My English Genealogy & DNA

02/01/2026

A couple of additional discoveries following on from Ann being proven at 6xGGM. It turns out that her sister, Sarah HORN married a Jeremiah , who seems to be a 2nd cousin of Thomas (through Thomas & Susannah).

Having cousins extend their trees with the new BOWLES info has provide a tantalizing new connection (very small though) from cousin Sarah through Sarah & Ann HORN's brother William. I am waiting for the data to be shared which may prove this one way or another, i.e. push our DNA trail back another generation to 7x great William HORN & Mary LYON. That will be a result!

30/12/2025

30/12/2025

Breakthrough on the family of , Kent,

The BOWLES speculation has been running for 46 years, ever since I found out my 3xGGF Jeremiah married Mary Ann in 1836. We knew BOWLES was a common name so working out her ancestry was always going to be a problem. She was an only child and therefore any genetic expression inherited by GRACE descendants would be the only DNA on our side of the family tree available to match others.

Thanks to the collaborators in the family project who have DNA tested and shared their results, I have now successfully crossmatched 11 GRACE descendants with 10 BOWLES descendants in New Zealand. One segment on chromosome 5 seems to be a more common “family” marker and two others have been identified.

Thanks to the cousins giving me access to their match lists on , I was looking for clues way down in the low end of their lists. Any genetic connection was likely to be small. I was fortunate to notice a match with a distinctive pseudonym in several of the lists who had NZ BOWLES ancestry. Further investigation found a trail through other trees that lead back to in Kent, the same area our family came from. It was possible to use available records to connect both sides of the trees at a place commensurate with the degree of match, at my 6xGGPs; pushing back our BOWLES line by 3 generations. The genetically supported BOWLES family tree is shown in the image. It was John Jones BOWLES who settled in New Zealand. Matches in NZ are 5C2R, 6C1R & 7th cousins, depending on who matches whom.

I have several enquiries pending on Ancestry & which appear to be additional segments. I will post shortly the apparent paper trail back to Elizabethan times in St Margaret’s at Cliffe, near .

Happy New Year!

25/12/2025

12/12/2025

I recently ended my one month (now annual) sub to Pro Tools. I found that one month was more than enough and did not get much out of it, again. I did make a few unconnected rump trees of connected matches, but it was obvious the connection to me was not going to be found in near times. I am wondering if many who do not do research in a professional or serious amateur capacity get any more out of it, except minus €10 a month from their bank accounts? I can't image they make much money out of it except from those who forget to cancel their sub.

It'll be a year before I will sub again, or hope to see the chromosome browser we really need to make serious headway with the enormity of their database. It all remains locked up unless you can get a reply to messages and a willingness to GEDmatch. The free sharing to is, sadly, no longer available.

I did note today, an improvement in their match listing. I have always bemoaned the facts that the match listing was poor to non-existent below a certain level of shared cM, which missed known cousins. They are now showing shared matches into the single digits which will help find connections to those you have already connected. Baby steps towards being the complete package.

03/12/2025

The latest update is completed (pp. 113). I shall be issuing it to participating DNA-matched cousins this week, based on email list. Remember, if you are entitled to a copy and don't get an email, please let me know.

01/12/2025

I am a unicorn!

This is a term used by (FTDNA) in the Y-DNA analysis (male line) for people like me who represent either a rare or under-sampled male genetic line.

As you can see on the image (I am at the top, and my 3rd cousin inferred as the same through a less detailed test), our nearest male connection goes back to the Bronze Age. The result is a direct line, or single 'unicorn' spike. Other people we very distantly relate to in the chart appear in genetic branches more resembling deer antlers.

My Y-DNA has been on this database for over 20 years, so I am not sure whether our line is rare, but certainly under-sampled.

The chart does now show our connection to the mediaeval burial uncovered beneath St. John's College in Cambridge (St. John 78), who I have posted a picture of in my Jeremiah Grace DNA blog.

Not shown on this chart, now that Tutankhamun's DNA has been added to the historical database, is that the male GRACEs share a common male ancestor at around 17,000 BCE. That's nice to know. 🧬

29/11/2025

While there will be no End of Year Report this year for this blog, I have issued my EOYR for my family. Available on https://www.facebook.com/FamilyofJeremiahGrace/

Research blog for the origins and associated families of Jeremiah Grace (c1812) of Essex, England. Client services available.

27/11/2025

https://blog.myheritage.com/2025/10/myheritage-upgrades-its-dna-tests-to-whole-genome-sequencing/
This for new testers only.

The MyHeritage DNA test has been upgraded to use Whole Genome Sequencing, the most comprehensive method for reading DNA available today.

23/11/2025

My interest in the family in Australia continues. Yesterday, I was delighted that DNA matching gave me yet another hereto unknown side branch from Emma BURTON (1874), d/o of settler William Daniel BURTON. Yet another DNA-proven 5th cousin & 5th cousin once removed!

The BURTONs continue to provide complex trees due to illegitimacies and adoptions, so most of what you find on Ancestry & Geneanet does not reflect reality. If you are a BURTON or descendant with origins in NSW and struggle to explain your DNA matches just DM me. It is possible I already have the answer.

For those who are interested, William is named after his father and the husband of his aunt F***y, my 3x great grandfather Daniel or .

Happy hunting.

12/11/2025

Pre-holiday offers if you want to test with Ancestry