A large group of us is sitting around a big table at Marsh Barn, on the outskirts of West Bay towards Burton Bradstock.
\nI\u2019ve been here before, to learn about family history with local expert Jane Ferentzi-Sheppard. I\u2019ve done a couple of sessions but haven\u2019t really had the time to get stuck into it yet. Never mind about procrastination, as anyone who has ever looked into their family\u2019s history will tell you, it\u2019s research that can be the thief of time.
\nBut, oh the rewards. Not in monetary terms, of course, but in the satisfaction of fleshing out the family bones – although there is always the possibility of a skeleton or two in the cupboard.
\nI\u2019m here today to find out more about DNA and how modern science can help in the quest to delve deeper into the shelves of family history.
\nA DNA test can show to whom you are related \u2013 providing they have also had a test done \u2013 and also give you a clue about your own ethnicity.
\nAuthor and lecturer Debbie Kennett, in an interview for the society\u2019s magazine, The Greenwood Tree, firmly believes in the benefits of DNA testing to the family historian.
\n\u201cI think you should make use of all available records. DNA is a resource in the same way as parish records, census returns, public archives etc.
\n\u201cYou would not ignore any single one of those when doing your research and DNA should be seen in exactly the same way.\u201d
\nThe biggest company by far offering DNA tests is Ancestry, with some 14 million kits sold.
\n\u201cBut you do need a subscription to access the full family trees of your matches, which is a drawback. They offer the best tools for the beginner and you\u2019ll get more UK matches here than anywhere else,\u201d Debbie says.
\nThere are three different types of DNA test available: autosomal, which measures DNA from both paternal and maternal lines, yDNA which tests the paternal line only and mtDNA which shows only the maternal line.
\nKate Boyle, who is giving today\u2019s talk, took a DNA test with Ancestry, as it has the largest database. She thought that maybe DNA results would find a link to a distant brick wall or throw something up unexpected.
\nShe found evidence pointing to South Africa and a possible family indiscretion, which she is looking at ways to find out more.
\nShe is glad she has had her DNA tested as it has confirmed much of what she already knew of her family tree. But she urges caution to anyone considering taking a test: accept the possibility you could be in for a shock. Hidden issues such as adoption or illegitimacy could be uncovered and could potentially cause family upset.
\nAnother issue to consider is privacy. Debbie Kennett, in her interview with The Greenwood Tree, believes such concerns are overrated. She says raw DNA data is not particularly revealing and is stored separately from contact details. Your DNA can be used only for the purposes you specify and you have to opt-in to share your data with third parties.
\nMy husband, mother and I have all recently had our DNA tested through Ancestry.
\nYou have to dribble your saliva into a small tube, mix it with some magic solution, seal it and then send it off to a laboratory in Ireland where it is tested.
\nMy husband\u2019s results came back quite quickly to reveal he was a quarter Scottish or Irish, which was something of a surprise for him. Apparently, there is also a tiny bit of Norwegian in him (Viking perhaps?). When he has the time, he is going to investigate more to see if he can find where that ethnicity might have come from.
\nThe DNA test showed my mother\u2019s heritage to be predominantly English, with a small amount of unknown Swedish thrown in for good measure. Online, she\u2019s now been able to see people to whom she knows she is related, along with at least one other she did not know existed.
\nAnd my results?
\nI have long suspected that my paternal Grigg grandmother had some kind of exotic blood. My brother-in-law insists that the surname Grigg is a corruption of \u2018Greek\u2019, which fills me with great excitement as I always feel very at home in Greece. I had a fanciful thought that the Griggs could be Romanies, with their brown eyes and sallow skin, but my mother\u2019s research into that side of the family places them firmly in a small village in south Somerset in the late 1600s, either farming or running pubs.
\nBut my results haven\u2019t been returned, as I had to do the test again. I think there was probably too much bubble in my spit, which is a bit disappointing as I was hoping to sit down with my mother and compare results.
\nStill, when the DNA results finally come back, maybe I will know for sure. Or maybe not.<\/p>\n
For more information about the Somerset & Dorset Family History Society,
\nvisit sdfhs.org<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Why research your family history?
\n\u2018As you get older you suddenly want to find out more about your roots and now it\u2019s so much easier,\u2019 says Jane Ferentzi-Sheppard, who runs family history courses locally.
\n\u2018Attitudes to family history have changed so much over the years. When I started in the 1980s, family historians were seen very much as trainspotters, just collecting names. But now they have been become accepted in the outside world, especially the academic world, as they are now looking at the bigger picture.
\n\u2018When you research your own history, you become the expert on your family. And it opens people\u2019s horizons to look at the social history. Who were these people and what were they doing?\u2019
\nA conversation with fellow students yielded the following comments:
\n\u2018It\u2019s definitely a drug though. You get hooked. You can spend hours and hours on it.\u2019
\n\u2018It\u2019s about chasing family stories to identify those that are true.\u2019
\n\u2018Look at the demographic here today, it\u2019s slightly on the older side. We all wish we\u2019d done it earlier and asked the older members of the family more.\u2019
\nSays family historian Kate Boyle: \u2018I remember my mum saying I had no sense of family when I was younger and not interested in my older relatives. And now look at me!\u2019<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all in the genes
\nPaul Radford, editor of The Greenwood Tree, explains the basic science behind DNA, in the latest issue of the quarterly magazine of the Somerset & Dorset Family History Society: \u201cYour body is made up of cells, each containing 23 pairs of chromosomes for a total of 46. The chromosomes contain the specific information that makes your body unique, from the colour of your eyes to the shape of your nose and everything else.
\n\u201cIn 22 each of the 23 pairs there will be one chromosome inherited from your father and one from your mother. In 23 of those, they will look the same but the 23rd pair determines your sex.
\n\u201cYou inherit a Y chromosome automatically from your mother but from your father, it could be a Y or an X. If it\u2019s a Y, you will be male, if X, you will be female.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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