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General => Ancestral Family Tree DNA Testing => Topic started by: Jill Eaton on Sunday 23 July 17 11:07 BST (UK)
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Apologies if this has been raised before :(
I had my DNA test done to help (hopefully) solve some of the roads that research and paper trails couldn't solve.
But has anyone else found it incredibly frustrating when a potential DNA relationship has been flagged up but the person hasn't supplied a Family Tree?
Yes, the website suggests you invite them but to do so, and some have Trees that are private (fair enough. At least they have one and can share information should they chose to) but surely most people would upload a tree if they were actually looking for a match?
I'm unsure why these people have paid for a Ancestral DNA test with no apparent desire to discover their ancestry?
I understand some might be working on theirs and with time one will appear I suspect some never post one
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Hi,
Yes, I agree with you.
I have sent messages to tree owners both Public and Private and they don't bother replying.
I usually send another asking why did they bother having a tree.
Maggsie
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Hello
I find it frustrating too. The unanswered emails especially drive me to distraction ??? Blimey especially when it says they have been on their account..whats that about..ggrrr >:( >:( >:(
I have found doing a couple of things helps me discover who they are..even though it says no tree, I look and they usually have put a couple of names in to start off their test. Then with that information I will build a tree for them on my account. I just make it private, so no one can access it. Then build as much info as I can.. think they are called mirror trees. I have even done a tree and then attached my dna to it..leave it a day or two and it sometimes comes up with a shaky leaf!
The other thing that I find invaluable is uploading my raw dna to gedmatch.com That shows all your matches from all the other companies too..well providing they have uploaded theirs. You can do all good stuff on it by putting in your number and someone elses, you can see who else matches you..also what generation they match you on. Sure beats going through a big tree trying to work out your most recent common ancestor.
Good luck with it ..I get exactly what you mean :)
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Hello
I find it frustrating too. The unanswered emails especially drive me to distraction ??? Blimey especially when it says they have been on their account..whats that about..ggrrr >:( >:( >:(
I have found doing a couple of things helps me discover who they are..even though it says no tree, I look and they usually have put a couple of names in to start off their test. Then with that information I will build a tree for them on my account. I just make it private, so no one can access it. Then build as much info as I can.. think they are called mirror trees. I have even done a tree and then attached my dna to it..leave it a day or two and it sometimes comes up with a shaky leaf!
The other thing that I find invaluable is uploading my raw dna to gedmatch.com That shows all your matches from all the other companies too..well providing they have uploaded theirs. You can do all good stuff on it by putting in your number and someone elses, you can see who else matches you..also what generation they match you on. Sure beats going through a big tree trying to work out your most recent common ancestor.
Good luck with it ..I get exactly what you mean :)
That sounds like really useful advice, especially the Gedmatch suggestion.
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Yes if you go to right of dna on top line of ancestry page is settings..under there download raw dna..click on that..you get an email within a couple of minutes..agree..click on download raw dna again..file is downloaded as a zip file..dont open it!
Go to gedmatch.com, open a free account..follow your dna company instructions how to upload.
you will get a number..keep it safe!
Wait 24 hours..log back in to gedmatch.com with your number..look on right hand side of the page..says one to many..click on that ..voila! there are all your matches in the highest order you match in..Brilliant, I love it!! ;D
If you go back to the main page there is a tutorial to show you all the other good stuff it does too.
Good Luck with it ;) :-*
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Yes if you go to right of dna on top line of ancestry page is settings..under there download raw dna..click on that..you get an email within a couple of minutes..agree..click on download raw dna again..file is downloaded as a zip file..dont open it!
Go to gedmatch.com, open a free account..follow your dna company instructions how to upload.
you will get a number..keep it safe!
Wait 24 hours..log back in to gedmatch.com with your number..look on right hand side of the page..says one to many..click on that ..voila! there are all your matches in the highest order you match in..Brilliant, I love it!! ;D
If you go back to the main page there is a tutorial to show you all the other good stuff it does too.
Good Luck with it ;) :-*
Just uploaded my RawDNA. Have my identification number all ready...
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Great, think you can use some features straight away..Compare one to one..I'm A646960..
Also are my parents related..
Once you get used to it,and want to do more stuff buy a tier1 membership 10$ a month you can cancel/reapply anytime.
I know they don't recommend it, but if I think some one maybe a match I will reduce the cm thing at start to 3 it's usual place is 7..I have lots of matches that don't quite make it like 6.4cms
Have fun!
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Just uploaded my RawDNA. Have my identification number all ready...
You needn't worry about remembering your number if you remember your log-in. When you log-in your kit numbers show on the first page.
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I think though that you won't necessarily get any further on those that yu already match on Ancestry with as you can upload onto Gedmatch under an alias or indeed just a different name to the one you have used on Ancestry. You don't therefore know whether you are matching to the same person then.
