Ancestry DNA test - disappointing result

[panda40]

I just had a look on the ancestry web site as I saw the DNA kit was on special offer. I thought I might give it a try and then saw they wanted £20 for postage I think I will give it a miss. Bad enough being £71 but that is no discount when you add the postage on top.
Regards panda

[weste]

Spw ,

Have you checked your settings tab on the ancestry page to see if you've got it ticked to receive weekly updates?

[Nova67]

I notice that with some people if you click on their username and go to profile page it will say if they are a DNA match or not. I have experimented and this is not universal - even with known matches. Why this is not across the board, I do not know???
Would be great to see who else they match to who matches you. I think that would vastly improve it.
I am concerned it is not picking up all matches when you use the search filters.
My mum's first cousin showed no Tasmanian birth location matches, where as Mum and I did. I did try a number of times.  Also tried Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.  Now she does show matches. She should have at least matched to us initially for common ancestors with that birth location.  Now she does.
Bit hit and miss.

[diplodicus]

I guess that most of those that have participated in Ancestry's testing are in The United States. Therefore I am not surprised that so few of the matches provide me with the name of an ancestor. My Irish forefathers would have left Ireland either before reasonable record keeping or during the chaos of the famine. So, to start with, it didn't really get me anywhere.

However, both my children and one of my maternal first cousins have also submitted their DNA and suddenly, it all gets a little more focused. Using the "shared matches" function, any person who is a shared match with my cousin and with me and or one or both of my offspring, is definitely a maternal connection. There are eighteen of them and I knew about only five beforehand.

I now plan to entice one of my paternal first cousins to submit a sample and hope for similar results.

There are more nuggets to be unlocked by using the "shared matches" functionality but tempus fugit and the leaves need raking!!

I believe that as more UK people join, life will become more interesting.

BTW it has been fascinating to see the difference in matching between the children. My son seems to have inherited more of my Welsh DNA and my daughter has the Irish blend.

[DavidG02]

I have tested and look at it another way. This is for the long term not the short. The other thing I keep hearing '' oh its mostly Americans who  have tested and I wont match'' . Well I say what about helping our American cousins? If we, as shared English stock , don't test, how are they meant to find out their forebears?

I don't expect to find a long lost sister or a missing grandfather as I have accounted for most. Its the deep deep 200 year+ connections I am searching and these American cousins will help me.

[Kimbrey]

I agree with DavidG02 - despite the constant "mostly Americans in the database" comments a look at the FTDNA Forums will show that a lot of the Americans on that database  are finding they have British Isles DNA that they did not realise they had and are looking for connections.

Kim

[DevonCruwys]

This Ancestry help article explains the difference between an Ancestry with and without a subscription:

https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/AncestryDNA-with-an-Ancestry-Subscription-US-1460090085520-3160

Your son does have access to his matches. If he clicks on the bit where it says 74 fourth cousins or closer he will be able to see a list of all these cousins and the predicted relationships. There will probably also be several thousand more distant cousins. He can also click on the big green button which says "View DNA matches".

[sarah]

Posted on behalf of SPW who has sent the following message to me in error.

Hi

I'm not sure How can I check to see if I am. I tried to get in my account the other day & I can't. I will tried later

Thank you for the idea. spw

[julie7239]

 Even better, I believe I might be not far off proving the father of my illegitimate great great grandmother as I've got an ancestral match on her paternal father's line.

I was wondering if a DNA test would do something similar for me.  I have long been very curious if the man who gave his surname to my great grandmother, and married her mother, is the actual biological father.  He had brothers and sisters, some who had children who may have descendants.  Or his father or mother could have siblings who had descendents.  My DNA could match those descendants.