DNA tests reveal village diversity
Residents of Bledington made surprising discoveries about their heritage and family
A landmark DNA study by family history company Ancestry ( ancestry.co.uk) found unexpected family connections in a Gloucestershire village, as well as revealing the residents’ diverse ethnic heritage.
116 people from Bledington in the Cotswolds, ranging in age from 19 to 93, took part in the study.
Over half of the villagers discovered previously unknown family connections among their neighbours.
Eight people found they had fourth cousins or closer living in Bledington, while 59 discovered more distant cousins among the residents.
For instance village historian Sylvia Reeves, 93, and builder and parish council member Steve Tyack, 46, discovered they were distant cousins.
Sylvia said: “I’ve been here in Bledington for 56 years and I’ve known Steve’s family ever since I have been here. I even watched his parents courting, so to find out we are related is amazing. I would have never have dreamt it especially because Stephen is rooted round here whereas I came to Bledington by chance after being born in London.”
Steve added: “Of everybody in the village, I’m really happy to be related to Sylvia.”
Furthermore, the study showed that the residents’ DNA wasn’t as ‘British’ as it seemed.
Official population data identifies the population of the village as 94.5% White British, and 56% of those taking part in the project didn’t expect to find DNA results outside the UK.
However, the results revealed that no one person had DNA that could be described as 100% British and the average resident’s DNA contained just 42.5% of the genetic region “Great Britain (Anglo-Saxon)”.
Russell James, AncestryDNA spokesperson, said that the “fascinating process” had uncovered “some incredibly diverse heritage as on average, less than half of the villagers’ DNA was identified as Great British”.
“It seems that Bledington’s picturesque and arguably ‘typical England’ look and feel is deceiving” he added.
In total, 18 separate global regions were identified in the DNA testing. For instance, the average resident had 21% Europe West DNA, 17% Ireland/ Scotland/ Wales, and 10% Scandinavian. They even had 0.01% of Native American, Asia East, Middle East and Melanesian DNA.
Marketing manager Kristen Turner, 48, who discovered her DNA was 7% South Asian, said: “It’s rather exciting to think I have something in common with people in Asia and India and it does make the world feel like a smaller place.
“I’m quite excited to be able to find out where that comes from in my ancestry and perhaps try and find out where they originated from, what their story was and how it joined my line. I love to travel and would like to pinpoint the exact part of South Asia my ancestors came from so I could make a point of going to visit.”
As well as providing a subscription family history site, Ancestry launched its DNA testing service in May 2012 in the US and January 2015 in the UK and Ireland. The mail order test, which costs £79 (plus postage), surveys an entire genome at over 700,000 locations. Over four million people have entered their DNA data in Ancestry’s database.
I watched his parents courting, so to find out we are related is amazing