23andme vs HIR search

I was interested to see if there was a connection between what were deemed as cousins on 23andme and those on HIR search. For HIR search, Decodeme data was sent. The results are as follows:
HIR search top match: no connection via 23andme 9.30GD
Match 2: yet to look up 9.00GD
Match 3: no connection 8.90
Match 4: 5th cousin 8.70
Match 5: 5th cousin 8.20
Match 6: 5th cousin 8.10
Match 7: no connection 8.00
Match 8: don't know who user is 7.70
Match 9: Top match again :S 7.60
Match 10: Yet to lookup 7.60
There is also a distant cousins at 7.10.

There are other matches higher than 7GD but I will look them up later. There are two matches to the sister and cousin of match 4 on HIR but not on 23andme. So what is going on? I can only think that because the Decodeme data contains more information, HIR is picking up what 23andme simply doesn't test. I have compared the locations of these matches on the chromosomes and where they do, they match.

What is interesting is the trends in where sharing occurs-there is a part of chromosome 1 that is very commonly shared with other users so I am discounting this as something ancient for the time being.
Also on part of chromosome 15 there is a shared segment between one person who is described as Ukrainian Jewish, one who is German and one who is partly of German descent.

A new plot!

I submitted my relatives Decodeme data to a project which plots you onto a map, just like the map of kinship at Decodeme and the global similarity at 23andme.
The person who runs the project has revealed that my relative is situated initially at first glance within the Orkney sample cluster, but when the image is viewed three dimensionally, she also appears near Poles. Similarly, she scores highly on the project genome similarity feature with Poles, Brits and Scandinavians. I think this is reflecting the fact that she is half British by placing her with Orkney samples but the fact she is drifting towards Poles, again like Decodeme, suggests to me she has Slavic ancestry too.
If you are interested in seeing where you fit on the plot, then see the site below:
http://bga101.blogspot.com/

So results from all tests so far are:
Decodeme: Matches to Britain, Ireland, Poland, Ukraine, Russia. Map of kinship: Between East/West Europe.

HIR search: Matches to Britain, Ireland, Germany, Ukrainian Jew.

23andme: Relative finder matches: Colonial American, Hungarian/Romanian (some Jewish), possible Ashkenazi Jew-Haplogroups/surname.
Ancestry finder: British, Irish, Swedish, Swiss, German, Norwegian. A Jewish match at 4GP and several at 1GP including Polish/Israeli/Romanian, Polish/Ukrainian and relative above from Hungary/Romania.
Global similarity: In English and Irish boxes, near Germans.

Eurogenes: Plot-Orkney/Polish, genome similarity: US, Polish, Irish, Swedish, Norwegian, English.

Actual ancestry: 50% British (of which most English and about 1% Irish! Could be some more Irish but hard to verify) 50% unknown American.

I can see a trend forming....

Relatives found!

Thanks to 23andme, it appears that I have some genuine US relatives afterall! I'm still in the process of contacting them (there's over 200 and when you can only contact 5 a day you can see what a lengthly process this will be!) still, there are some who have got back to me.
A 4th cousin has ancestors around the PA area, lots of colonial British and Germans and their surnames do not match surnames in my known British ancestry so we can assume the connection really is via the US, and one 5th cousin is Hungarian!!!
Even if surnames can't be shared to find a connection, the pattern of regions that my relatives ancestors came from will hopefully give me an idea as to my own ancestry on my US side.
I'm trying not to jump the gun, but I have noticed that some 5th cousins have Jewish and Middle Eastern haplogroups, although I know that these are only two lines (Y and MtDNA) out of many within someone's tree.
It seems that from these few contacts, they do seem to tie in with Decodeme's map of kinship and their genetic affinity feature.
I'm hoping to compile a list of every relative and their origins and will put it on here soon!

