Latest Blog Posts

The beauty with the DNA approach to researching one’s ancestral origin is that the DNA does not lie! The area identified in an Irish, Scottish, English or Welsh Origenes personalised DNA report can... More
Surnames evolve over both time and distance, and change usually at the whim of an administrator who simply records an unfamiliar surname as he hears it. In this manner similar sounding surnames... More
For cultural and historical reasons it can be more difficult to pinpoint one's English ancestral origin. But as more and more people test the success rate increases. I now have a 60% success rate... More
It is more challenging to pinpoint one's English Paternal Ancestral Genetic Homeland. This is mainly due to historical and cultural factors. However, one big advantage with English surnames is that... More
May 2015: Pinpointing you Kelly origins at the Kelly Clan Gathering (to be confirmed) January 17th 2015: Fermanagh Family History Society (contact fermanaghfhs@btinternet.com). October 2014: Genetic... More
For cultural and historical reasons pinpointing a paternal ancestral genetic homeland for people with English roots can be far more challenging compare to those with Irish and Scottish ancestry. For... More
Sometimes a quite remarkable Y-DNA Case Study comes along that I will try my best to get published in a Genealogical magazine. The latest one published in Family Tree Magazine details the Paterson... More
I was invited by the world’s largest commercial ancestral DNA testing Company 'Family Tree DNA' to give a talk entitled 'Pinpointing a Geographical Origin' at their 8th Annual Genetic Genealogy... More
The English Origenes is the latest website in the 'Origenes' chain (that includes Irish Origenes and Scottish Origenes) that sets out to show how one can use the results of a commercial ancestral 37... More
Today Britain (the island that includes England, Scotland and Wales) has about 1.6 million surnames, which is far in excess of the 420,000 surnames recorded in the 1881 census. In 1881 the population... More
Humans first arrived in England around 10,000 years ago after the last ice age. It is believed that their journey began in Northeast Spain in an area now known today as the Basque Country and took... More

You are here

Home

English Origenes Presentation at Family Tree DNA Conference

I was invited by the world’s largest commercial ancestral DNA testing Company 'Family Tree DNA' to give a talk entitled 'Pinpointing a Geographical Origin' at their 8th Annual Genetic Genealogy Conference in Houston, Texas (Nov. 2012). I may be biased in my opinion but I think that the talk was well received. The general impression I got was that many people simply overlook the surnames of the people with whom one shares a common male ancestor as revealed by the Y-DNA 37 test. Those surnames can pinpoint a geographical origin as they (the surnames) will have arisen among a related group of individuals living in a specific location. Given that surnames still concentrate in the area where they first appear one merely has to plot where one's surname matches occur (based on census data) and reveal a common area of association; that will be the area where one's ancestors originated. The method works remarkably well for those with Irish ancestry, Scottish ancestry, but can be that little bit trickier for those with English and Welsh ancestry. In fact in Ireland one can pinpoint an ancestral origin to within a specific townland (these are very small areas, some only a few acres in area).

I hope to have a link to the actual presentation shortly. In the meantime one can download and view the slides from the presentation (click here) which feature background information and most importantly Case Studies for those with Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and English ancestry. Since then Family Tree DNA have invited me to give a number of talks at the ‘WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE LIVE‘ event in February, in London. This event is the largest genealogical event in the World! I have some exciting new Case Studies to detail, so I hope to see you there. If you have had a Y-DNA test and would like to pinpoint an origin, and would like a FREE CONSULTATION then you can contact me here.

Irish Origenes

Scottish Origenes