DNA progress - first steps

 At the end of 2023, Ancestry released their "pro-tools" in the UK.  This is an additional set of tools for family history, and for more advanced DNA research, than are available through their normal subscriptions. But it does require both a current subscription, and additional payments.  Although I was 'tempted' when it was first released, I left it for a while because that was a busy period and I knew I wouldn't have time for research. But I was then disappointed to discover, when I returned to it later, that the monthly cost had already increased from £4.99 to £7.99.  

That put paid to that!

However, a recent post on FB alerted me to the fact there was an offer on (until 20th January), and I have now been able to take out a cheaper option for six months.  I'll see how I get on with it, and how useful it proves to be, as to whether I continue to subscribe, or not.

Of course, the additional tools and information should be of help - for example, it is now possible for me to see how much DNA is shared, and the suggested relationship, between one of my matches and the matches we share.  The thresholds at which the shared matches are shown is also less restricted than it is with the standard tools.  

This will be very useful in cases where several members of a family have tested but perhaps only one or two of them share 20cM or more with me, so the more distant ones didn't previously feature in the shared match list.  This should  make it easier for grouping matches and allocating some of the more distant ones to potential ancestral lines. 

My main hesitation is how to get to grips with recording all of the additional detail.  So my next step will be to read up on some of the blog posts by other researchers, to find out how they are managing the data.

DNA Update

In my last post, I mentioned the need to focus on my own family history again.  One aspect of that is making the most of the opportunities that DNA provides in tracing more distant or 'lost' relatives.  It's been a while since I did any serious work with my DNA results so, as a start, I've updated the graph I initially posted in April 2020¹, showing the numbers of my matches who are predicted to be my "4th cousin or closer" at Ancestry:

I'm currently up to 345 matches in that category.  As can be seen, the rate of increase has slowed down since early 2020, but new matches are still coming in relatively frequently.  I check Ancestry most days and, whenever there are any new matches, the first thing I do is look to see if they have any 'shared matches' with me, since those can help with placing the new match in the correct area of my family tree.  Although the more distant new matches often show no shared matches, most of those in the "4th cousin or closer" category will match 'somebody' and so I can add a note about this to the profile I see for them.   

That's about as far as I've been going over the last few years.  

Back in 2017, I'd worked out how matches tended to group together and what that indicated.²  But everything DNA related seems to have become much more 'complicated' over recent years, what with increasing numbers of matches, changes to the company websites and the information that's now available, and also, consequently, changes to some of the tools used for managing the data.  

It might take me a while to catch up with the best methods for dealing with all these matches now, but at least the "basic principles" about DNA transmission haven't changed, so that the task doesn't feel impossible.

Updates will follow as I make progress!

Notes and Sources
1. Matches graphed in April 2020: https://notjusttheparrys.blogspot.com/2020/04/ancestry-dna-matches-passing-200-4th.html
2. The grouping of shared matches: https://notjusttheparrys.blogspot.com/2017/08/ancestry-shared-matches-and-new.html

Family Connections

I recently had the opportunity to meet up with some of my cousins, and their children, for lunch, which was lovely - so often, as we get older, it seems as if the only time we get together with our more distant relatives is at funerals! 

One of them has also been researching his family history, so it was good to chat about his progress, DNA successes, and experiences with some of the older documents we delve into.  (Although most of my own lines are only traced back into the 1700s, the research I have been doing into a local historic building has involved some documents that are written in Latin - a frustration for me, since I don't understand it!)

Although most of my cousins are not specifically interested in researching, they are now of an age where they have given up work, and have a bit more free time (theoretically!) and, for those who have members of the previous generation still alive, they are also realizing the importance of asking questions 'now', before it's too late.  

This, of course, has prompted discussions about things my parents, who are no longer with us, told me, as opposed to the versions their siblings remember. 

All of which has reminded me of the need to focus on my own family history again - the unwritten stories, the wider research possible now that record availability is so much better than it was when my parents began their research in the 1980s, the opportunities that DNA provides in tracing more distant or 'lost' relatives....  

And the need for getting all of my own research and paperwork organized, so that it is in a good state to pass on to my next generations!