DNA tests to fill in gaps

DNA tests have come on in leaps and bounds over the last few years and what is especially pleasing is the introduction of autosomal tests that tell you about every side of your family tree not just direct male relatives from your father's side or direct female relatives from your mother's side.
A while back, one of my direct relatives did the full test from Decodeme and it revealed we have some Eastern European ancestry using it's Map of Kinship feature which places you on a map of the world and you compare your position to those of other nationalities.
The image above is a snapshot of the European view of the Map of Kinship. It is very hard to get a proper view of where each person (represented by their countries flag of origin) sit on the map 2 dimensionally because this map can be rotated 3 dimensionally. I added arrows to show the trend of countries. Western Europeans are in blue going south and Eastern Europeans are in red going north. The two people next to my relative in pink are Polish and Polish descent. When the image is rotated, it appears my relative is drifting towards Eastern Europeans.
To back this up they were able to compare themselves to other customers using the genetic similarity tool and their top matches were to Britain, Russia, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine!

My relative is half British half unknown US and even more exciting was discovering on the advanced genome browser that she shares a segment with two people exactly in the same place who are of Ukrainian/Polish/Hungarian Ashkenazi descent together with another person who overlaps slightly who's ancestors lived in Hungary. They themselves have had a match to Ashkenazis but didn't think they had any Jewish ancestry.

A free database now exists where you can upload your Decodeme data. HIR search compares you to other people on it's database to find relatives. After some fiddling around with it, my relatives top matches are to people of British, German, Polish, Dutch and Ashkenazi origin! Not by massive amounts-I think we are talking 5th-10th cousins-but it's just another piece of evidence of unlocking the unknown American origins!

Fascinating stuff and even more exciting is the possibility of finding relatives through DNA testing. 23andme and FamilytreeDNA now both do a family/relative finder tool that puts you in touch with potentially fairly recent relatives. Both can also be uploaded to the HIR search site. Now I just need to decide which test to go for!
http://hirs.snpology.com/

The Swift family Nottingham

Trying to find out more about the Swift family, in particular from Sneinton/St Ann's, Nottingham. The earliest ancestor I have found was born in Shepshed, Leicestershire, and moved to Nottingham. Have some information that I'm willing to share.
Would love to hear from any current Swifts who have ancestors from the areas mentioned above to find out more about the family, especially if they remember a Harold Swift, as I'm trying to find out about his time before and after WW1. He also told his nursing home carers that he was related to boxer, Wally Swift and would teach his Grandchildren (not Wally's!) to spa, so would love to know whether there is some truth in this.
Leave a message or email
ukusaroots-swifts/at/yahoo/dot/co/dot/uk

Elliot family St Mary's parish Nottingham

I am searching for information about an ancestor of mine, John Elliot who married Elizabeth and had 2 children-Elizabeth in 1700 and Joshua in 1705 in St Mary's parish Nottingham. John's descendants worked as Framework knitters until about 1850.
I can't find anything else about John and Elizabeth, so if you are also a descendant or can help, please get in touch!

Elliott ancestors and a famous person!

I have a famous ancestor. Well he was interviewed and now appears on Google books. To me that's famous! He was a successfull Framework knitter and trained John Heathcote-"Who?!" I hear you cry, well he invented a bobbin lace machine. Very handy in 1809.
Anyway, it seems that Leonard's brother, Joshua (named after their Grandfather), was a trustee for Nottingham entrepaneur, George Africanus, who came from Sierra Lione as a slave and managed to buy his freedom and became very successfull in Nottingham.
On the BBC Nottingham website it says:
"Just after his marriage George and Esther founded the Africanus' Register of Servants, an employment agency which remained a family business for more than 70 years.

George Africanus was also involved in Watch and Ward, a sort of police force responsible for preventing civil disturbances.

In 1829 he became a "freeholder", owning his own family home as well as business premises and accommodation he rented out."

It is these business premises that Joshua was trustee of.

Perhaps to the readers of this, it is no big deal. But to me I am very proud of Leonard and Joshua for their achievements and in Joshua's case for being clearly a person of support and trust to George, I can only think that Leonard was a similar person and will be looking into this family in more detail!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/content/articles/2007/02/08/george_africanus_dedication_feature.shtml