Am I right on this? Of course lots of other potential matches but again not a lot of gedcom entries have an attached tree.
Pheno
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The other sites are similar in respect of lack of trees. I must admit I did a free upload to my heritage and have had several contacts. I onl got about 64 matches though , a few are American with English ancestors.
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I dont understand the significance of uploading to gedmatch under an alias..its your dna..it matches who it matches..dna cant lie.
Ftdna has alot of matches when you upload your raw dna, however with all the sites, they are only good when people upload to them. I have uploaded my tree to FTDNA too, I havent put anything but the basics on My Heritage. I have also uploaded my full tree to Gedmatch. I found a single match on Dna land
I only bought a basic subscription to Ancestry, just Uk and Ireland, never thinking that that so many people in different branches of my family have emigrated. America, New Zealand,Australia, then there are the people that come from France, Germany, Italy, Greece in my DNA matches. I havent subscribed as yet to a worldwide membership, Im relying on a kind cousins log in! and the people that upload a tree to gedmatch. The good thing is in England you can use the computer at the library for free and they have Ancestry.com world membership for free Unfortunately, we cannot access alot of the sites from here in Turkey and I have to rely on people that can access freesearch for tree info too. Still, im loving the results of my DNA test and have found many long distance cousins.
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I dont understand the significance of uploading to gedmatch under an alias..its your dna..it matches who it matches..dna cant lie.
Absolutely! Doesn't using alias' make things additionally complicated? Surely the point of these DNA match sites is to do some of the leg work for you?
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There are various reasons why people take DNA tests - not everyone is wanting to find new relatives !
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Then why not use a DNA agency to test and not a genealogical site that will generate matches and highlight your presence to people that might not other wise of known of you. ..there are plenty of other 'private' sites available.
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Then why not use a DNA agency to test and not a genealogical site that will generate matches and highlight your presence to people that might not other wise of known of you. ..there are plenty of other 'private' sites available.
Not really helpful in my opinion.
Last week we had people on here relaying the negative comments that had been posted on genealogy sites about people who do not have a publicly available tree online. Now you are telling people not to use a DNA test on a genealogical site if they do not match up to your criteria of who a worthy customer is.
What has happened, more and more people now think they "own" others DNA and family trees and can dictate what they do with them. People's DNA and family trees are their own and they can do what they want with them and others should stop trying to dictate to them in my opinion.
Genealogy use to be fun with helpful people once lets try and get back there .
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Genealogy use to be fun with helpful people once lets try and get back there . ;D ;D ;D
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This is all very helpful; thanks. I am also looking into "triangulating" my DNA for better, more accurate matches. https://isogg.org/wiki/Triangulation
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Most of my American DNA relatives ..have no trees or locked trees but have responded to my questions when I state who i think is our link
They will unlock trees
I don't know why they don't put a minimum tree up
Good luck ..unwilling try and do the best thing too tho still haven't managed to unzip the ancestry DNA
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I agree with you. Frustrating, isn't it? I'm trying to trace my mother's ancestors. She was adopted in New York City in 1925 and according to my Ancestry DNA, I'm 36% Irish, which was a big surprise. So I'm guessing the birth mother or father or both, were Irish. All the Ancestry DNA matches I have show lots of Irish ancestry and only two of them have trees. It would be great if there were more people taking the DNA test and then feel inspired to complete their tree.
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I think some of this is down to Ancestry's policy of making you open an account when dna testing is done with them. I think quite a few people take a dna test to help others out - have seen several respones about asking cousins etc to take a test to help out someone struggling with their origins. However, these people who are helping haven't necessarily got an interest in genealogy and possibly don't have any detail on their ancestors.
Hence lots of test results, which then produce matches, from people who aren't really interested in their ancestry which is absolutely fine. Its just that if you get a match with them people seem to be expecting them to have such an interest because they have taken a test.
Pheno
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Devra don't forget that Irish can indicate Welsh or Scottish too
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Don't worry about what you don't have, you should have plenty of 4th cousins with trees that you can work on. I spend all day most days checking and working my matches trees, and my own tree to find common ancestors. Look at shared matches, shared surnames, shared places. Pick the best ones and start researching. Sometimes you find the common ancestor, sometimes you have 4 weeks of work and still confused :) The fun is in the chase :D
PS AND always upload to GEDmatch
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I had an email from an ancestry DNA match today. I get so exited ( I really must get out more) when I receive one of these. I haven't had very many so far :(
The lady does indeed share ancestors in common :D
Mindful of the various comments on here, and not wishing to be a hypocrite, I responded as soon as I got home from work.
I feel very virtuous now ;D
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So glad I read this thread! I was feeling really frustrated at the number of matches where there is either no tree, linked or otherwise, names are just 'Private', there are question marks for dates and no place names are entered.
