BJNL's GENEALOGY

In an ideal world, there would be a range of evidence to think critically across, weigh up and draw intelligent conclusions from, about the lives and relationships of our ancestors and how we connect to them. However, more often than not I find myself creating and testing hypotheses on the basis of scant evidence and/or sifting my way through speculation and conjecture. My Ray family (sometimes written Rea or Rhea) is no exception. Sometimes we just need to document what we know, or think we may know, in the hope that more evidence will come along to either: Disprove what we have and move us off in a different direction; or support it so that, one way or another, we can inch our way towards solving the puzzle. This is what I have done with my Ray line. By pulling together any shred of evidence I can find, I have put together my hypothetical Ray line.  It may or may not be correct.  However, it provides a hypothetical framework around which to shape further investigation. My focus now

This post is an adaptation of a post I originally published as a blog post at  Ancestorian . The original blog post was written in response to an Ancestorian member's question. The member asked: We are having our DNA tests now, and showing up against living family members we know … HOW is that DNA test proven against ancestors 200 years ago against their DNA which we don’t have. The inquiry related to autosomal testing (At-DNA). The inquirer asked for a simple (that is, basic) answer to her question. This post, more or less, details the answer I gave; yes a little long-winded but I felt it necessarily to underpin the answer with a little background information about autosomal DNA testing. Autosomes Autosomal testing (At-DNA), as its name suggests, looks at what can be learned from the data you carry on your autosomal chromosomes. You have 22 pairs of autosomes. That is, one copy of each of the autosomal chromosomes 1-22 from each parent. You also have 1 pair of sex chromosomes

 According to an entry I saw in the Urban Dictionary, the word 'Ancestorian' is a portmanteau of ‘Ancestry’’ and ‘Historian’ and synonymous with ‘Family Historian’ and ‘Genealogist’ [1] ; a very apt name, then, for a website that aims to bring family historians together. There are a number of free online platforms that provide an opportunity for family history researchers to engage with one another. It is difficult to belong to, and fully engage with, them all. So why choose the  Ancestorian  platform? Ancestorian has huge potential for supporting people to advance their family history research through the sharing of information and collaborative effort. All it needs are members to engage with it and with one another. The website stands out as being a bit different to the other platforms. This is why when I was asked if I would join the Admin team at Ancestorian , I was happy to volunteer my time. So what does make Ancestorian different? What will you find there?  Dedicated