We now have 31 sets of Family Finder results within our project - between us we represent a growing number of the old Ravenstonedale families.  We welcome new project members who can provide satisfactory genealogical data showing that they have at least one branch of their ancestry that originated in Ravenstonedale before 1800.

 

Family Finder tests are only expected to reliably demonstrate matches at a distance of five or six generations, so this part of the project is somewhat experimental in nature!  However, our experience within the Adamthwaite surname project has been that distant matches have been identified within AND between different lines, at a closer level than one would expect - we believe these connections are likely to actually be as a result of the many intermarriages between the old Ravenstonedale families.  Several project members have as much as a quarter of their DNA originating in this small corner of north-west England.

 

It is not easy to present the findings in a clear way (the matrix I was using initially has become too unwieldy and complicated now the number of Family Finder results has risen way beyond the 15 in the original matrix!)  However, we are able to make one-to-one comparisons between sets of results where it is suspected there is a genetic connection.

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