Having read the instructions I am now in the process of downloading my raw DNA so that I can check with matches elsewhere.
On the plus side I have made contact with two distant cousins who have been very friendly and helpful.
Another success has been to sort out which of two cousins with the same name and born only one year apart in the late 1600s is mine. I'd suspected the one who turned out to be right all along because of names given to children and grandchildren but now I can see a match with my man's younger brother. A real pity that match and another one haven't bothered to reply...
A big thank you to all those out there who have taken the trouble to make their trees available and Happy New Year to everyone!
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If you want to find other matches you can upload your raw DNA from ancestry to gedmatch.com, gedmatch genesis,DNA land,my heritage,and ftdna, all for free.
There are differences in the relationships though due to some sites adding up every centimorgan in common, and the likes of ancestry only add up over 6 cms. Ancestry is the most accurate apparently.
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Not sure if any of you have done the following!
You can click on their name.sometimes a tree will come up at the bottom..also when you click on their name click on the ? mark..will show you how much DNA you match.
You can also do a search matches..top right hand side and that will show you who else you match with along with that DNA person.
Yonks
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On which site can you do this Yonks Ago?
Pheno
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Sorry..on Ancestry
Yonks
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Thanks so much for that extra bit of info. It should help a lot in working out which part of the tree the match is with when no surnames in common appear or they are obviously wrong.
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yes..its a great tool..to use..
Yonks
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I've recently contacted someone with a tree whose ancestry dna is apparently a close match to mine.
According to ancestry we should probably share a gt gt grandparent.
Unfortunately, there are no matching surnames for his gt gt grandparents and mine.
The exact relationships between matches according to Ancestry can be a little wavy and the match may not be a gt gt grandparent.
I have 1 missing gt gt grandfather whose name is unknown and another supposed gt gt grandfather (name on at least one of his children's birth certificate) who doesn't appear to exist. No record on any census. No marriage record. No baptism record....and more surprisingly, apparently having exactly the same unusual surname as his "wife's" maiden name.
So that's now 2 gt gt grandfathers whose identify is either unknown or suspect.
As yet I've received no response from the person I contacted, although there could be any number of reasons for this, and patience is apparently a virtue.
I may receive no response at all. I may be opening a can of worms. That's ancestry dna for ya!
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I do sympathise as I am also experiencing the frustration of people who don't reply. Luckily not everyone is so inconsiderate. I have found that the people who do take the trouble to reply have been very friendly and happy to share.
I hope you get a response soon from the person you have contacted. As you don't have a surname to work with hopefully you can narrow down where the match is by location. As time goes by you may get some shared matches that will help.
Best of luck!
Diana
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I think the lack of trees can be down to reasons for people testing.
As someone's said, it might be because they *have* to open an account on Ancestry and haven't got a tree themselves as they're testing to help a relative.
I think also there's people who just want to find out their ethnicity, and really aren't bothered about who their 3 x gt-grandparents were!
I originally tested with FTDNA, then did a test with Ancestry when it was on special offer. I have been frustrated by the lack of trees myself, but also by people sending me emails where they blast a load of their relatives names at me and demand to know how we're related. I don't know! Look at the tree - I've supplied it for a reason.
It's especially annoying when they've looked at my tree, then try to bend the facts presented in it to fit some random theory they have. "You've got the surname [blah] in your tree, but you're wrong, it should be [blah] which is the name of my [insert distant ancestor here], because we match at [insert genetic distance here] and that's the only way it fits into my tree." Because they don't get that the genetic distance presented by the test might not actually be correct, and they don't seem to appreciate that I might have spent years researching that family in detail, through multiple kinds of document. It gets in the way of looking for matches in a sensible manner. Arrghhh!
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I've been very lucky so far. Everyone who has contacted me has been very polite except for one person. I refuse to deal with people who are rude, critical or confrontational. There isn't any need for it.
Having said that though approaching someone who is apparently a close match to you about trees with absent surnames can be a bit of a minefield.
I left off contacting my last ancestry match for some time as there is a possible conundrum. It might simply be a mistake in either of our trees.
DNA matches can obviously set free some skeletons that have been hidden for a long time. It doesn't unduly bother me because, like many of us, the paper trail has thrown up illegitimate children and mythical missing fathers.
I imagine some people wouldn't react very well if their found out their families and ancestors had secrets.
DNA matching can have potentially explosive results.
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Even if a tree is closed on ancestry
I've just found a magic button where you can search either a location or a surname or both
So you can find out how your 4th or more distant cousins may be related .
Also by look at known matches and seeing who matches them and yourself ...by a process of elimination you can sometimes work out which branch their tree is
I've still not worked out how to download to get file on my iPad
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Oooh that button sounds handy - I've often wanted to be able to search by location rather than by name.