Free Y-DNA Testing for males with the surname of Riddell or Riddle

[SouthseaSteel]

Thanks hurworth.  That all makes sense.  I think I will hang fire despite a ftDNA Upgrade Sale Offer coming through last night!!  I have my Irish paternal line back to a specific house in 1830 (7 generations) confirmed by documentation as well as autosomal testing and Im pretty sure that is the absolute limit for documented ancestors on that lineage at least.  Im just not seeing $300 worth of information suddenly becoming available with the Big Y test.  Maybe things will change one way or another.  Thanks again and apologies for somewhat hijacking this thread on more general named Y testing!!

[Biggles50]

To wrap up my contribution to this thread.

For a few years I knew there was an NPE in my Paternal line but given the atDNA matches I could not resolve where that was.

I had a few different hypothesis and the problem was also exacerbated with there being a double whammy or rather a double set of gene transfers taking place, hence my Irish/Italian Avatar which relates to a double NPE.

One atDNA and a mass of Shared DNA matches all having a certain Surname in their past so the clue is there.

The yDNA test results have matches with that very same surname.

So positively YES, the yDNA test worked 100% for me.

My issue remains the tree from me to said Surname.

[hurworth]

I justified the upgrade as a Christmas present to myself! 

And I guess it's a similar situation for the North American match - confirmed line back to a man born in North America around 1810s.  Father's name not recorded anywhere they could find, and on a census the son had said his father was born in Ireland. 

With the other match there wasn't any particular burning question.  Turns out some of the Y37 GD=0's relatives are autosomal matches to some family members.  Not many, and it was sheer luck that some people were at Gedmatch where it is easier to work with the info.  This family had thought their earliest known ancestor had a Scottish forebear, but he must have been from the West Country.