If you have British or Irish roots, you will be excited to learn that there is a new DNA testing and family research partnership between Living DNA and Find My Past. Living DNA, a UK-based company, has been involved in DNA testing and research for about fourteen years. By partnering with Find My Past, they are combining the best British/Irish DNA testing with the best British/Irish family records website – and this is great news for those of us with ancestry in the region. In this post, I’ll discuss the advantages of testing with Living DNA, and what you might be able to learn via this new partnership.
In this post, you’ll learn:
- About the benefits of testing with Living DNA
- Why Find My Past is the best place to find records pertaining to British and Irish ancestry
- How this partnership might be able to help you break brick walls and isolate the part of Britain your ancestors came from
What’s great about Living DNA?
Most people are familiar with Ancestry DNA, Family Tree DNA, and 23 and Me, but did you know there is a relatively new name in the American DNA testing market? Living DNA has extensive experience with DNA testing in the UK, but has only recently begun to offer their testing kits in the United States. This is a huge opportunity for people with British or Irish ancestry because Living DNA has been able to develop one of the most detailed reference panels for the Britain and Ireland, and has discovered 21 distinct ethnic regions within the larger geographic area.
Even more exciting (to me!) than the detailed analysis of exactly where in Britain our ancestors lived, Living DNA is rolling out family matches later this year. Everyone who does a test now will get their results updated, for free, to include family matches, also referred to as DNA matches. For people who had ancestors leave Britain in the past 3-6 generations, there is a good chance that you have not-too-distant cousins who are descended from relatives of your ancestor who never left the area. Even for people with more distant British roots, there is little doubt you will learn more about your British family from these new DNA matches.
Some other neat aspects of Living DNA:
- Included in the cost of the test are your Y DNA (males only) and mtDNA haplogroups (the “motherline” and “fatherline” groups)
- Test uses a mouth swab, instead of spit, which has a lower test failure rate
- Living DNA ships their tests internationally, which is very convenient for those of us who would like to have family members in other countries do a test
- Their international database may be helpful for finding DNA relatives in countries other than the UK, since they do ship their kits worldwide
Why Find My Past is the best place for British and Irish records
There are tons of websites offering family record research and family tree building abilities, but what makes Find My Past special is that they focus on British and Irish records. The site does have non-British/Irish records on the site, but their strong suite is their incredible database of old UK newspapers, court records, and church records, and other archives that are not available on other sites.
Using information from a site that focuses on records from the region can provide more insight into your ancestor, and make sure that you are researching the right person from the correct area. One huge problem that I see when people begin to research their overseas ancestors is that it’s easy to depend on information obtained from others’ family trees, and the information may or may not be correct. I’m excited about Find My Past making it easier for all of us to make sure that we have correct information in our trees.
The best way to take advantage of this partnership
I’m looking forward to learning more about my English, Irish, and Scottish ancestors, and the first thing that I did was order a Living DNA test. This way, my results are being processed while all of the details of the partnership are being worked out. By the time my results are ready (it can take about 10 weeks, according to their website), I am hoping to see brand-new UK DNA matches, and records matching my family tree that I have never seen before.
My first task? Figuring out where my mom’s great-great grandfather was born in Ireland.
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Conclusion
I hope that this post gave you some insight into the Living DNA/Find My Past partnership, and gave you an idea about how testing with Living DNA can be a great strategy for those of us with British ancestry. I’m very excited about all of the changes coming with this partnership, and can’t wait to hear from those of you who decide to explore this opportunity. If you have any questions about something you read in this post, please feel free to participate in the discussion below.
Thanks for stopping by!