Redroger but I hadn't realised that this might be what is leading to Common Ancestors being listed as half siblings etc.
Although, having said that they don't do the same for Barnett and Barnard who are another bane of my FH life!!
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Ayers, Ayers, Eyre I know the feeling
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I get that, Redroger but I hadn't realised that this might be what is leading to Common Ancestors being listed as half siblings etc.
Although, having said that they don't do the same for Barnett and Barnard who are another bane of my FH life!!
Check to see whether you or your match are showing alternate names and not just one spelling on the profiles where it is showing correctly as full relationships. The system would then recognise the two as being the same person. If only one name variant is used and the usage is different for you and your match then it may not recognise the profiles as being the same individual.