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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2007-10 > 1192217368


From:
Subject: Re: [DNA] DNA Testing in the UK
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:29:28 EDT


DAVID: Marianne: The short answer to your question is because they know
where they come from. A so - called "brick wall" to them may be 1650 in
Sterlingshire Scotland. There is not the same problem of being unable to hop the
pond - they are already there.

LINDSEY: I agree with you, and although most of my lines go back at least to
the 17th century (somewhere in Virginia), I continue to think of my
research as incomplete until I've traced them back to their county of origin in
England--which I can do for only a few of them--and the same is true for most of
us who descend from early VA. I gather the situation is often different in
NE, where town records have not been lost in wars and fires.

DAVID: Finally, those in the UK sometimes would prefer to deal with a
company there. Again, I don't know how big a factor this is, but it is not
insignificant. Hence, international companies would do well to have an office in
the UK even though all speak English.

LINDSEY: I've wondered about this too. It doesn't help matters that OA is
the only company in the business still selling only low resolution tests at an
absurdly high price, and DNA Heritage, which was recommended to me several
years ago by a Canadian cousin of an English cousin, doesn't have much of a
following. Large numbers of large, successful projects attract new customers.
FTDNA has that, RG and DNAH never have--I hope that Ancestry's entry into
DNA testing will eventually encourage more participation from the British
Isles.

DAVID: What about those from the UK do test? Well, frankly, and I have
said this before to a less than warm reception - someone in Yorkshire could care
less if he has a match to someone in Tupelo, Mississippi - unless perhaps it
is the same surname. When I said that before I received e-mails from
individuals who noted that this too had been their experience. Realistically why
should they care?

LINDSEY: Why indeed? I don't care unless such a match sheds light on my
ancestry and I wouldn't expect others to care either, but I would expect at
least some English people to be excited about the possibility of discovering
American cousins.









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