DNA Newbie

montgo

I finally took the plunge and took the Ancestry test and uploaded the the details to Gedmatch. I''m completely new to this.

My first query is that I can't find any connection with my match (Sue) who has the longest shared segment of 45 cMs with me. We don't appear to have any ancestors's surnames in common nor general locations of birth.

My top match shared a total of 45.6cMs with the longest segment of 25cMs! Now according to my research, we have common gggrandparents making us 3rd cousins. As both of ggrandparents had consanguinity dispensations, I'm pretty sure that we are doubly related. So that about matches what the Isogg chart states for 3rd cousins.

What else can I do in order to find the link with Sue's family?
Thanks

pinkypinky

I haven't been able to make paper connections with most of the autosomal matches on the three tests I've done. In fact, I've made only 2, one of whom was my third cousin, and she was a librarian so her research was good. The shared DNA was in the order of 268cMs. Most people's research isn't diverse enough or the records run out.

I think DNA is a long game - over time more and more people test and more will have done their paper Ancestry as well. Also remember that sometimes the DNA of confirmed paper matches will not combine so as to show a match any more.

Waitsian

pinkypinky wrote:

Also remember that sometimes the DNA of confirmed paper matches will not combine so as to show a match any more.

Sorry pinkypinky, can you explain that or put it a different way please? I don't understand what you mean. Sorry for my ignorance.

L1011

"Non paternal events" is one regular euphemism

montgo

pinkypinky wrote: »

I haven't been able to make paper connections with most of the autosomal matches on the three tests I've done. In fact, I've made only 2, one of whom was my third cousin, and she was a librarian so her research was good. The shared DNA was in the order of 268cMs.

Thanks, pinky. That doesn't bode well since my top shared DNA is less than 50cMs! However, I have found a 4th cousin through the matches. We were just lucky that his ancestor's marriage record had her address noted on the parish register in the 1820s.

pinkypinky

mod9maple wrote: »

Sorry pinkypinky, can you explain that or put it a different way please? I don't understand what you mean. Sorry for my ignorance.

I am not a scientist but my understanding is that there are two copies of each gene and you might get either parent's copy. So sometimes people who are distantly related might not have enough shared ancestor's dna to show the match any more.

pinkypinky

Just wanted to add an update. I convinced a distant cousin (on paper) to do a test before Christmas. We've just got the results and are delighted to confirm that the science backs up our hard work on paper. He's definitely my mother's third cousin. I'm chuffed.

montgo

Well done!

I also have a match with a probable 4th cousin. Neither of our ancestors' baptisms were recorded for some reason in the parish register. However, throughout the 19th century, my ancestors were sponsors/witnesses for her family & vice versa, attended funerals as cousins, etc. I have her extensive family added to my tree for some years, even though I didn't have the the baptism record to prove it. Now the DNA match proves the relationship!

The Chieftain

The genealogy specific DNA testing typically only tests for part of your genome. You can now have your entire genome sequenced for less than $1,000 - $999 to be precise.

pinkypinky

Testing your entire genome is more useful for medical purposes - I haven't heard of any companies providing matches.

RGM

pinkypinky wrote: »

Testing your entire genome is more useful for medical purposes - I haven't heard of any companies providing matches.

It can be useful for Y-DNA research and surname projects. I agree it isn't of much use for traditional genealogy though.

RGM

montgo wrote: »

I finally took the plunge and took the Ancestry test and uploaded the the details to Gedmatch. I''m completely new to this.

My first query is that I can't find any connection with my match (Sue) who has the longest shared segment of 45 cMs with me. We don't appear to have any ancestors's surnames in common nor general locations of birth.

My top match shared a total of 45.6cMs with the longest segment of 25cMs! Now according to my research, we have common gggrandparents making us 3rd cousins. As both of ggrandparents had consanguinity dispensations, I'm pretty sure that we are doubly related. So that about matches what the Isogg chart states for 3rd cousins.

What else can I do in order to find the link with Sue's family?
Thanks

Given that the number of distant cousins you have expands exponentially with each generation, it's always going to be more likely that a match of 45cM is with someone who is very distant rather than a closer cousin.

In other words, if you go back far enough, you have millions of cousins. It's not unusual then that a few rare birds will happen to hang onto enough DNA to show up as a match. Meanwhile, by comparison, you really don't have that many third cousins. So just going by the odds, that random match you get is probably going to be more distant than a third cousin.

That said, I've had enough confirmed matches to support about half my tree back to third-great-grandparents.

montgo

Thanks for your input, RGM.

I've since uploaded my results to FamilyTree DNA and they are showing 13 matches (including the two mentioned above) in the 2-4th cousin category while Gedmatch/Ancestry show none. Sue is still showing as my top match. With Ancestry's recent index of the parish records, she has since discovered that her only Irish ancestor may have been born in 1850 in a parish next to most of my ancestors! Unfortunately, that parish has no records prior to 1845.

On FTDNA, I have 2 known 4th cousins, along with the 3rd cousin listed in the 2-4 cousins group, the others yet to be discovered!