Thanks for that Gail (subject line and DNA explanation). And yes I would love an invite to the forum. The line back is through my children, not me; it's their great great grandfather's wife. She, Susanna, is as far as I know, the only child of Hanna. If I can find a direct female line that would be more useful. More work to do. Look forward to the invite! Cheers, Shona (Port Macquarie, NSW) On 31 March 2014 16:16, Gail Riddell <grid2@wc.net.nz> wrote: > Shona > The "correctness" of the forum for your question seems to depend on the > individual "owner" coupled with the Rootsweb requirements which forbid any > commercial advertising. > In this case, I expect it to be a general discussion of DNA testing. By > the way, I have changed the subject line to better reflect the nature of > your query. For any specific further enquiries, it is probably best I > invite you to the NZ DNA Yahoo forum if you so request. > > In general terms there are three main genealogical DNA tests:- > 1. Y-DNA - men only, (for the direct paternal lineage, meaning your > father and his sons (his father and his sons and their direct male > descendants, his grandfather and his sons and all their direct male > descendants and so on back through the centuries). > 2. mtDNA - men and women, noting the men do not pass their mtDNA through > to anyone - only the mothers can do that. (For the direct maternal line, > meaning your mother and all her children, her mother and all her daughters > and female descendants, Her grandmother and all her daughters and all > their direct female descendants, her great grandmother and so on back > through thousands of years!) > 3. atDNA - men and women who all receive their chromosomes 1 through 22 > (I am ignoring the X chromosome in this) from their joint parents. The > further back the generation is from whom you received these chromosomes, > the smaller the segment which makes it difficult to go back to far... > > So the first thing you need to consider is whether Susanna is a direct > maternal descendant of yours - if there is a break of a male, then mtDNA > will not work for your quest. And the atDNA will be "hit and miss" being > at that distance unless you also test your siblings. (I suggest this > because frequently, our full siblings carry segments that are too small in > us to be recognisable). > > atDNA will give a general view of the country that makes up you, but given > the wanderlust of the humans, it will not be final. > > Both Y-DNA and mtDNA will give the ethnicity of the direct line, but > again, we have a melting pot of so many contained even in the young > countries of Australia or NZ that again, it is impossible to state exactly > which country and at what time, that person's records existed. The best we > can do is to give indications. Having said that, I have people on my books > at present who cam to see me about a similar question and the chosen test > strongly indicated the country they had believed would be the originating > country. But we could not go further and state this with any greater > precision than 30%! > > Kind regards > Gail Riddell > > On 31/03/2014, at 3:09 PM, Shona Young wrote: > > Hi Gail and List > I have had a look at FTDNA site and am interested in doing a DNA for both > Aus and NZ. However I would like to know the best step (test) to take if I > am looking for something specific. I have read about the tests but now > have a brain freeze and think I may need a science degree to work out which > is the best way foward. > > My children's great great grandmother's (Susanna) place of birth and place > of birth of her mother (Hanna) is unknown. Susanna was the child of an > army soldier in the Napoleonic Wars so is listed on Army Rolls and > registered in the UK, but no other details to be had of the mother other > than she was possibly dead at the time of his next marriage. I was hoping a > DNA would narrow down a country other than England, possibly Spain to > continue the research. > > What kind of DNA could provide this information and then whom to test? > > Apologies if this is not the appropriate forum for this question...please > point me to the best one if not. > > Many thanks. > Shona (Port Macquarie, NSW) > > > > On 30 March 2014 15:54, Gail Riddell <grid2@wc.net.nz> wrote: > >> I write to advise (with much pleasure) that FTDNA have given their >> approval to me to pioneer two new Australian Projects. >> >> >

