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Kit
15-01-19, 23:15
So you do a test, wait forever (I'm impatient and would want the results the day after I did the test) and you get results.

Does ancestry tell you what to do to get matches etc? What sort of online tree do you need to have?

Or do we have to work it out ourselves?

It seems very complicated to someone who is only observing others. I might get off the fence one day

kiterunner
15-01-19, 23:19
Yes, Ancestry will tell you what to do, and how to link yourself (or other test subject) to your tree. You can use your public or private tree but if you use a private tree, people who get you as a match won't be able to see the names in your tree to try to figure out how they are connected to you.

Kit
15-01-19, 23:22
How elaborate is your tree Kate? Direct line only or more further afield?

I don't have a tree online so would have to create one. So we'd need to be on the tree if it was our DNA that was tested.

kiterunner
15-01-19, 23:30
My ancestry tree is the whole tree for me and my OH with everyone on (living people's details are kept private by ancestry). When one of your matches sees you on their match list, it will just show them your direct ancestors going back up to 10 generations, and they will be able to click a button to view your tree from there. Unless you use a private tree, in which case they will just see your username and the number of people in your private tree.

Oh, also, you can use a tree which you don't link yourself to, but it makes life harder for your matches, as they have to click through more screens to view your tree and they don't know for sure which are your direct ancestors, plus your username won't come up if they search their match list for any of the surnames in your "pedigree".

Phoenix
15-01-19, 23:37
Kit, if you were my 1st cousin, and we had both had the test, Ancestry would suggest that we were 1st cousins, even if neither of us had online trees.

Ancestry wants us to put up online trees, and link them to ourselves. Most people don't, and even when they do, they make mistakes, or copy other's mistakes. So a huge, linked tree may actually be of little use.

The numbers of people who have taken the test mean that you CAN work out relationships for many people who don't have online trees (though obviously not all). Quite scary, really!

Kit
16-01-19, 05:12
Thanks for the information. It does seem scary and complex but I also think it might not be so bad if I had test results in front of me.

Kit
19-01-19, 09:20
My Dad is an only child of an only child.

Not counting me or my children, his parents or grandparents, what would be the next closest relationship? His grandparents had siblings and they had children, if that helps.

I feel I should know this but am too tired to think straight.

I'm just wondering what the closest DNA match would be, excluding any surprises.

Phoenix
19-01-19, 09:51
Second cousins would be the closest. ie great grandparents are mutual ancestors.

Kit
19-01-19, 10:00
thank you.