ETHNICITY & DNA
This is an exciting aspect. But it is one that I am taking with a pinch of salt. It is not that such tests are dubious as such, but a swab sent to a lab has the accuracy of the lab in question, the depth of study at the time and the range of similar people searching for genealogical links through similar means and who have registered therir results through a common data base.
DNA tests results as provided by MyHeritage and others look for matches between known people. While research institutions do studies of how this stretches back in time into history and publish theoretical extrapolations from them, this is not really what DNA results are aiming at within geneaology websites.
But as a complete amateur in all this, it is nevertheless tantalising to see historical tendencies and therefore origins.
Actually I do trust the immediate linkages and those less direct are noted upfront. I have already been in contact with some people, perhaps you, through the websites using these results and with interesting discussions. Where I am disappointed is in tendencies as shown on the diagrammatic DNA maps below as these give us the nearest indications of even earlier ancestry. Perhaps this disappointment is to satisfy a romantic side of mine of my approach to genealogy, but it also ties us into broader history.
I first did the DNA test through Ancestry.com and recently merged that with MyHeritage. The list of known and likely distant cousins shows a degree of authenticity that is satisfying, but I think some links a bit tenuous.
For more on the accuracy of MyHeritage DNA matches see here : https://faq.myheritage.com/en/article/how-accurate-are-dna-matches
Ethnicity
Over the years the DNA tests have been revised and produced more detailed results. I have already been in contact with 2nd and 3rd cousins through this. (There are further levels). Of course such results and accuracy are only from those who participate - so get involved.
The diagrams for ethnic origin have become a bit clearer, yet also confusing. This seemingly contradictory situation is due to the diagrams being based on ever more data and that including the diaspora of both ancestral migration and that into modern times. So much must to be discovered in the future as more people do DNA tests and the data is reviewed with that and with increasingly sophisticated means. The indications so far though are tantalising.
DNA results inspire a bit of romantic interpretation. The above diagram hints strongly at Scandinavian eg Viking blood. But as more detail comes with improved interpretation techniques, that can be much modified, perhaps disapointingly. Compare that above with that below, which became available in 2019. Some aspects start to look very different.
The improved information has included connections to 2nd and 3rd cousins (only those who have also done the DNA test through ancestry.com) and contact with some of them have provided invaluable new stories.
Now that I have had the results from the merging of the Ancetry.com and MyHeritage DNA data, I see some variations and this raises doubts, questions and new angles of interests. The 3rd diagram, this one from MyHeritage (as merged from Ancestry.com), is below.
The summary that came with this one is as follows:
Europe 99.1%
North and West Europe 98.3%
English 64.6%
Irish, Scottish, and Welsh 32.4%
Finnish 1.3%
South Europe 0.8%
Greek and South Italian 0.8%
Middle East 0.9%
Middle East 0.9%
Middle Eastern 0.9%
​Trying to compare this to history
One can only guess at where each comes into the family tree, but early British/Irish history gives some clues.
Scandinavians permeated much of this area in the 1st millenium. We like to think of them all as violent "vikings", but this is not necessarilly always the case. The DNA diagram confusingly shows a bit of Finnish. To be clear, this is not Viking territory.
The ancient peoples of the British Isles, such as Picts and Britons, had been permeated by 3 further peoples. While the Roman period would have left some influences across Britain (England, Wales & Scotland), this was not one of them of any long term genealogical consequence. Instead our islands and its peoples were permeated by the Anglo Saxons, Vikings and Normans. What of any of this created our ancestry.
Note the drift of the diagramatic indications from Scandinavia proper eastwards to northern Sweden and Finland - not core viking lands. I don't see why there is this change across the course of updated and extended DNA interpretation, but a DNA specialist should be able to explain it.
Keep in mind that these diagrams are of current DNA spread and not historical. Modern people move about a lot. It is surprising how cohesive the indications are to areas in spite of this. But these diagrams do raise some historical questions.
The Anglo Saxon angle. Does this define the English origins?
While we are definitely Anglo Saxon centred as a nation now, it is important to know what that means before considering other influences. The diagram below is an extract from that above (with the other ethnicities switched off) What does it mean to be "English"? Even within Britain and Ireland, it is not that simple. To understand this at a broader level we need to look at where the Angles, Saxons and Jutes came from and to this end I highly recommend this book by Jean Manco : The Origins of the Anglo-Saxons - Decoding the Ancestry of the English. This blends results from cutting edge DNA technology with that of archaeology and linguistics. (Thames and Hudson. 2018).
This diagram is of my "English" DNA component - 64.6%.
The Viking era
What we broadly and often inaccurately consider "Vikings" actually comprised Danes, Norwegians and to a lesser extent, Swedes. The extent and completeness of incursions into Ireland and England is today under appreciated. Wales and most of Scotland, perhaps because of its terrain, were less dominated by the Viking. Ireland, Dublin in particular, was for a long period essentially Viking country; the population melting into Hiberno-Norse. A great deal of England later became the Danelaw. Yet this doesn't get reflected in my DNA map. I don't appear to have any Viking ancestry.
The Norman Conquest
"Norse" or "Norman" simply implies being from the north - in other words, Scandinavia. What we consider Normans were Francia-Norse, peoples melded from Vikings and what we otherwise think of as early French. Their invasion of England in 1066 has the strange consideration that these battles were "Norse" on "Norse". There were indeed strains of Vikings on both sides; the very reason for William the Conqueror claiming rights in England has something to do with this anomaly. I suspect that family origins in the east of Scotland may have something to do with this era as "Normans" drifted up from south eastern England, but I have no strong reason for this, just a supposition. I raise this here as some online websites suggest Norman movement when considering surname origins. Cherry is one, even though in my case it comes from Belfast.
Earlier origins
Having said all this, it seems that some of my, probably your, origins are much more of core original west "British" / "Irish" sources - any others reflecting much later geneaological influences and movements.
This diagram from MyHeritage is the same as that above, but just the Irish, Scottish, and Welsh side shown ie 32.4% of my DNA. This appears to be Brythonic / Gaelic. And if so, therein lie many other family stories tying into ancient history population movement. The diagram here is an extremely generalised view, but probably accurate enough.
There is a similarity between this spread of potential DNA origins as defined by MyHeritage and the Brythonic peoples in the 6th century.
Gaps & suspicions
I know for certain that I have strong South African / southern Africa relations and family links yet that does not appear as no one there has taken a DNA test that connects with this data. (If anyone has taken the test, perhaps there are insufficient numbers to have an impact).
Similarly I know from MyHeritage's other connectivity services and elsewhere that I have links with people in the USA and Canada and Australia.
While it appears that all my Watsons returned from Hong Kong, there seem to be quite a few Watsons there. Are any of those of similar origin?
The Finnish and eastern Sweden indications on the DNA map are surprising. While I do now have direct Finland family connections, this is through a daughter's marriage and not by DNA. I am unaware of any of my Watson and Kedslies who emigrated to Poland then moving elsewhere other than back to Britain once the Russians had intervened - but just perhaps some moved in that direction.
So many loose ends!
The indications in the DNA diagrams of connections with the Levant are somewhat of a mystery. The connectivities appear to be worldwide with much from the USA.
