Using DNA

The Scots in me

Miss W. Dawson, General info, Using DNA , , , ,
misterfarmer / Pixabay

The last week has been interesting for me. Firstly our twitterchat was about Scottish ancestors. I mentioned two that I have found on dad’s side of the tree.

  • Catherine McKay tried in Edinburgh in 1848 and came to Van Diemens Land as a convict
  • Her future husband William Dawson tried in Edinburgh in 1847 and sent to VDL as well.

I have not researched these two people yet, as I am trying to write biographies of each grandparent and then great grandparents etc. I know more about mum’s side of the tree so normally look for the information for their stories first.

But after our twitterchat on Scottish ancestors, I learned about so many resources, I think I might have to quickly get onto that work. Then I got an email from One Place Studies about a presentation by Chris Paton who is well known for his Scottish research. So I watched this and found out so much more about resources to use prior to 1800.

One of the participants in the chat was Scottish Indexes which has been holding regular conferences since April 2020 and all free. The website also has a fantastic learning zone to help you research your ancestors in Scotland.

They mentioned there was a lot of information on Scottish convicts so, of course, I went to the indexes and put in the names of my two convicts.

WOW, information on both of them.

Both had been convicted with other people but not all had been transported. Apparently you can buy the records for the High Court – Crown Office  precognitions and High Court of Justiciary Trial Papers. These will detail the trial and evidence from both sides.

I think I might make October my Scotland month and get onto those Scottish ancestors. According to my Ancestry DNA test I am 34% Scottish this being inherited from mum with 27% and dad with 27% mainly from the highlands and islands and in particular South Sutherland.  My brother also inherited 35% from our parents.

Now I wonder who these Scottish ancestors are from mum’s side of the tree? I do have one convict from County Donegal near Londonderry so maybe her parents came over from Scotland at some time before the 1830s when she was born.

Oh well, I need to start researching more!!

Readers: Do you have Scottish ancestors? What resources did you find useful for researching them?

Our DNA updates

Miss W. General info, Using DNA ,

Ancestry has recently updated their DNA results especially ethnicity. So in this post I want to compare how our ethnicity results have changed since our first set of results in 2017/2018.

Sue’s results 2017 compared to 2021

 

Mum’s results in 2017 compared to 2021

 

Dad’s results in 2017 compared to 2021

Philip’s results in 2018 compared to 2021

Reflection on results

Basically as a family we are still mainly British, in particular English and Scottish. The countries have changed groups as Wales is now treated as separate from other countries in Great Britain. I like that regions are now shown eg Devon and Cornwall, Yorkshire as these are now coinciding very well with results from Living DNA.

Looks like I am going to have to do more Scottish research as those percentages have gone way up but before that, I will need to find who the people are in my tree who are of Scottish origin. I have found two so far on dad’s side both convicts in 1848, but I have not found any Scottish ancestors on mum’s side yet.

Looking at the Irish results, I only have one Irish person on mum’s side and as they lived around Londonderry area, the person could count in both the Irish and Scottish results. I have 5 possible Irish convicts on dad’s side but some are not yet definitively proven as ancestors.

Readers: If you have tested with Ancestry, how have your present results changed since you first got your results?

Genealife in lockdown – Only in Tassie

Miss W. General info, Smith, Using DNA , , , ,
DNA disproved great great grandfather William Smith half Samoan

As part of NFHM2021, I was asked by the local library where I volunteer every Friday, if I would run a few sessions related to family history. I have one I have presented a few times about “Discovering your family history” that has the participants thinking about what they might already have at home that could start them with their journey and how are they going to share their knowledge.

  • Birth, death, marriage certificates
  • Passports or naturalization certificates
  • War records
  • Photographs – hopefully named and dated
  • Heirloom objects handed down
  • Maybe some audio interviews on tapes or CDs
  • A family tree researched by another person – hopefully sourced well

I then introduce them to pedigree charts and family group sheets and different ways of organizing your family history instead of having lots of notes on slips of paper. Colour coding their files is also mentioned. Finally, where can they go to next.

  • Ask for help from librarians – a book might be published about your family
  • Talk to Sue on Friday afternoons at Rosny library – book a one hour session via Eventbrite
  • Join your local family history society
  • Take an online family history course
  • Create a private Facebook group for family to exchange stories
  • Buy a software program
  • Get DNA tested

So last Friday, I had six participants taking part and I used as an example my half Samoan great great grandfather (who from DNA is now no longer my relative). As I was mentioning where to find other records, one of the ladies and the librarian who was in there helping, said they were related to Captain William Smith. Only in Tasmania could that happen – 8 of us in the room, two related and one thought they had been related.

The two ladies enjoyed looking at all the research I had done on Captain Smith who ran many whaling ships in the 1860’s-1880’s from Recherche Bay, southwest of Hobart, out to the whaling areas of the Pacific Ocean as well as the Great Australian Bight.

Readers: Have you had a chance encounter with someone who turns out to be related to you?