Search This Blog

Monday 19 April 2021

DNA

I have been saying for ages I would like to check my DNA at the company which has a huge data base of other people's DNA. The results came back a couple of weeks ago and the biggest surprise was that I am 81% Scottish. My dad is Scots and my half brother who has the same father as me is 49% Scottish which is what I expected to be. My mum was English but she never knew her father except his name and that he was American. Unless you are native American the ethnicity could be anything so it seems likely my grandfather had Scottish roots. The other possibility of the Scot's background could be my mum's maternal grandfather. After fathering 19 children including triplets and two sets of twins he died before my mum was born. All we know is his surname and the possibility he was called Alfred as the eldest boy and my uncle were named Alfred. 

The only close match which came up was my brother so no surprises there. The most exciting match although not close was a 2nd or 3rd cousin who only shares 2% DNA but has the same surname as my maternal grandfather. I have messaged him but no reply. I have looked on the free site but am thinking I will pay to see all the information. 

My dad was an only child and his mum died when he was 10 years old in 1916 and 2 months later his dad went off to fight in the 1st world war so he was passed around for a couple of years. His dad remarried a younger woman. I never knew them as my granddad died when I was about 3. We lived in Essex and he was in Glasgow. My half sister knew them and during the second world war she was sent to stay with them for safety and that night Glasgow got bombed. Thankfully they survived. The thing is my two sisters are in their 80's so I am getting what information I can now. 

I wish I had asked my parents and my nan for more information when I was younger but I don't think it occured to me.  I think I will need some help finding things on line so will wait until my friend is allowed to come round to help me before I pay to join. Although with the better weather coming and fewer restrictions I probably wont want to be stuck on the laptop for hours. Ah well I will have to consider it.

8 comments:

  1. Our oldest son gave me a 23andme test kit and I just mailed it away after Easter. I am excited to find out the results.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is exciting isn't it. I look forward to hearing your results.

      Delete
  2. All that information from a DNA sample. It is fascinating.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes it is and makes me want to know more.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It must be fascinating to discover more about your family. I'm tempted to give it a try myself. X

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is fascinating and I feel I need to know more.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Do you know about Wikitree? It’s a free, online, one world family tree. It’s been relatively easy for me to connect to distant relatives. If you can add dna test results, even better. 🙂
    wikitree.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No I didn't know about this. Thank you very much. I will have a look later.

      Delete