My DNA Journey So Far

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It's been a while since I posted on here. Obviously, my Masters degree took up a lot of my time. However, I'm back in the throngs of research.

One thing I have become very interested during my break from here is my DNA results. Have you done yours yet? If so, who did you do it with?

I've had quite a few successes with connections in mine and recently have got a few matches with my Cornish ancestry which I hadn't really looked at before.

I did my DNA test last year with Ancestry. At the time, I think there was an offer on to get it cheaper. I also linked it through Quidco to get some cash back too. If I remember rightly (it was over a year ago) it took around 2 months for the results to come through and I got matches straight away.

(Before I start talking about some of the connections I have made, I would just like to say that some people are only interested in their ethnicity results so may not reply to messages)

Currently, I have a profile of 234 fourth cousins or closer. This includes a 2nd cousin and a 3rd cousin. Obviously finding the connections for all these cousins is not easy. Some people don't have public trees, some only have a small tree, some have a large tree but not necessarily with your common ancestor in. It is important to not always rely on what Ancestry (or any other site you are using) tells you. For example, I have had a few messages from dna matches where they have guessed at the ancestor based on a common surname. Often mine will be someone who hasn't actually got a connection at all. I would therefore suggest that you only have a tree that doesn't have people connected by marriage. This should then eliminate those who will try to find name connections.

I have found it useful to sign up to GEDmatch. With this site you can upload your raw data from Ancestry and if you know people who have also signed up you can compare your data between two people. However, it can get a bit confusing as to what all the different things mean.

I will update you when I find more out on the DNA search (and if I throw up any interesting finds on other research).

Bye for now





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