dna testing

[Poodlebell]

Hi
thank you all for your help, I have now read up a bit and find that it depends on the site you are on, and how many people they have to compare with, I really thought my DNA wherever it went was going to be just me and not a compared DNA with others.  So think its right to say with a pinch of salt.

I have a poodle and my name is Bell so it made sense to me!!!
Poodlebell

[Maiden Stone]

Poodlebell, I notice you have traveller ancestry. Maybe your forebears travelled farther than you imagined. 

[Poodlebell]

Made me laugh, could be but I got back to only 1795 and its all Essex
Poodlebell

[Maiden Stone]

Just a theory on the African bit, again from British history. Soldiers in the Roman Legions, some of which occupied Britain for 300 years came from all over the Roman Empire including Africa. Military service lasted for decades. Many soldiers would have had relationships with local women. A Legionary could be granted land when he retired from long service. Some chose to settle in the country where they'd spent most of their adult life.
 Britain had foreign trade links throughout this period so lots of comings and goings.
You should be able to find information about African presence in Britain during the past 2000 years.

[Maiden Stone]

Made me laugh, could be but I got back to only 1795 and its all Essex
Poodlebell

Several maternal and one paternal line of my mother's ancestry came from the same region of Lancashire. I know the paternal line and one maternal line were there in mid 1500s and remained until early 1800s. According to legend some Vikings fleeing Ireland after defeat in the Battle of Clontarf settled there. Surname of 2 of those maternal lines is Moon, one of the commonest names in their parish. It's supposedly derived from de Mohun, Norman French, so yet more Vikings. All these maternal lines often married cousins or people with the same surname.

A lot of place-names are of Norse origin. Many words in the English language are derived from Old Norse.