Six years between blogs . . . .

Its been a very long time since I've blogged dear reader (if I have any apart from myself).

Time has marched on, and a new tool has entered the genealogy field. I say new - as it has been around for a while, and is only "new" to my blog.

DNA testing has created a huge learning curve and also an awesome opportunity to find out new information about your family. It is helping people validate their paper/traditional research. It is bringing up surprises as well as shocks for many.

The type of DNA testing most effective for finding family, is the autosomal test - or atDNA. Most DNA companies do this test. Other tests include the mitochondrial (mtDNA) or the YDNA. YDNA is effective for deep testing along the male line (DNA inherited and passed solely from father to son). mtDNA is from the X chromosome and can be inherited only from the mother - but both son and daughter receive a copy.

The test myself, my father and mother and my cousin have had done, is the atDNA through Ancestry. No shocks or surprises as yet, but it has yielded some measure of success already, in that I have successfully discovered a first cousin for my Scottish mother. A younger cousin lost to the mists of time and memory, from when my mother moved from Aberdeen to Edinburgh. Its nice as they are in correspondence via email now, and swapping family stories and memories.

I also found a second cousin from my father's Newfoundland line who has happily shared family photos. I do have some family mysteries to solve . . .

I've also been assisting customers at work, who don't know what to do when they get their tests results back, explaining how it all works, and generally just getting them started.

So far this has been me dipping my toes in - and learning as I go. And watching YouTube videos and reading . . .

Happy hunting

Surname Sunday

Every so often, I like to post my research interests on Twitter - hoping to connect with an unknown descendant or fellow researcher. I've often found (or been found by) descendants or researchers courtesy of the internet:- Rootsweb and other genealogy message boards, Facebook - even by Googling.

You never know who is looking, or might recognise a name and pass on info.

I have researched most of my branches back to the early 1700s - but it must be noted, that I only have verified info for them all up till 1800, as I haven't as yet been able to purchase certificates for them to be 100% confident. In some cases, these certificates just don't seem to exist (Newfoundland and Ireland having similar histories in that their records offices went up in smoke and destroyed quite alot of valuable info). But mostly, its a question of economics. I'll get round to it.

In the meantime, I am trying to flesh out the histories around the people that I have verified.

For those interested:

• HARVEY – Carbonear, Newfoundland and Kent England; 
• POTTLE – Carbonear, Newfoundland;
• BOOTHER – Kent and London, England; 
• SULLIVAN – Kent, England and Cork, Ireland
• McKENZIE – Aberdeen, Scotland; 
• SWANSON – Aberdeen and Olrig, Caithness, Scotland;
• LITTLE– Kilmanock, Ayr and Edinburgh, Scotland;   
• DUNCAN – Edinburgh, and Cupar, Fife Scotland

• Seeking descendants of TURNER, BARCLAY, McKENZIE - descendants of Alexander McKENZIE  (b 1865, Aberdeen, Scotland) and Georgina SWANSON (b 1869, Caithness, Scotland) - children: George, Margaret (Cissie), Robert, David, Mabel and Elizabeth (Betty)
• Seeking info on ancestors and descendants of James Edward HARVEY (b1871 Freshwater Newfoundland) & Evelyn Julia POTTLE  (b1872 Flatrock Newfoundland)  - Canada
• John William HARVEY (b abt 1836 Clowns Cove Newfoundland), m Elizabeth SNOW; & father William HARVEY (b abt 1803 ?Ireland?) m Jane NOEL/NEWELL  
• Seek descendants of Margaret (Cissie) McKENZIE (b abt 1897 Aberdeen, Scotland) & James TURNER, children Alex, Margaret, Doreen, Eric, James 
• Seeking info Daniel SULLIVAN (b 1831 Cork?) m Julia UNKNOWN (b abt 1834 Cork?), children Ellen, Johanna, Michael, Margaret 

Anyone interested in learning more, or who thinks they may have a connection should go to my Tribal Pages site, and have a look.

You can contact me via a request to join there, or via this blog.