General Chat

Trouble with that one is that unless you can actually trace them back you can’t prove it.

A touch of Spanish in your Irish ancestry could just come from sailors who were on trading vessels. I’m still pondering on the touch of Basque that Ancestry has given me on my Dad’s side. Possibly from trade with Cornwall ? I seem to remember a note saying they gave it 1% as they can’t show less. I might have just made that up but I definetkey remember a dna tv show that explained the Spanish results in a Cornish person being explained as ancienttraders.

nameslessone yes could well be so, and there's a massive gap to fill where any number of factors might account for the darker looks ( and height!).

Question....when you have done the test, is there a time limit to get it off in the post?

Do the instructions not say anything? Would the assumption be that you didn’t do the test until around the time you could get to the post and isn’t it freepost so all you need is ( for someone) to get to the post box?

Take a deep breath and check out this thread:

https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/general_chat/thread/1401588

An Autosomal DNA Thread

I wanted to make it separate so it didn't make off with this thread, or get tangled in the specifics here.

DNA results tell you about your DNA ... not about your genealogy.

If there is evidence of some origin in your DNA, then you have some ancestral connection there, but it may be far stronger or weaker than it seems from the DNA proportions.

If your DNA is 1/8 Italian, that does not mean that 1/8 of your ancestors (e.g. a great-grandparent, or two great-great-grandparents) were Italian.

About time limits ...

I took my mum's swabs in 2019, I think. I brought the kit home and forgot about it. I can't do it over now...

I asked one of my DNA mentors whether it will still be usable. He said almost certainly not, as the bacteria in the swab -- for tests that use the "wet" method -- eat the DNA.

I'm going to send it off with fingers crossed very tightly.

But I've ordered an autosomal DNA test for myself too, and I'm having that test done on my mum's male family member's kit as well. Mostly to get comparisons with the family his Y-DNA (male line) matches with. You remember ... the name-shifting great-grandfather ... whose DNA says he is neither the M name he adopted nor the H name he was born with, but the name of a family from 10 miles away in Cornwall. Watch this space.............

I'm waiting on my test kit to come in the post. I was just curious about the time factor.
I shall do the test when my friend comes as she will be able to take me to the post office to send it away.

As long as you don't wait 5 years, or 5 months, you'll be safe. ;-)

A deep breath and sit down comfortably ;-)

Florence - for when you get your results back or read it beforehand, this masterclass from Lost Cousins is very good.
https://www.lostcousins.com/newsletters2/latemar22news.htm#Masterclass

I received my DNA testing kit from My Heritage but.... It has to be sent back in the padded envelope provided to....USA!!! I'm thinking that will cost me a fortune?

I thought, it would be somewhere in the UK or is this why it was so cheap to buy but the money you save you spend on postage?

Anyone else have a different testing kit that is sent back to a UK address? Also it says results in 6-8 weeks and I thought it would be much quicker.

I'm not too sure what to do now.

Help or suggestions please

Florence in the hebrides

I don’t remember having to pay postage for the ancestry test. The adverts say it costs x and postage is an added sum. Those ones used to go to Ireland, I assume they still do.

Added: the Ancestry website refers to a prepaid envelope. My Heritage refers to an enclosed envelope but says the results take 3 -4 weeks. :-S

You’ve bought the kit now Florence, you need to crack on with it. I don’t remember it being overly expensive to post, or taking quite as long as they said.

Ty for the suggestions. Im sure it wont cost a fortune so yes, I shall get it done as soon as I know someone who can post it for me.

Names, it does actually say in the instructions that the postage is paid by the sender.

Florence in the hebrides

I use FamilyTreeDNA which is in the U.S., and I have to pay the postage to return it, too. On top of the terrible exchange rate right now...

Ancestry happens to have places of business, or at least postal addresses, in several countries, so it can offer postage paid, I guess.

A company in one country can't really offer postage paid from another country, is the thing.

And postage sure isn't the bargain it once was!

Well my daughter's friend came for a visit today so took advantage and did the test and daughter went to local PO and it is now posted. Cost £3.39 so not too bad.

So now wait patiently for the results.

Florence in the hebrides

Well my sample is in the lab and being analysed so should be completed 2. Think there are 2 more stages until completion so its quite exciting.

But on the my heritage site, it gave me 2 matches and one gave someone as a brother of my grandfather but actually the person was a cousin once removed and def not his brother?? So not sure how this info has come about?

If it is MH telling you it is a great uncle rather than a cousin once removed don’t worry - they can’t be exact, basically it a guess using the amount of cms. If is from someone else’s tree then there may be a mistake on the tree, or you weren’t old the whole story ;-)

The person in question is a nephew of the first cousin once removed so def not grandads brother. A cousin of my father did our family tree several years ago and I have a full copy of that some 60 pages. It was made into an A4 book with the full history at the back and an index of all names associated with the family name.

Grandad was a Baptist Minister so no scandals there ;-)

Ah, Florence - but he wasn't always a Baptist Minister :-D

Sister, nephew and I all had our DNA tested by MH, and they didn't say how we were related, just suggested it was a high probability - and got it right!

No he worked for British Rail and then age 25 went in for the ministry. Not a train driver but in the office doing wages etc.

Mu mum and her brothers & sisters all had quite dark skin as did their dad and his sister. Rumour had it that the grandmother ran off with a Maltese sailor hence the sallow skin in the family. It will be interesting to see if I have any foreign DNA in me as no foreigners on dads side!