The earliest dates in the ranges for my Y DNA matches predate the consistent use of surnames. The blacksmith in a village might be known as John the Smith (to distinguish him from John the Miller or John the Farmer) and eventually this can become John Smith. But he may end up being called John…
All posts tagged Roscommon
Y match names
I was hoping to find at least one match who shares the Stanley surname. No such luck. There wasn’t even a name that could have evolved into, or from, Stanley. It is a very short list, with only five names on it. The list of my matches using autosomal DNA runs into many thousands (20,000+…
What’s in a name?
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (Romeo and Juliet – Act 2, Scene 2) An admirable sentiment to be expressed in a love story. Not exactly much help to a genealogist. I have been looking at just a few of the variations in…
DNA ethnicity update
In August 2020, my ethnicity profile, according to Ancestry, was as follows: SE England (with Kent highlighted): 41% (range 39-43%) Ireland (with Connacht and Roscommon highlighted): 36% (range 4-39%) Scotland 21% (range 0-23%) I had serious concerns about these results at the time. I haven’t delved too deeply into the algorithm that they use. Far…
What would I have done?
As mentioned in “The Irish Pimpernel” and “A helpful suggestion” I have been unable to find Patrick in 1900 or 1901. I started to wonder what I would have done in his situation. What was that situation? His father, John, had died in 1898 when Patrick was 15. By some distance (10 years), he was…
The Irish Pimpernel
I seem to have mislaid my grandfather. He has disappeared, again. I started my search for Patrick Stanley in 2006. The lack of census returns for Ireland in 1891 was a known problem. I looked for him in both Ireland and England on the 1901 census (taken 31st March) without success. (I rechecked earlier to…
200 years ago
My great grandfather, John Stanley, was born in 1825 – probably. This date has been derived from his stated age when he married, for the second time, in 1865. His age, as recorded on his death certificate in 1898, would suggest that he was born slightly earlier, in 1823. No birth certificate survives. As with…
New year – new insight?
Was my decision to take a Y DNA test a shot in the dark? An act of desperation? Or part of a carefully considered strategy? The truth is probably somewhere between the first and the third options. It would be lovely to claim that there was a detailed plan driving my research. I am not…
What to believe (3)
Whilst proof reading the final draft for “What to believe (2)”, I had a flash of insight. “Any account of events written more than 40 years later is likely to contain errors. Dates can become mixed up. Events can be forgotten. Others can be, albeit unwittingly, exaggerated. Details become blurred.” Almost all accounts of historic…
Kane cluster
I have been examining the family trees of people in one of the DNA clusters that I have accessed from Ancestry. The fact that there is a cluster tells me that there should be a common ancestor. I do not know where. I do not know how far back in history to look. Geography helps…