I
received the test kit in the post soon after ordering it, but didn’t send off
my sample (saliva) until January 2019. I was sent my results online about 6
weeks later. Ancestry provide a list of the names of DNA matches and the amount
of DNA you share, under headings indicating how close the relationship is. I
had one match under the second cousin heading, 4 third cousins and 190 fourth
cousins (this category actually covers fourth to sixth cousins). Second cousins
share a set of great grandparents, third cousins share a set of great, great
grandparents, fourth cousins share a set of great, great, great grandparents.
The list of matches is added to as more people are tested – I now have 2 second
cousins, 7 third cousins and 235 fourth cousins.
In
order to get the most benefit from a DNA test, you should enter the names and
dates of your ancestors and link this information to your name on the Ancestry
DNA site. If a DNA match has attached their family tree, the site will
highlight surnames that are in your tree and their’s. It is then often apparent
who the shared ancestor is. The system also lists the names of shared matches.
If you know how a name on this list is related to you, then others on it are
probably related via the same line. The system also allows you to send a
message to your DNA matches.
The
results from my DNA test were not as useful as I hoped. I had previously made
contact with 8 of my DNA matches before I got the results. Only 36% of other
DNA matches that I contacted replied to my message to them. Only 15 of my
closest 50 matches had attached a family tree that I could view. Consequently,
I wasn’t able to establish how a lot of my DNA matches are related to me.
However, I made some good contacts who have supplied me with information and
pictures that I have added to my family history blogs.
There
is a useful article on how to make the most of your DNA results at https://www.lostcousins.com/newsletters2/wedding18.htm#Masterclass
There
were 11 DNA matches where I was able to establish a definite link to my father’s
family. Two of them were second cousins descended from great grandparents
George and Margaret Taylor. One was descended from my grandfather’s brother
Samuel Taylor and the other from my grandfather’s sister Margaret Ellen Smith
nee Taylor. There were also two third cousins who were descended from my great,
great grandparents George and Elizabeth Cornwell. One was descended from their
son George Cornwell and the other from their daughter Elizabeth Harling nee
Cornwell.
The
test also provides an ethnicity estimate, by comparing DNA results with those
of people in various regions throughout the world. These estimates are of
dubious value and accuracy. In my case, my ethnicity was estimated as 88% from
England, Wales and Northwestern Europe, with most from the East of England, 5%
from Norway, 5% from Ireland or Scotland and 2% from Germanic Europe. All of the
ancestors that I have found from my research were born in England, with quite a
few born in Essex. I am not aware of any ancestors born in Norway, Ireland,
Scotland or Germanic Europe.
