I decided in early 2005, that it would be a good idea to have my DNA taken as a reference point for
the future of geneology in our branch of the Townsend family.
I had the 37 marker test performed
by FamilyTreeDNA. The cost was just over $200 U.S. and the results would be kept in their database for
about 30 years.
I gave permision for the results to be compared to all the other DNA results that
they have in their database, I also submitted the results to Ybase another database organisation, again
for comparison with other DNA records.
Another reason for taking the test was to try and
solve the mystery of the disappearance of William Townsend who was married to Ann Brittain. She died
at age 32 after having six children in 1862, shortly afterwards William disappeared. William would have
been in his 30's and was young enough to start another family!
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Little did I realise that just a few short months after getting my results, that a situation would
arise for a comparison with my DNA test.
How did this happen?
At the top of our family
tree shown on page 5 you will see the there were two options for the parents of George Townsend. Either
John and Elizabeth Townsend were his parents Or he was the baseborn son of Ann Townsend.
We
spent most of the last two years trying to find Elizabeth and John Townsend in vain, so this spring we
decided to take another look at Ann Townsend. I had seen the LDS film of the church record where the
Vicar of the day had recorded that the father of George Townsend was reputed to be Richard Wiltshire.
Well by a stroke of luck I had made contact with a Martin Wiltshire about a year earlier when
he came on to the Rootsweb Wiltshire site asking questions about Wiltshire family members in Bremhill.
I sent him an email kidding that a ancestor had been involved with my gggGrandmother. We kept in touch
and this spring he sent me his family tree and there large as life was a Richard Wiltshire, who was the
right age, in the right place, at the right time. After some discussion he graciously agreed to have
his DNA checked againt mine.
Approximately six weeks later we received the results and Bingo we
had a match as shown on the chart below.
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The above Y-DNA chart shows the Y- DNA readings for the Wiltshire family. The Townsend chart is identical
except for DYS# 391 which reads 11 instead of 10.
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The Haplogroup reading of 1 indicates that we are originally from northwestern Europe and known as
the Viking Haplogroup.
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DNA PRIMER
Glossary of Terms
Genetics......The study
of patterns of inheritance. Blood Cell....... Basic unit of life. Contains ......nucleus
with 46 chromosomes, one of which is the Y Chromosome. . I.e. 22 sets from 1-22 X and
Y are called the sex Chromosomes.
DNA .....Molecule of life.
DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC
ACID Skinny Molecule that strings together units called bases [or nucleotides] , one cell would
stretch six feet long. 95% is so called junk DNA!
Bases are called ADENINE Note C and G
pair, A and T pair. i.e. straight and curved. GUANINE THYMINE CYTOSINE
Allele The specific form of a gene occupying a specific location on a chromosome; an alternative
form of gene. Also a particular structure or sequence of DNA.
DYS.......
Short form for DNA Y Chromosome Segment
Generic Marker A specific portion
of the Chromosome. I.E. Gravestone Mileposts on a highway Seed packet at the end of a
garden row. Used to name a specific location or marker.
Haplogroup A specific set of
Y chromosomes or set of mtDNA that is characterized by slowly mutating markers and that
is characteristic of a specific population..
Chromosome.... 1. The structure [containing
DNA molecules packaged with some proteins ] by which hereditary information
is transmitted; humans have 46, which are found in the nucleus of most cells.. 2. Small thread
like structures that reside in the cells nucleus and are composed of DNA .Each human has
23 pairs of Chromosomes, with one of each pair derived from the mother and the other derived from
the father.
Autosome...All of the other Chromosomes other than the X and Y
Genetic
Code..The sequence of DNA bases.
Genes Are a stretch of DNA or the unit of heredity.
More than 1000 in X Chromosome Only 27 in Y Chromosome. Total number of Genes 21000 ??
Mitochondrial DNA...mtDNA mtDNA is inherited from the mother by both her sons and daughters,
but only the daughters can pass it on to the next generation.
Mitochondria ...Small
ovoid structures in the cystoplasm of the cell that produce energy and contain their
own DNA, known as mtDNA.
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