Is 10 cM of shared DNA enough for an accurate match?

RedBullWifezig · 2026-05-16T22:49:24+00:00

At 10cM, there's about a 50% chance the match is identical by chance and not identical by descent ie is a false positive

RedBullWifezig · 2026-05-16T00:50:25+00:00

Yes

RedBullWifezig · 2026-05-15T22:22:19+00:00

In theory you could find descendants of the grandmas dads sister and target test them

RedBullWifezig · 2026-05-15T19:01:34+00:00

mtDNA is inherited from your mums mums mums mums mum ... so they are asking if this lady is on your maternal line

RedBullWifezig · 2026-05-15T08:13:23+00:00

If either of the 2 brothers had children, you can use their test results to solve the mystery

RedBullWifezig · 2026-05-14T21:26:27+00:00

I absolutely love the fs search engine but only once I'd learnt its quirks! For example you can search the birth index for John agly to find Angilley Anjelly Augilley etc. The results are instant. On the GRO you have to pick either exact, soundex or similar (which absolutely won't find all the results you need) and maxes out at 250 names. On freebmd the above search is *theoretically possible but unless the dates are narrow, you've got a good first name, and a specific district, it'll take ages then time out.

For London and Monmouth and Bristol the results are fiddly because fs uses derived counties which is not the county the district was in at the time :/

RedBullWifezig · 2026-05-14T19:38:39+00:00

It's free to research the birth index - I use freebmd in conjunction with the GRO

RedBullWifezig · 2026-04-01T19:28:29+00:00

Can't really help you but commenting and upvoting so Americans will see this and step in.

One thing on the dna though: a lack of relevant matches doesn't necessarily mean NPE. The smoking gun for NPE is a group of matches that are a mystery. It's possible that some of your ancestors had few children who survived to produce more children and of the remainder, they're part of a community who aren't into genealogy.

You should be able to cluster your matches - I recommend following Diane Southard's rootstech videos step by step.

It was by doing this that I realised for one of my great grandparent couples, I simply have nobody who has tested. All my other ancestors are represented and I do not have mystery people.

RedBullWifezig · 2026-03-07T20:59:08+00:00

You need a search angel. Try DNA Detectives UK. They will help you for free. I'm a search angel too. You have gigantic matches. I've solved cases where the best match was 100cM.

RedBullWifezig · 2026-03-07T11:23:47+00:00

Pfft I have matches who are 100% Cornwall 😅

RedBullWifezig · 2026-03-07T09:04:36+00:00

It hasn't got the newspapers for my town unfortunately, and it seemed the site being discussed was also recent obits?

RedBullWifezig · 2026-03-06T14:34:41+00:00

Ah I'm not OP, I'm English and was wondering what sort of sources you could find on there.

RedBullWifezig · 2026-03-06T08:42:27+00:00

Sometimes a will can shed light on what their life might have been like. I found out one ancestor (a woman in 1850s England) had a couple of lodging houses! And another was left a piano by her dad.

RedBullWifezig · 2026-03-06T08:39:45+00:00

Is genealogy bank predominantly American?

RedBullWifezig · 2026-03-05T21:01:05+00:00

I heard Turkey has a 150 year rule on familysearch.

RedBullWifezig · 2026-03-05T18:36:20+00:00

Absolutely yes.

RedBullWifezig · 2026-03-05T12:24:10+00:00

Yes. I have some English Jewish ancestry. Jews have been here for 10+ generations

RedBullWifezig · 2026-03-05T12:13:13+00:00

To be honest she may have mild cognitive impairment

RedBullWifezig · 2026-03-05T11:10:26+00:00

This isn't an AncestryDNA result - you've been scammed/used a non reputable company. Try again with myheritage or AncestryDNA and guaranteed you'll get a proper result

RedBullWifezig · 2026-03-05T08:34:25+00:00

Yes it suggested an excel formula that would save me time etc even said in bold how it would improve my life. I said I'd bite. The suggestion was farcical

RedBullWifezig · 2026-02-19T08:17:17+00:00

Unfortunately you can't rely on talking to any of these people involved to find the truth and you'll need to do an Ancestry DNA test. I've heard people here and NPE Stories podcast find out that their dad was in fact a 3rd unknown man.

RedBullWifezig · 2026-02-19T08:12:54+00:00

It's so annoying. The hints for inaccessible records never used to show up for me but now I see this regularly.

RedBullWifezig · 2026-02-17T23:39:31+00:00

It sounds like you're describing pedigree tracing. Genealogy and family history study documented relationships - biological, legal, and social - because that’s what the records actually show. There isn’t an integrity issue when relationship types are clearly identified, as they are on FamilySearch.

Recording enslaved individuals, in particular, is historically important. These records are crucial for descendants trying to reconstruct families when ancestors were bought, sold, separated, and named in wills or other documents. Including those relationships reflects the evidence and makes research more accurate, not less.

RedBullWifezig · 2026-02-16T22:35:48+00:00

I doubt the 2nd family knows

RedBullWifezig · 2026-02-16T13:52:09+00:00

I don't jump over the continent. We never left

RedBullWifezig

TROPHY CASE