Links Family History Blog

Family Line Founder Series. This ancestor profile continues a series of posts about my family's first Canadians. I feel that remembering my family's founding members recognizes and honours their courage in leaving behind all that was familiar - family, friends, homeland - for the dream of a new and better life in a wild and sometimes harsh New World. William Hornsby Hutchinson (1824-1907) Today, I wish to remember William Hornsby Hutchinson, my 3rd great-grandfather and Hutchinson family founder in Canada. William was born on 15 June 1824 in the North East of England, in the tiny village of Heighington in Durham County (see  Figure 1  below).  Figure 1: County Durham in England's North East Region. Located in the rich farmland of southeastern Durham County, Heighington village was - and still is - a farming community. In ancient times, what is now Durham County formed part of the northern border between Scotland and Roman Britain. During William's time, the county wa...

23andMe: The Difference Is In The Details. The way 23andMe categorized my DNA led to some fascinating genealogy research insights. While Ancestry.ca is where my public family tree resides, to which I have linked my AncestryDNA test results (see  Links  blog page,  The Inside (DNA) ), I have also done a DNA test with the company 23andMe, and their breakdown of my results was compellingly different. Figure 1 below shows my DNA composition according to 23andMe.  Figure 1: My 23andMe DNA Test Results The results also showed that I have a 0.2% trace of Cypriot DNA, and 0.1% "Unassigned" DNA, for a total of 100%. 23andMe: Genetic Groups. Focusing on my 80.2% "British & Irish" results, I discovered that the way 23andMe broke down these results was surprisingly well-aligned with what I knew from genealogy research about my family's British origins. (For a summary of my known British origins see  Links  blog page,  The British Side .) Since I know the most ...