DNA is it worth it?

[Plummiegirl]

It is also said that the vast majority of those of us whose families remained in the UK can trace our ancestors back to I believe Edward the Confessor (well one of the Edwards!).

As said before I do not know that the person named "father" on any certificate was the DNA donor.  Come to think of it I do not look one little bit like my father, when I look in the mirror all I see my mum looking back at me!!

It is believed that up to 10% of all children born now are not the children of the man they believe is their father and who is/has raised them and many of these fathers do not know this.

Personally I would not waste my money.  This is a scientific resource which seems to have been hi-jacked by "genealogists" and unless you have quite a few male cousins who are prepared to go through this process with you, what will you actually find out?

[Skoosh]

Plummiegirl, this is Y DNA, and its really for guys, its most useful in a clan or single name project, particulaarly where documentary evidence is scarce. I think in the future everybody's DNA will be known. I don't have a problem with that, it would clear up a load of crime for example, plus the medical benefits.  Edward the Confessor never had any descendants, the Saxon Princess Margaret  fled to Scotland and married Malcolm Canmore, giving the Scottish Kings their claim to be rightful Kings of England. The Normans disposed of the entire Saxon landowning class, what happened to them? and enslaved the population. How English are the English, are they largely Celtic in origin as has been suggested! A recent study on Skye could find no Norse Y DNA, a bit of a shock considering many of the placenames are Norse and the Macleod's claim Norse descent. Plenty of Norse blood in the Outer Hebrides and Northern Isles yet Skye genes are Celtic! This is technology which former historians/genealogists could only dream about.  Yes only your g't grannie knew who your g't g'father was, but this stuff can find her out! Once you join a programme you are constantly notified of matches where-ever! Unlocking the human genome is possibly the greatest discovery of modern times.

[Plummiegirl]

Skoosh - Yes I know the original thread was about the Y male chromosome.  I did mention at the end of my thread about needing a certain amount of male cousins for this type of testing to be worthwhile to the family historian.

Also about the Edward, here I also mentioned that  I might have had the wrong Edward, but I know from a past history programme it was stated that one of the Edwards had so many children (mainly the wrong side of the blanket) that many of us can if we try hard enough trace our family back to his offspring.

Just because I am a girl does not mean I do not understand the different between male & female DNA!!

[Redroger]

I believe our common royal ancestor to be Edward I, and also recall seeing many years ago that every English person of 4 generations standing is related to him. If this is true, the father of the nation indeed.

[Plummiegirl]

Thankyou RedRoger, I knew I was not going mad!!  (Well OH would not agree with that statement)

[Brant81uk]

Only thing English about me is my Birth Certificate. I would hate to think i came from Royal blood they make my skin crawl!!!

[coombs]

The generations multiply as we go back. 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, 16 great great grandparents. We have 1024 8 xgreat grandparents. Not forgetting their siblings so we all may end up being distantly related to one another.

[falcybe]

We have 1024 8 xgreat grandparents...so we all may end up being distantly related to one another.

Hello coombs, impeccable maths but their ain't enough people. 
Say for argument's sake that England has a population of 50 million today, your 1024 gggggggg's land us with a population about 200 yrs ago of 51 thousand million!!! Now the population of England and Wales in 1800 was estimated at 8.9 million or nearly 6000 X fewer people than that. So there is no doubt about it, we are all definitely related to one another.
Just as a case in point, if you look at msallen's web site (see this thread, p1) you will find that one of his 5xg's is also his 6xg following the other line back (father/mother). My sister has already told me that I am my own cousin, several times over 

[coombs]

If there were full enough records for the time and going back centuries instead of mainly post 1600s we could find that someone born in 1700 in Durham could be related to someone born in 1700 in Sussex. They could be cousins 20 generations removed.