Ancestry DNA Update 2023

Recently, Ancestry again updated their DNA Ethnicity Estimates, so I have again been studying my new, updated results.  I have commented before that with every ethnicity estimate, my results seem to move further from my family tree as I know it.  This time actually moved a little back towards what my existing tree leads me to expect.

The table below shows my ethnicity estimates over the years since I first tested.  It is worth noting that in 2018 and 2019 the Irish ethnicity represented Ireland and Scotland combined.  According to my researched Family Tree, my father's family is 100% English back to the early 1700s and further and is primarily from the Essex/Suffolk area. My father's parents married in England before they came out to Australia.  My mother's family is at mostly English with some Irish (a Great-Grandmother), German (Great-Great-Grandfather) and Scottish (Great-Great-Grandmother) mixed in.  Most of her lines arrived in Australia in the 1840s and 1850s, and the various nationalities intermarried out here.  This is not reflected in my ethnicity estimate. 

	Sep 18	Sep 19	Sep 21	Apr 22	Sep 22	Sep 23
England	65	78	54	45	33	43
Ireland	22	10	2	2	1	0
Scotland	0	0	33	32	38	32
Germanic Europe	8	3	0	0	4	5
Ivory Coast/Ghana	2	1	1	2	2	2
Sweden/Denmark	2	5	0	2	19	15
Norway	1	2	9	14	0	0
Mali		1	1	0	0	0
Wales				3	3	3

The breakdown of my maternal DNA and paternal DNA also shows some unexpected results.  All the Sweden/Denmark DNA comes from my father’s side, as does a small amount from Scotland and Germany.  My Irish ancestry has disappeared completely from my mother’s ethnicity.  And I have never known where that 2% Ivory Coast/Ghana comes from.

Maternal	Paternal	Total
England 14%	England 29%	England 43%
Scotland 28%	Scotland 4%	Scotland 32%
Germanic Europe 3%	Germanic Europe 2%	Germanic Europe 5%
Ivory Coast/Ghana 2%	Ivory Coast/Ghana 0%	Ivory Coast/Ghana 2%
Sweden/Denmark 0%	Sweden/Denmark 15%	Sweden/Denmark 15%
Wales 3%	Wales 0%	Wales 3%

Ultimately, we need to remember that these numbers are estimates only and can still be quite inaccurate.  More important to most who are actively researching are their cousin matches, people whom the DNA tests show are being related. I have cousin matches on all the major branches of my tree intersecting at various grandparents, great grandparents and further back, so for several generations back I am reasonably confident my tree is accurate - or as accurate as it can be.

Why Can't I Find My Ancestor's Immigration?

As we research our family history, we all want to trace our ancestors movements, especially when they emigrated between countries.  As an Australian of British and European descent, tracing how and when my ancestors made the journey out to the colony is fascinating to me.  It can, however, be extremely challenging - it appears several of my ancestors might have swum out to Australia!

For a couple of my ancestors, making the assumption that they moved directly from A to B let me astray, in one case for several years.  The family of my great grandfather, James Nicholas Clark, came from Bristol in England.  They left England at about the time James was born and eventually settled in Melbourne, Australia.  It took me several years of fruitless searching for their immigration details before I widened my search to find the family first arrived in Launceston, Tasmania, which is where James was born shortly after they arrived.  The family spent at least 5 years in nearby Port Sorrell before travelling across Bass Strait to settle in Melbourne.

So why is it so difficult to find some of our ancestor's immigration records?

• Consider alternate spelling of their name.  The clerk who recorded their embarkation or arrival was unlikely to ask about spelling and just recorded the name as he heard it.
  
• If the person travelled in steerage/was an unassisted immigrant/was a crew member who jumped ship, the details recorded about them may be scant or non-existent.
• Females, children, servants and steerage passengers were frequently left off the passenger lists altogether.
• Did they migrate in stages?  Not everyone went straight from A to B – some visited other points along the way, sometimes taking years to arrive at their final destination.
• Prior to 1852, ship's masters were not required to record the names of unassisted passengers travelling from Britain to the Australian colonies.
• Port Phillip District of New South Wales was established on 10 April 1837.  Victoria was not proclaimed a separate colony until 1 July 1851.  Check NSW records if your ancestor arrived earlier.
• After 1923 records of people arriving by sea and air are held at the National Archives of Australia.
• Not all records have survived the passage of time and remained legible.

Who Do You Think You Are Magazine

The latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue:  

• House history Melanie Backe-Hansen from A House Through Time explains how to research the history of your home
• The future of family history societies
 What do family history societies do, and are they under threat?
• Reader story Ian Cooper's ancestors were Victorian policemen
• Military medals
 How to discover what medals your ancestors were awarded online
• The history of rationing How our ancestors ate during the Second World War
• Somerset family history Everything you need to know to research your ancestry in the county
• And more.....
  

RootsTech Registration is Open

The  RootsTech 2024 "Remember" Conference will be held February 29 to 2 March 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Once again it will be run as a paid in-person and a FREE virtual conference.  Registration starts on Monday, 18 September 2023 for this conference at https://www.rootstech.org.

 

 

In Salt Lake City:

• 250+ exclusive sessions only available in SLC
• 120+ exhibitors/sponsors in the Expo Hall
• Be the first to learn of industry innovations
• Be part of the energy of the general keynote sessions
• Develop new friendships and reunite with old friends
• Get personalized help at the FamilySearch library

Online:

• 200+ new online sessions in over 26 languages
• Join keynote sessions live from the comfort of your own home
• Chat online with other attendees worldwide
• Get digital syllabi and class handouts

So take a look at what RootsTech has to offer and take advantage of the many online talks and sessions that are available to those, like me, who are unable to attend the conference in person.