DNA Genealogy

[WVHighlander]

You mean like finding out I am more English than I really thought! :crap:


Shhh....don't let Chas see I wrote that..

[Chas]

You mean like finding out I am more English than I really thought!


Shhh....don't let Chas see I wrote that..

Too late, too late!

I have always known that I was 1/4 Scottish. My paternal grandfather came from Aberdeenshire. During a recent visit from my mother (who is 93), she let slip that he had courted my grandmother (who's father was a local land owner) for 5 years before becoming a civil servant and taking up a post in India. So by extrapolation, my grandmother was Scots as well. In the space of a few minutes, I went from 1/4 Scottish to 1/2 Scottish.

As for DNA testing, I have always thought this - Do not ask a question, if you cannot live with the answer.

Really WVHighlander, being part English might not be desirable - but it isn't a bad thing.

Regards

Chas

[WVHighlander]

Chas,

I knew you could take a good ribbing.

Actually, I have a lot of English in my family. (I think I did the break down earlier in this post or another) I would say a good 65% of my ancestry comes from the British Isles with the rest being German and Hungarian.

As for the not "living" with the answer, I am safe there too. Up until a few years ago I didn't even know my last name was a Scottish last name. As a historian in training I just want to get on the right track for my research.

Cheers,

John

[Chas]

Hi John,

I'm half English - I'm used to people taking the mickey.

On my mother's side they say that they didn't come over with William the Conqueror, they say that they were already here to meet him.

While investigating my wife's family tree, I discovered some interesting facts. The advent of the railway and the postal system had a profound effect on people's lives. One branch of her family used to travel between Norfolk and Cumberland (some 500+ miles) at least twice a year for work reasons. With the advent of the penny post it was possible to post 'post' children to school for 1penny. They were not fed or watered and truly were treated as packages with legs. Many of the well known public schools (boarding schools) would have an extra delivery on the first day of term.

So, even if people are nominally English, that doesn't mean that they were not living with Scottish people or in Scotland for a time.

As to 'living' that was a general warning to the whole thread. Often these things throw out answers that we really didn't want to know. And that the answer might not be what a person wished or hoped for.

Regards

Chas

[WVHighlander]

Chas,

Agreed. Like finding out your wonderful Uncle Mike is actually your biological Dad, which your father didn't even know. So if you are afraid a bone will roll out the closet and you can't deal with it (even during Halloween) don't open the closet door.

John