Genealogy Chat

Did anyone else see the article in the Daily Mail today (must be true then!) about a research study set up to monitor DNA and ancestry? Apparently for £50 you can send your sample to Cambridge and get a run down of your distant ancestry? Worth doing???

Wonder what it would tell you? Am I really descended from Royalty Doubt it !! More likely the serf!!!

Apparently we are all descended from one female in Africa and the early descendants broke into 5 tribes and spread over the world. By testing your DNA they can tell which tribe you come from and the course your ancestors travelled?

A friend's brother had his DNA tested to see if he was from Viking stock - a lot of that round here. Turned out he was and they could even say which part of Scandanavia. No idea who did all this but it was free and he needed people with certain surnames. Shame I found out too late because my husband would have loved to take part. Jane

sounds like a good idea. I'd do it

I think I saw a tv program about that Viking DNA testing - do you live in Yorkshire? Yes, it was very interesting, particularly the number of people with Viking Hand - where the thumb gets sort of paralysed - apparently very common in Scandanavia and also common in that part of England.

I think that was a program with Robert Winston. Can't for the life of me remember the name of it. I think a similar survey was done for 'mongrel Nation' which was presented by Eddie Izzard.

I think for women it would only trace the maternal line and for men the paternal line. Shame really, I can trace my maternal all the way back to Scotland but my paternal line would be fascinating as although from Normandy the skin, hair and eye colour comes from somewhere far more exotic.

If you want to take part, the National Geographic site has the details: http://www5(.)nationalgeographic(.)com/genographic/participate(.)html Just found this from the Independent: Worldwide DNA project to map the origins of humanity By Steve Connor, Science Correspondent 13 April 2005 A genetic project to map the origins of humanity begins today with a global effort to collect DNA samples from thousands of people across the world. The aim is to trace the big migrations that have taken place over the past 100,000 years as our ancestors moved out of Africa to populate the planet. By analysing the tiny differences between the DNA of indigenous people alive today, scientists hope to build a map of the migratory routes that our distant relatives took when exploring new places to live. The Genographic Project will run for at least five years and cost tens of millions of pounds, according to its director Spencer Wells, a population geneticist. 'I see this as the 'moon shot' of anthropology. We are aiming to uncover key details about who we are as a species and how we've moved around the world,' Dr Wells said. 'We're using DNA as a tool to examine the history of our species - how we migrated around the world and got to where we are today. The ultimate goal of the Genographic Project is to show how we are all connected to each other genetically,' he said. Funding for the project will be entirely from private sources, notable National Geographic magazine, the computer company IBM and the Waitt Family Foundation in America, a charity created by the founder of Gateway Computers. Blood samples of hundreds of indigenous people - from the Inuit of the Arctic to the tribes of the Amazon basin - and cheek swabs from ordinary members of the public who volunteer to take part will form the basis of the DNA database. 'We're going to be sampling indigenous groups and we're hoping to get 100,000 samples from those groups during the life of the project,' Dr Wells said. 'In addition there is a public participation programme so we could end up with hundreds of thousands of samples from all over the world,' he said. Mitochrondrial DNA, which is only inherited through the female line, will be analysed for genetic 'markers' to show the relatedness of women to each other. The same will be done for the male Y chromosome to shed light on the migrations of men.

Not Yorkshire Heather - Lancashire. My surname is viking. One of the most common names round here is Rimmer which is Viking in origin Jane

Our next door neighbours are called Rimmer. Funnily enough before I knew that was a name of Viking origin I mentioned to my husband that their son (a landscape gardener in his thirties) looks just like a Viking warrior with his long blond hair and slim face with bright blue eyes! Amazing how the genes can last that long in a line, isnt it. My grandmother was a Hanson. I understand that is a name commonly associated with Viking settlements in the north of England. That side of the family were always tall, angular and with dark red hair. My own hair was blond til 13 then dark red, same as my aunt. Fascinating stuff.

There are quite a few DNA projects associated with studies of particular surnames. I think that might be the most interesting part. My surname appears in various parts of the country, some information on the relationship between these different occurences would be interesting. I suspect the problem might be that the projects are being run from the US and they seem more interested in proving their ancestors arrived in the US in the 16th or 17th Century. MB

Dear Martin Briscoe: Thanks for your comment in the DNA Discussion. I am interested in proving who my cousins from the UK might be because of the lack of genealogical materials. Here is the story of my testing. I am writing to let you all know that I have just participated in the Surname PIKE Y-DNA study and have had my DNA tested and the 25 markers proved to be a great confirmation of what we had suspected from genealogy research. I believe that one of the outstanding benefits of DNA testing is that it can indicate whether people’s paternal line converge with a common forefather, even if people in question have not been able to establish a relationship by more conventional genealogical research. I am therefore anxious to see if any of the PIKE family members in England are related to my line or any of the other lines established here in the U. S. To learn more about my test and how people in the whole world can learn more about DNA testing go to the following web site and see some real demonstrations of the testing: www.math.mun.ca/~dapike/family_history/pike/DNA I am the person in this study who is the son of John of the original John and you can see how I connected with 4 descendants of the other son of John named Robert. Our first John came from an area known to us as Whiteparish, Wiltshire, England in 1635. Even though much of the testing is done in the U. S., people from all over the world are welcome to have the testing done. Please note that the administrator of the PIKE Family DNA testing is from Canada. I am most anxious to find people to whom I am related in other parts of the world. Roy Escott Pike Update A New Video on DNA Testing is available Free for your viewing. Disclaimer - I have no financial connection nor do I receive any renumeration from the supplier of this Video. Roy see connection at the above web site. Roy