Monday 8 October 2018

Where am I from again?

Over the past few years I have done some research into my family tree. Finding out about anything from royalty and murder (Mum's side) and religious persecution and Japanese internment camps (Dad's side). 

At one point my Dad asked me whether I knew for certain that some person was our ancestor. Well, no! Then again, how do I know my father is my father? His word does not really prove that much! So, we decided to get a DNA test done through Ancestry. 

While my parents were here, we all spat in a tube and sent it off to Ireland to get it analyzed. And on Sunday the first results came in: my mother's!

The thing we 'knew' from my research (based on other people's research mostly) was that her ancestors came from a wide area in Europe. Starting with Charlemagne and then trickling down, slowly converging on the Netherlands. Would the DNA substantiate that research?

Well, it does! As you can see from the image above. There were two surprises: the first was about the England, Wales & Northwestern Europe bit. On closer inspection it showed that the main focus in that area is England! Where did that come from? I would have thought Northern France would be more likely. The second and biggest surprise for me however was the Scandinavian percentage though: 20% of my mother's DNA is from Norway and Sweden! Vikings!! 

I can't wait for my father's results now and then of course my own! Will my own correlate with my parents' or did the milkman or postman have anything to do with my conception and do I need a completely new research?

9 comments:

  1. Heb jij zo weinig vertrouwen in je vader?????

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  2. That's a fair bit of information, more than I remember getting some time ago from my DNA test.

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  3. Hari Om
    ooooohhhhh intriguing..... YAM xx

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    1. Isn't it? Especially all the Viking stuff! Who knew??

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  4. That is so cool! Can't wait to see the rest of them.

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  5. Those frisky Vikings did travel and maraud a lot through the years!

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  6. My Dad is crazy about researching ancestry. He found out he has relatives in many places. My ghostwriter is mostly German, and Polish, with a bit of Russian, while Dad is half Cornish and Half Finnish. Hence his oldest and most stale joke: he's always half Finished. Have fun with your ancestry search!

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    1. We are basically Dutch and Germanic, but with some Scandinavian and British Isles thrown in. I think it's great.

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Any weighty (and not so weighty) comments are welcome!