DNA company recommendations - any good experiences?

[BumbleB]

Many thanks for that - and I hope that you do find that you are a fellow member of the superbreed (well, I might need some company!  ) 

[DevonCruwys]

Hsfam

As you're in Australia you might want to contact Gail Riddell who is the volunteer administrator of a number of Australasian DNA Projects at Family Tree DNA. You can find a list here:

http://www.isogg.org/wiki/Geographical_DNA_projects#Australasian_DNA_projects

I'm sure Gail would be happy to advise you and give you further reassurance.

[hsfam]

Hi Devon,

Thank you. That link was very interesting. Even found a group that would probably be of interest to a friend of mine. If I think of any other questions, I'll contact Gail. Thank you for passing on that information.

[SeminoleZephyr]

  For me spending the money was WELL worth it on DNA testing...you are right the records will be found if they will, but after 20 years stuck at a brick wall DNA testing helped me find a match that sent me sailing over the brick wall from stuck in a state in southern Alabama back two generations to England..why you may ask? Well the county I was searching in Alabama had burnt courthouses and no early records so I had no clue where to go back from there, but a DNA match to a line out of Pulaski County, GA gave me a place to search and sure enough a trip by Dad and I to the courthouse there and viola!  records found that would have been a needle in a haystack without  the direction of DNA testing!  From there we were quickly back to England, where I am now seeking participants in the hopes of finding a match that will give me a county/area in England to start my search.  Until I have a match I am again, stuck at that needle in a haystack point, but at least this time it's only been 6 years and as more and more become interested in using technology to move ahead with their family tree, I'll have more potential matches to provide me that 'jackpot' clue!  So I'm ALL FOR DNA testing!  It has saved me a LOT of random research trips and a TON of time!!  Score one for FTDNA in my book! I'm now testing multiple lines of my tree (thanks to male cousins who want to assist) and the newest test offering for men at FTDNA, the Big Y has taken my Franklin group on a fascinating journey of discovery that has led me to the WDYTYA event this year for my first time!  EXCITING STUFF--living on the edge of new discoveries--we live in exciting times my friends! 

[hsfam]

I love your enthusiasm, Zephyr! I'm even more excited, now, to start my DNA journey! 

[Clogs]

On a number of other forums elsewhere and in at least one magazine there have been grumbles of discontent  following DNA testing. This would appear to be due to the results not clearly defining Iceni origins or the expected Saxon heritage. This expectation presumably arose from the participants understanding of what happened and when in English/British history. DNA testing may indicate British origins which for the purpose of argument can be termed Celtic it is not however precise enough to indicate tribal differences such as Icenic or Ecenic as it is now assumed to have been. While some Germanic markers now indicate which area ancestors came from, across the wider scope there is uncertainty between Danish and Germanic origins so unless the specific area has markers, Germanic is the best definition you will get. But if you have a Yorkshire heritage then the odds point towards Danish Viking if you fancy it? Personally I'm kind of interested but not really enough to want confirmation of my suspicions for 200 quid. Though looking up this thread I have to acknowledge the value of DNA testing in other instances.

[DevonCruwys]

I suspect the grumbles of discontent relate to a deep ancestry test offered by a certain British company. DNA testing cannot tell you which ancient tribe you belong to, and whether or not you are Celtic or Anglo-Saxon. However, DNA testing is very useful for genealogical purposes so long as you test with a company that has a genealogical matching databases. The cheapest autosomal DNA test on the market starts at about £70. A 37-marker Y-chromosome DNA test costs about £100 though you can often get it cheaper in a sale. For information on the different testing companies look at the testing company comparison charts in the ISOGG Wiki:

http://www.isogg.org/wiki/

On a number of other forums elsewhere and in at least one magazine there have been grumbles of discontent  following DNA testing. This would appear to be due to the results not clearly defining Iceni origins or the expected Saxon heritage. This expectation presumably arose from the participants understanding of what happened and when in English/British history. DNA testing may indicate British origins which for the purpose of argument can be termed Celtic it is not however precise enough to indicate tribal differences such as Icenic or Ecenic as it is now assumed to have been. While some Germanic markers now indicate which area ancestors came from, across the wider scope there is uncertainty between Danish and Germanic origins so unless the specific area has markers, Germanic is the best definition you will get. But if you have a Yorkshire heritage then the odds point towards Danish Viking if you fancy it? Personally I'm kind of interested but not really enough to want confirmation of my suspicions for 200 quid. Though looking up this thread I have to acknowledge the value of DNA testing in other instances.

[Neil Todd]

All fascinating stuff but, the British Pie is made up of a lot of other Pies even two hundred years back. Problem stems from sailing all over the world in the early years. So you can get Celtic and Scandinavian even if you get back past the 1400's with your tree. I have gone back with my lot to the mid 1200's and got sick of trying to decipher the Latin in the Monks writing. Obviously they didn't bob up out of nowhere in the mid 1200's so they go back as does everyone else's family to the ones that either popped out of a tree, or to those in the more Biblical sense, strode out of the Garden at Eden.

A perchance blood test told me I had a lack of a Vitamin B12 in my system which needed to be corrected and then somehow righted itself. Lack of this can be put down to two possible scenarios. Either I was VEGAN or I was of Celtic Heritage. So there it was, as a meat loving male I had some Celtic in me. Gee, Wow, strewth, Celtic....Hmm so has most everyone in Britain. Do I want to find long lost relies in all other parts of the world that may have migrated with the last Ice age, dunno! I don't really think so. Also aren't we all related somehow?

Neil

[BarbW]

I am interested in finding out where people with rhesus negative blood come from.  Neanderthal man or aliens?