I have been trying to connect all my DNA matches from Ancestry where I tested the DNA of my mum, dad, brother, half uncle, 2nd cousin, possible 2nd cousin and some cousins once removed.
It is easy to work out the close relatives who I have asked to test but once I get to 4th cousins and further back, it is difficult to find out which branch of mum or dad’s tree they come from. What I need to be able to do is find the individual segments of chromosomes that match more than one person and then I might be able to find the precise branch and ancestor the match belongs to.
From this you can see I have a total of 124 4th cousins or closer who have tested with Ancestry.
Of those 124, I have worked out where 24 of them are placed on my tree (using my database on my computer).
Of those 24 matches, 12 of them have me linked on their trees on Ancestry. To be a shared ancestor hint, both people need to be on both matches trees on Ancestry.
But how can I work out where those other 100 cousins are located in my tree? Many of them don’t have trees on Ancestry or they have a very small one but only for living people so it shows as private when I look at their tree. A few have private trees so you need to ask permission to be able to see their tree.
One of the disadvantages of Ancestry DNA matches is they only show how many cM (centiMorgans) over how many segments you share with your matches. To be able to match certain segment areas, I need more specific information than Ancestry gives me.
This is where the site called Gedmatch comes in. Once you have uploaded your raw data, it allows you to make one-to-many comparisons with others who have also uploaded their data. This could be people who have tested with other companies like Family Tree DNA or 23 and me or My Heritage.
My next post will be about using Gedmatch and how it helps you narrow down your matches to particular common chromosomes segments.
Readers: Have you tested with Ancestry? How is your research going there and how many shared ancestor hints have you worked out so far?
Ive tested myself my parents and my daughter so far. We did it in 2015. Havent really played with all tools in Gedmatch or FtDNA yet but just on ancestry have been able to verify my paper trail back 5 or 6 gens with shared matches. 13/16 gggparents correct. I use DNAGedcom and with their in commin with report have been able to determine branches if tree where the “no tree” and distant matches fit. Some of them Ive been able to build the tree across and down to place them as well. It sure is a learning curve which hopefully we keep me from losing my marbles !
Hi Claire,
I have not heard of DNAGedcom. What is this and how does it work with Ancestry?
I dont understand it all they have a fb page as well. You can access all the testing sites and their programme extracts your matches into three different files which you can then work with. You have to run them again every so often to include new matches. They seem to have a bit of trouble at times with server space. I think Louise Coakley has blogged about using it too. They have other tools too that I still dont get. No chromosome browsers or anything (i dont think) but i find the reports to be of some use. Spotted a few connections where a match of mine shared a match with another of my matches on a known branch but for some reason doesnt show as a shared match with these people on ancestry itself. Dnagedcom.com i think you can upload a tree there too – but i havent got that far. The fb page members and admin very helpful too.
Still waiting for my DNA results. I’ll be haunting this page to get clues once I get them! Learned something already – there is a unit of measurement called the centiMorgan! Why don’t they teach this stuff in school? ( maybe they do now). Thanks for your blog Sue
Hi Susan,
I am learning all this as I go as well. Most important with Ancestry is to have a tree on there with as many generations back as you can go. Once I find a match and we work out who our common match is, I then work backwards and add that person on my tree. I use the stars to show I have matched that person on my main database at home (nearly 10,000 people on that)
I have tested with Ancestry and also Living DNA. Had my mother, brother and sister tested it Family Tree DNA. Interestingly they get more matches on Family Tree than I do with my uploaded ancestry data.
Have made connections and confirmed information but not made any major breakthroughs. So I a man going to do the 8 week course with Strathclyde on autosomal DNA and genealogy to get a better understanding of what this is all about.
Good luck with your hunting.
Claire, is the course with Strathclyde at a cost? Would be interested in studying with it. Thanks.
Hi Rae
The costs are about 300 Aus dollars.
Are you sure that price applies to international students?
I tested a few years back with 23 & Me and have tested my two sisters and 96 yr old maternal aunt (the last of her generation on both maternal and paternal sides), through different companies and uploaded to GEDmatch. Other than general contacts through email I haven’t contacted very many 4th cousins. However, my greatest breakthrough is that I found my true direct family of my g great grandfather who came from Suffolk in 1854. I had a match with a descendant of my gggf’s sister. This enabled me to break down a brickwall as there was so many Joseph Hunt(s) in Suffolk – now I had the right family.
As I don’t have a subscription to Ancestry at the moment how do I add my new found ‘cousins’?
Sue, I will be following your blog with great interest as I need to learn.
With thanks
Rae
Rae,
Do you have a tree saved online somewhere? You could save it as a GEDcom and upload that to GEDmatch. I haven’t done that yet.
