Thursday, May 9, 2019

Phasing grandparents updated

In between renovations and gardening, I have updated the phasing of my grandparents using my results and my four siblings plus two dozen cousins in different lines who have tested their autosomal DNA and I have been able to connect us. Of all my matches on Ancestry only a couple have taken their results to FT DNA, My Heritage or Gedmatch. Knowing the chromosomes there would be quite interesting as I have counting myself and my three siblings who have tested there altogether we have 31 distinct Ancestry Hints leading us back to our Most Recent Common Ancestor. Having that material would make my mother's matches most interesting as the matches tend to be on her side.

I started publishing newsletters on my studies, the first commenced at the beginning of 2012 with Blake and I am now into Volume 8 and the next issue (due 1st of July) will be the third for the year. The second commenced 1st of November 2015 with Pincombe-Pinkham and I an mow into Volume 4 with the next issue due the 1st of June and it will be third for this volume. The third commenced 1st of February 2017. I published Issue 2 on the 1st of May. Access is on the FT DNA website as there are DNA studies for both of these surname studies and the final newsletter is for the H11 haplogroup.

As I come closer to 74 years of age, I am very conscious of the passing years with regard to the research which I have done thus far and my plans for the future. I have narrowed down these days. I no longer do any public speaking. It is time consuming and there are younger people desirous of doing so. The world has expanded in DNA very quickly and I am very happy to see that.

I have been a fence sitter with regard to yDNA. There are studies for both of the surnames which I am studying. I generally refrain from making any particular claims with regard to these studies. I firmly believe in the use of yDNA but I hesitate to make claims with regard to the line that a particular group might belong to although we have been successful in both studies with creating an interesting table of results.

Autosomal DNA continues, as it has for the last nearly ten years, to dominate because we all have autosomal DNA to compare with our potential cousins. But the problem still persists of how to display such results without reducing people's privacy and as a result I seldom talk about DNA in the projects which is somewhat regrettable.

In my Blake line we still await a matched yDNA result with a known Blake descendant (or unknown) for that matter. The haplogroup to which we belong is an ancient one to the British Isles so I know that at some point before the early 1300s when I first find mention of a Blake living in the area in which my family lived for hundreds of years with my likely furtherest back Blake being a Robert Bla[y]ke who left his will whilst living at Knights Enham dated 1521. He was quite elderly and his son Richard Blake left his will in 1522 and his children were adults. Unfortunately the will of Robert's wife Maud (Snell) Bla[y]ke appears to be lost as she may have mentioned her grandchildren with more detail (likely 1525). Although I found a reference to this will a number of years ago when I was very new to Genealogy in 2003 I have not been able to locate it again. Was it in a document that I read or was it online somewhere? The memory persists but the actual location is lost to me which I why I blog. But as well I now keep a detailed journal of my daily activities.

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