DNA testing for Family History an Intro

DNA testing for Family History by Sharon Bunter

DNA testing is now all the rage, and in case you were wondering if it was worth doing a test you might find my experience useful to help make your decision.

We all used to think that genealogy DNA testing was for males only, but not any longer. Since 2012 AncestryDNA based in America have been offering their Autosomal DNA test for both males and females. It is not a “whole genome” test, and this is why the price is more affordable.
Ancestry tests 23 Chromosomes, based off of over 700,000 markers from your entire genome, making sure you are able to see all potential matches within the past few generations.

You logon (or create) to your ancestry account an order a kit, then pay postage on top. (Standard UK price is £79 plus £20 postage, though often deals come up, the postage covers the parcel to you, and then back to the USA.) The kit arrives in a little box, with very clear simple instructions. Open the box, and activate the test online with the number – you will be asked if you wish to link the test to a person in your tree, you can do this now or later. (However it is best to do it before your results come in so that when you get your matches they will be more meaningful.) You then spit into a tube, place on the cap, shake it and place into a box, which goes into a pre-paid postal envelope back to Ancestry.

Several other companies offer Autosomal DNA testing, but at the moment Ancestry has the largest database of testers, so you will most likely get more matches on Ancestry. Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) offers cotton bud swab type test, rather than the “spit” test from Ancestry. You have to post this back to America yourself. Their database of matches is accessible to Ancestry testers pre-mid-2016, but after that Ancestry changed their testing, and FTDNA are currently updating their software, so it is likely that more recent Ancestry testers will have the facility to access the FTDNA matches soon (at a price). Note that FTDNA also offer various y-DNA and mtDNA tests from the same test, you are able to upgrade when you like.

You Ancestry test goes back to America and you are alerted when it has arrived, when it has started processing, and when your results are in.

It is a good idea to have your tree all ready before you get your results. If you use a full tree on Ancestry, you will get more results, and if it is a public tree you will get even more. However at the moment I am using a public skeleton tree only on Ancestry as I am still uncomfortable about putting up 15 years of hard work and money for everyone to take as they wish.

This is my AncestryDNA main page, showing Ethnicity – a bit of a sales gimmick, and not really any use genealogically. Also showing is your matches, and your DNA circles – if 3 or more distant relatives all with public trees match to you and your public tree, then you may get a circle – I don’t yet.

Your DNA is linked to you in your tree. Ancestry then has an algorithm to calculate your matches. These are displayed in order of closest relation according to their algorithm.  If you have had other close family members tested, or you know cousins who have been tested, then assuming you are related to them, you will see them first. For example Parent/Child, Immediate Family, Close family, 1st cousins, 2^nd cousins, 3^rd cousins, 4-6^th cousins, and finally Distant cousins which are regarded as 6-8^th cousins.

If you have an identical ancestor in your tree to your matches’ tree then you will get the green shaky leaf – and when you click on your match it will show you how you are related. The goal would be to get this for all your matches! I have 11 green leaves out of around 16,000 matches.

[Note: green shaky leaves are the method by which Ancestry alerts you to information concerning a person in your tree – it could be a record or a match with a person in another tree]

Here is the leaf on my match:

And here are leaves on my tree:

Here is one of my shared ancestor hints in Haslingden:

Many matches have no trees, minimal trees, or private trees– so you cannot see how you might be related. Some of your matches will have HUGE trees, and you still won’t be able to see how you are related. Of course you must always account for inaccurate trees, and I often find it more relevant to check their research, if it is a match I am interested in. Many matches are American, and have no trees back to the UK, of course we must be aware of how many British did actually emigrate to America, Australia and Canada, and those matches will be true cousins.

For other matches without green leaves you will get something like this

The first tab for Pedigree and Surnames will show you a list of any shared surnames which you can click on for more details to see if they are relevant, a list of all surnames in their tree, and a 7^th generation tree.
The second tab shows any matches they share with you, but this is only for 4^th cousins and above.
The third tab shows a map, and from there you can see if your matches’ tree has any bmd locations in common.

The idea is to compare your trees to try to identify your shared ancestor. So the better tree you and your match has the more likely you are to find the connection.

For example: I had one breakthough with my 5^th great grandfather who had an fairly uncommon name, but I had not found his marriage or baptism. It so happened that this name popped up on one of my matches, but the location of theirs was 40 miles away in a different county. By following up my matches family, and doing some research, I was able to find a possible person who could be my ancestor, and a matching marriage. I was then extremely lucky to find a mention in the newspaper of my ancestor confirming that yes it was him. I was able to prove that I share my 7^th great grandfather with my match. I would never have looked that far otherwise, so this was a real DNA win. 

There are several tools available, both free and paid which allow further interrogation of your DNA results. One of the most well-known and free tools is the website GEDmatch. You can download your raw DNA data file from Ancestry and upload to GEDmatch where you are given a kit number. GEDmatch accepts raw DNA files from several other companies, so you will find more matches. You can also upload a gedcom file of your tree if you wish. GEDmatch shows more details of your match – down to the segements on the Chromosomes, you can then use this to find other matches who share the same ancestors.

This chart shows several matches sharing the same DNA segment on Chromosome 13 with me

At first it is very overwhelming, and the DNA theory takes a while to get your head around, so the time whilst you are waiting for your results would be a good time to read up on DNA for genealogy, join some Facebook groups, read the GEDmatch help files.

Having said that my research has never progressed so much as in the last few months since my DNA results arrived, and I already had a well-researched extensive tree. I have also met many new cousins and we are now corroborating on researching our shared ancestors.

Links:

Here is the Privacy information for Ancestry DNA tests
https://www.ancestry.com.au/dna/legal/privacyStatement

Explanation of the types of DNA tests
http://www.genie1.com.au/blog/59-dna-test-types-available

International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki http://isogg.org/wiki/Wiki_Welcome_Page

A great blog by Louise Coakley http://www.genie1.com.au/ct-menu-item-1

A couple of Facebook groups:

Ancestry DNA matching https://www.facebook.com/groups/407494112747727/

DNA for Genealogy UK https://www.facebook.com/groups/1609877835941769/

And I am always happy to help others with their research, so please ask as many questions as you like.

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