Invitation now sent. Port Macquarie? I lived and worked in that place for some months in 2002 - hubby and I were only chatting of it last week, saying how much we missed it. He was at Westpac and the coffees down by the beach most days were special times (I joined him in Westpac for awhile but then got a job at a Chartered Accountants "palace" just along the street, before later being transferred to Melbourne where I ended up joining the Govt. GST "bandwagon" and travelled around all of the Oz states except for Northern Territories). Probably that whole mid-coast area has some of my lasting memories (not to mention our exploring much further inland). I do not think I have ever enjoyed such a wonderful place to live (and work) as your place! Gail On 31/03/2014, at 9:24 PM, Shona Young wrote: > Thanks for that Gail (subject line and DNA explanation). And yes I would love an invite to the forum. > > The line back is through my children, not me; it's their great great grandfather's wife. She, Susanna, is as far as I know, the only child of Hanna. If I can find a direct female line that would be more useful. More work to do. > > Look forward to the invite! > Cheers, > Shona (Port Macquarie, NSW) > > > On 31 March 2014 16:16, Gail Riddell <grid2@wc.net.nz> wrote: > Shona > The "correctness" of the forum for your question seems to depend on the individual "owner" coupled with the Rootsweb requirements which forbid any commercial advertising. > In this case, I expect it to be a general discussion of DNA testing. By the way, I have changed the subject line to better reflect the nature of your query. For any specific further enquiries, it is probably best I invite you to the NZ DNA Yahoo forum if you so request. > > In general terms there are three main genealogical DNA tests:- > 1. Y-DNA - men only, (for the direct paternal lineage, meaning your father and his sons (his father and his sons and their direct male descendants, his grandfather and his sons and all their direct male descendants and so on back through the centuries). > 2. mtDNA - men and women, noting the men do not pass their mtDNA through to anyone - only the mothers can do that. (For the direct maternal line, meaning your mother and all her children, her mother and all her daughters and female descendants, Her grandmother and all her daughters and all their direct female descendants, her great grandmother and so on back through thousands of years!) > 3. atDNA - men and women who all receive their chromosomes 1 through 22 (I am ignoring the X chromosome in this) from their joint parents. The further back the generation is from whom you received these chromosomes, the smaller the segment which makes it difficult to go back to far... > > So the first thing you need to consider is whether Susanna is a direct maternal descendant of yours - if there is a break of a male, then mtDNA will not work for your quest. And the atDNA will be "hit and miss" being at that distance unless you also test your siblings. (I suggest this because frequently, our full siblings carry segments that are too small in us to be recognisable). > > atDNA will give a general view of the country that makes up you, but given the wanderlust of the humans, it will not be final. > > Both Y-DNA and mtDNA will give the ethnicity of the direct line, but again, we have a melting pot of so many contained even in the young countries of Australia or NZ that again, it is impossible to state exactly which country and at what time, that person's records existed. The best we can do is to give indications. Having said that, I have people on my books at present who cam to see me about a similar question and the chosen test strongly indicated the country they had believed would be the originating country. But we could not go further and state this with any greater precision than 30%! > > Kind regards > Gail Riddell > > On 31/03/2014, at 3:09 PM, Shona Young wrote: > >> Hi Gail and List >> I have had a look at FTDNA site and am interested in doing a DNA for both Aus and NZ. However I would like to know the best step (test) to take if I am looking for something specific. I have read about the tests but now have a brain freeze and think I may need a science degree to work out which is the best way foward. >> >> My children's great great grandmother's (Susanna) place of birth and place of birth of her mother (Hanna) is unknown. Susanna was the child of an army soldier in the Napoleonic Wars so is listed on Army Rolls and registered in the UK, but no other details to be had of the mother other than she was possibly dead at the time of his next marriage. I was hoping a DNA would narrow down a country other than England, possibly Spain to continue the research. >> >> What kind of DNA could provide this information and then whom to test? >> >> Apologies if this is not the appropriate forum for this question...please point me to the best one if not. >> >> Many thanks. >> Shona (Port Macquarie, NSW) >> >> >> >> On 30 March 2014 15:54, Gail Riddell <grid2@wc.net.nz> wrote: >> I write to advise (with much pleasure) that FTDNA have given their approval to me to pioneer two new Australian Projects. >> > >