I have myself tested with Ancestry, my two sisters and both my parents who are aged in their 80s. Have found little benefit from having my sisters’ DNA tested so far, but loads of information has come from having both my parents tested. However, on my mother’s side of the family, almost everyone has no family tree attached which means I haven’t been able to make as much progress as on my father’s side.
Overall, however, it has been extremely worthwhile. I have broken down two major brick walls and identified unknown close relations. I find Gedmatch too confusing, so my methodology is to use the Shared Match facility to identify links, and then use the Note facility against a person’s name to record where I think the connection is. Each month I check in to see if there are new 4th cousins and actively work the Shared Matches to make progress.
Over the course of five years, Ancestry DNA has allowed me to confidently identify relatives back to about 1770 on all but two family lines. I’ve had to use paid researchers in the UK to take it back further to mid 1600s on two lines by accessing original records.
My daughter has just had her DNA tested and immediately smashed a 90-year-old puzzle on her father’s side, that has taken one person in Canada 25 years of research to try and unravel! Her matching DNA was all Thi Canadian needed to complete the puzzle. This has been unfolding over the last two weeks and brought an extraordinary tale to light.
Testing is absolutely worthwhile.
Caroline
Hi Caroline,
I also use the note facility to mention where I think they match. I assume the other person can read my note which will then give them a clue as to where to add me on their tree when they update it.
I am now in12 DNA Circles on Ancestry but I feel that I already had connections with all these people prior to having my DNA done. I guess by having the DNA it verifies the connection.
I wasn’t quite game to upload my raw DNA to GEdmatch a while ago and now I’ve forgotten how to do it!
I have 213 4th cousins or closer but as you said, most don’t have trees. The ones I have contacted who don’t have trees have no idea about a connection even after looking at my tree.
I feel that it is worthwhile in establishing connections, in my personal experience it hasn’t been a great benefit.
Kate
Hi Kate,
I felt the same – I already knew those in my circles only 4 so far. Having a database of my family on my computer has been a great help as I have lots of descendants of great grandparents etc while my tree on Ancestry is more pedigree with some siblings.
My mother wanted her DNA tested, to establish how much Indian heritage she had, since it was known that her great grandmother was Anglo Indian, born in Madras in 1847. She was delighted to find she had an average of 5% Indian heritage, and it has enabled me to establish that Mum’s 3rd great grandmother was probably the first Indian to enter the family line. It has also enabled us to connect with Mum’s second cousin from this line, who grew up in another state.
The best result from Mum’s test though, was the genetic match that verified the detective work done on the family of her convict great grandfather, with the very common name of James Brown.
I have also had my father’s siblings tested (my father is dead), and their results have been very enlightening. While they obviously have matches in common, it is the range of individual matches that is most interesting.
Like Miss W., I use the note facility to write either the known connection or possible connection. So far I have concentrated on contacting people who have genetic matches to both me and all three of my father’s siblings.
I am interested in the GEDmatch, but need the time to connect the information I do have before I start on something else.
Hi Lynnette,
It is a good idea to take it slowly. My mother’s side has so far proved my paper trail, but my father’s side hasn’t due to some indiscretions along the way. With patience, I will eventually solve that as well.
Yeah I had my DNA done with Ancestry – and really haven’t done a lot with it. I made a few connections which was nice but am pretty underwhelmed at this point. Not that I am making the most of it I grant you. I did put in on GEDMATCH but really haven’t done anything with it.
I found myself getting frustrated with people without trees or who contacted me imagining that somehow we were gonna be able to figure out the connection without a lot of tedious documentation on their part. So it has become a bit of a confirmation that the links I made are leading me in the right direction – it confirms the paper trail.
I found that while it was interesting to get a link often their links weren’t properly documented so I didn’t want to add them to my tree (or do the work to do it for them). Then I realised that there was a lot of the same problem on my own tree (pots, kettles and all that) so I have set about trying to ensure my tree is as well documented as it can be – including all the siblings and so I have put aside the DNA till that process is completed (at least for all the Australian born ancestors).
Being a sociologist I find the ethnicity stuff pretty iffy and while the concept of genetic communities and DNA circles looks useful the “social” aspects of Ancestry.com (even the email system) are pretty limited.
I don’t mean to sound negative about DNA – I’m not really and I’m keen to learn but I do feel there’s something of people getting excited about a new tool without really asking what its useful for.
Hope that makes sense.
Shane
I think it’s important to share your DNA in every pool. I have tested with three companies so far and also uploaded to Gedmatch. I have, however, found the most matches on Ancestry, I have managed to identify 51 f the matches there so far.
G’day Jill,
I find Ancestry is great for finding matches and then matches of the matches. It is certainly helping with my father’s line.
So far I have matched 26 on my DNA and have 13 shared hints – mainly as the others don’t have trees in Ancestry but I have them on my database at home.
With dad, I have matched 8 people but only 5 have shared hints.
I am about to spend the rest of today doing DNA stuff.