The results from my Y DNA test have arrived. I am disappointed. I am perplexed. I was expecting enlightenment. Instead, there is a new dimension to the mystery. I think that I have a fair understanding of the science behind autosomal DNA. (The DNA that comes from both parents.) Websites such as Gedmatch provide an…
All posts by Keith Stanley
What’s in a name?
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (Romeo and Juliet – Act 2, Scene 2) An admirable sentiment to be expressed in a love story. Not exactly much help to a genealogist. I have been looking at just a few of the variations in…
DNA ethnicity update
In August 2020, my ethnicity profile, according to Ancestry, was as follows: SE England (with Kent highlighted): 41% (range 39-43%) Ireland (with Connacht and Roscommon highlighted): 36% (range 4-39%) Scotland 21% (range 0-23%) I had serious concerns about these results at the time. I haven’t delved too deeply into the algorithm that they use. Far…
What would I have done?
As mentioned in “The Irish Pimpernel” and “A helpful suggestion” I have been unable to find Patrick in 1900 or 1901. I started to wonder what I would have done in his situation. What was that situation? His father, John, had died in 1898 when Patrick was 15. By some distance (10 years), he was…
A helpful suggestion
It is always pleasing when someone responds to a blog with a helpful suggestion. In “Irish Pimpernel” I stated that I still have no idea where Patrick was at the time of the (UK & Ireland) 1901 Census. My correspondent suggested that I look at North America. The 1900 (American) Census records the presence of…
The Irish Pimpernel
I seem to have mislaid my grandfather. He has disappeared, again. I started my search for Patrick Stanley in 2006. The lack of census returns for Ireland in 1891 was a known problem. I looked for him in both Ireland and England on the 1901 census (taken 31st March) without success. (I rechecked earlier to…
200 years ago
My great grandfather, John Stanley, was born in 1825 – probably. This date has been derived from his stated age when he married, for the second time, in 1865. His age, as recorded on his death certificate in 1898, would suggest that he was born slightly earlier, in 1823. No birth certificate survives. As with…
New year – new insight?
Was my decision to take a Y DNA test a shot in the dark? An act of desperation? Or part of a carefully considered strategy? The truth is probably somewhere between the first and the third options. It would be lovely to claim that there was a detailed plan driving my research. I am not…
Y DNA or not Y DNA?
Y DNA or not Y DNA? That is the question. With apologies to William Shakespeare. (see Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 1) Will another DNA test provide new insights? That is the hope. I took advantage of one of the many seasonal offers to purchase a Y DNA test. The more commonly used autosomal DNA test,…
More heartbreak for Patrick (2)
There is a major unanswered question. When did Leslie Dunn first meet his future wife? He married Kathleen Stanley, my aunt, in Brighton Registry Office on 12th May 1944. Their daughter was born on 23rd November, six and a half months later. She must have conceived in the middle of February 1944. This is only…