would DNA testing help?

[scottishlad]

Long story short I’ve hit a roadblock in my genealogy search. I can’t get passed my 5x great grandfather. Primarily because he died pre 1855 in Scotland and I don’t know the names of his parents.

My thought is if I did Ancestry DNA, I may be able to discover a sibling of his who died post 1855 and thus learn the names of his parents and be able to continue going. Is that how Ancestry DNA works? Will it show/hint me other people on Ancestry that may be related to me?

Because if it were to say here’s a so and so person born this date in this place and you’re a 99% match, then I’d basically be able to say that’s probably a sibling to my person.

Anybody have any experience or success with this? I’m just not entirely sure how helpful it will be in finding matches as opposed to just learning generally about where I come from.

Thanks!

[melba_schmelba]

Long story short I’ve hit a roadblock in my genealogy search. I can’t get passed my 5x great grandfather. Primarily because he died pre 1855 in Scotland and I don’t know the names of his parents.

My thought is if I did Ancestry DNA, I may be able to discover a sibling of his who died post 1855 and thus learn the names of his parents and be able to continue going. Is that how Ancestry DNA works? Will it show/hint me other people on Ancestry that may be related to me?

Because if it were to say here’s a so and so person born this date in this place and you’re a 99% match, then I’d basically be able to say that’s probably a sibling to my person.

Anybody have any experience or success with this? I’m just not entirely sure how helpful it will be in finding matches as opposed to just learning generally about where I come from.

Thanks!

With the test, you get an ethnicity component - i.e. it will give you a list and a map indicating your predicted ancestral ethnic makeup by %s, and some historical background about each country, region or ethnic group. You also get matches, for people from the British Isles, probably between 10000-20000, or, if you were an American, probably more, as they are the largest component of the Ancestry DNA database. People of an ethnic group with significant genetic homogeneity like Ashkenazi Jews, Amish, small island populations may also get more matches.
   Your matches are sorted by the amount of cM they share with you, if you want the easy explanation, the more cM, the closer that person is related to you, if you want the complicated one, see here
https://isogg.org/wiki/CentiMorgan

you may also find these useful
https://dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4
https://isogg.org/wiki/Cousin_statistics

A 5x great grandfather is quite distant. You would inherit on average only 0.78% of your DNA from that person, but it is also possible at that point, you can inherit no DNA at all. However, you might inherit a bit more. Or your other relatives, particularly ones in older generations, may have inherited more, so it would be a good idea to test other people.
  Ancestry has the ability to seach your matches for surnames in their display or username, or in their family trees, if they link them to their DNA test, so you could find matches with some people of that surname that way. If they don't link their trees, you can browse and search their trees manually for a possible link.

[Ruskie]

DNA testing won’t give you any guaranteed names for a distant ancestor. It is most useful when used in conjunction with a detailed paper trail family tree, including all side shoots.

Surnames are not guaranteed to match with yours as matches can come via the female lines, who changed take their husband’s surname when they marry.

DNA testing can be very useful so it is well worth taking a test. You don’t know where it might lead.

Regarding your 5x great grandfather …. Do you have him in the 1841 or 51 census and if so do either give his place of birth? Have you found his marriage? Depending on his name, if not common, you may be able to narrow down a possible birth/baptism of him and siblings? Are there any clues in the naming patterns of his own children?

[scottishlad]

DNA testing won’t give you any guaranteed names for a distant ancestor. It is most useful when used in conjunction with a detailed paper trail family tree, including all side shoots.

Surnames are not guaranteed to match with yours as matches can come via the female lines, who changed take their husband’s surname when they marry.

DNA testing can be very useful so it is well worth taking a test. You don’t know where it might lead.

Regarding your 5x great grandfather …. Do you have him in the 1841 or 51 census and if so do either give his place of birth? Have you found his marriage? Depending on his name, if not common, you may be able to narrow down a possible birth/baptism of him and siblings? Are there any clues in the naming patterns of his own children?

Can’t find 1841 census. Part of the problem is his wife went by 3 different names. Presumably he died between 1845 and 1851 as he’s listed as a witness on an 1845 birth certificate for a grandchild, but his wife is a widow on 1851 census. Can’t find marriage certificate - wife born in Ireland, perhaps married there? I don’t know. I’m 99.9% sure what his father’s name COULD be because my family only ever used 7 male names.

My thought was he must have had a sibling or two who lived past 1855 and if so their parents should be listed on death certificate. However it would be mostly a guess to say that person is my 5x great grandfathers sibling. I’d mostly be doing it based on trade and if the name of the father is one of the family names. Location not as helpful as the family was itinerate.

[scottishlad]

Long story short I’ve hit a roadblock in my genealogy search. I can’t get passed my 5x great grandfather. Primarily because he died pre 1855 in Scotland and I don’t know the names of his parents.

My thought is if I did Ancestry DNA, I may be able to discover a sibling of his who died post 1855 and thus learn the names of his parents and be able to continue going. Is that how Ancestry DNA works? Will it show/hint me other people on Ancestry that may be related to me?

Because if it were to say here’s a so and so person born this date in this place and you’re a 99% match, then I’d basically be able to say that’s probably a sibling to my person.

Anybody have any experience or success with this? I’m just not entirely sure how helpful it will be in finding matches as opposed to just learning generally about where I come from.

Thanks!

With the test, you get an ethnicity component - i.e. it will give you a list and a map indicating your predicted ancestral ethnic makeup by %s, and some historical background about each country, region or ethnic group. You also get matches, for people from the British Isles, probably between 10000-20000, or, if you were an American, probably more, as they are the largest component of the Ancestry DNA database. People of an ethnic group with significant genetic homogeneity like Ashkenazi Jews, Amish, small island populations may also get more matches.
   Your matches are sorted by the amount of cM they share with you, if you want the easy explanation, the more cM, the closer that person is related to you, if you want the complicated one, see here
https://isogg.org/wiki/CentiMorgan

you may also find these useful
https://dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4
https://isogg.org/wiki/Cousin_statistics

A 5x great grandfather is quite distant. You would inherit on average only 0.78% of your DNA from that person, but it is also possible at that point, you can inherit no DNA at all. However, you might inherit a bit more. Or your other relatives, particularly ones in older generations, may have inherited more, so it would be a good idea to test other people.
  Ancestry has the ability to seach your matches for surnames in their display or username, or in their family trees, if they link them to their DNA test, so you could find matches with some people of that surname that way. If they don't link their trees, you can browse and search their trees manually for a possible link.

Thank you I will look into this!

[melba_schmelba]

Thank you I will look into this!

If you have a grandparent, great uncle or aunt, or anyone in that generation still alive descended from that person you are interested in, that would be more likely to be useful. And if you can test, say two second cousins, their shared matches may point to the links in question you are specifically interested in. Closer cousins would have more shared ancestry and it might be more difficult to decipher, but it can be done by a process of elimination of lines of common descent you are sure about.