OR MY PHANTOM DNA!
Scientists
are discovering that modern humans are probably older than they previously
thought and that they existed for millennia alongside several other species of
early man especially Neanderthals (in Europe) and Denisovans (in central Asia).
And not just alongside—we obviously interbred because we all carry small
amounts of their DNA within us (assuming we are not Africans for they did not
live in Africa).
What
else can our DNA tell us?
Over
the last decade or so it has become possible to send away a sample of saliva
and get back a readout telling you of your ethnic origins (allegedly!) I always
thought that would be an interesting thing to do but was put off by the cost.
Recently though, the cost had come down, so I treated myself. I was aware that
I might not like what I found and it might not agree with what I thought my
family background was. In that case I would have to decide whether it was the
results or my research which was wrong.
Just
a day or two ago (Mon 24 Oct 2016) there was a very interesting discussion on
just this subject on Andrew Marr’s Start the Week programme (Radio 4). It
turned out that all the participants had done the test and didn't think much of the
results. The expert on the show said that the results from this kind of service
are not worth much because the commercial firms who run them do not really
understand what they are measuring. I was pleased they said that because I do
not understand my results at all!
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| Somers Town in the early 1800s |
I
have traced my four grandparent’s families—the Castles, Hulls, Hardimans and
Paynes back over about 200 years. They are ALL simple working people from the
south of England—Kent, London and Wiltshire. There are no Scottish granddads or
Irish great Grandmas or any immigrants from Europe or elsewhere to be seen—not
even a stray Yorkshireman or Midlander! Definitely no illegitimate nobility!
I’m not proud of that, it doesn’t make me any better or worse than anyone else,
I just find it quite interesting—and surprising.
The
only possible exception to this rule is my great-great-grandma on my mother’s
father’s side.
In
1838 William Hull married a woman called Sarah. I was unable to find her maiden
name and the General Record Office were unable to find their marriage
certificate. William was a ‘zinc worker’ (whatever that is) and they lived in
the Somers Town area of London, a notorious slum which was demolished when they
built St Pancras station. The redevelopment around there became another slum
which was demolished to build the new British Library. (Shane Meadows’ film
Somers Town is set there.)
So
I was stuck; but someone researching another branch of the Hull family told me
that Sarah’s name was Shonk. ‘Unusual’ I thought. And then a friend looked at
my research, happened to open it at that page, and immediately said “That’s a
real old Jewish name!” It had not occurred to me.
 |
| William and Sarah's son Fred and his wife |
Schonk
is a Jewish name. It’s from the German Schonk or
Czech Sonk. It was obviously a common name in the East End of London at one
time as an old Jewish woman talking about Oswald Moseley and the Battle of
Cable Street on a TV documentary, described how, 100 years later, the black shirts would call out
“Shonk” as Jews went by.
It
would make perfect sense for there to be Jewish families living in 1830s Somers
Town and I wonder whether the GRO could not find the marriage certificate
because they did not get legally married. That would make sense for a
cross-cultural relationship. William died in 1878 and I believe Sarah died a
year later in St Pancras Workhouse.
So,
when my DNA results came through I was expecting to find almost all English
with, possibly, a little snippet of Jewish or European.
But
far from it. What I was given was:
Scandinavia
33%
Ireland
23%
Great
Britain 23%
Western
Europe 9%
Italy/Greece
7%
Finland/NW
Russia 2%
Iberian
Peninsula 2%
Caucasus
<1%
How
do I make sense of that?
I
have been unable to find their definition of what Great Britain means
genetically but I would have thought it was a mixture of mainly Scandinavian
and Western European genes anyway so it doesn’t surprise me to have 65% of my
DNA made up that way, although that seems a bit low. The bottom 5% is so small
it could be ancient remnants from the Romans or something in pre-history so
that’s no worry!
Italy/Greece
7%? Where did that come from and when?
But
what I find most surprising is to have almost one quarter of my genes coming
from Ireland! I could believe the odd 2 or 3% from some distant relative I
don’t know about but, going by the company’s own notes, I would have to have
several quite close Irish ancestors—at least a grandparent or two for that
figure to be true. Perhaps it’s because it is an American company and they
don’t understand the difference between England, Ireland and Europe…? Perhaps I
should try again with a British firm? Have you any suggestions?
This
experience didn’t confirm what I know of my family. Neither did it make me
think I’d made mistakes or missed things. What it did make me doubt was the
validity of the whole process. Is there any accuracy in the results at all or
is it just a way to dupe fools like me out of our money? Any comments or advice
gratefully received…
And
now, if you’ve got this far you deserve a reward! So here’s a little story I
came across. It’s for 16th April from William Hones’ Everyday Books (1st pub
1825)
Miracle
at Somers Town.
The authenticity of the following extraordinary
fact can be verified. Mr. H— a middle-aged gentleman, long afflicted by various
disorders, and especially by the gout, had so far recovered from a severe
attack of the latter complaint, that he was enabled to stand, yet with so
little advantage, that he could not walk more than fifty yards, and it took him
nearly an hour to perform that distance. While thus enfeebled by suffering, and
safely creeping in great difficulty, on a sunny day, along a level footpath by
the side of a field near Somers Town, he was alarmed by loud cries,
intermingled with the screams of many voices behind him. From his infirmity, he
could only turn very slowly round, and then, to his astonishment, he saw,
within a yard of his coat-tail, the horns of a mad bullock; when, to the equal
astonishment of its pursuers, this unhappy gentleman instantly leaped the
fence, and overcome by terror, continued to run with amazing celerity nearly
the whole distance of the field, while the animal kept its own course along the
road. The gentleman, who had thus miraculously recovered the use of his legs,
retained his power of speed until he reached his own house, where he related
the miraculous circumstance; nor did his quickly-restored faculty of walking
abate, until it ceased with his life several years afterwards. This
"miraculous cure" can be attested by his surviving relatives.
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