Cornwall mtDNA haplogroups

[kerthen]

If there is a thread on Cornish mtDNA haplogroups somewhere on the site, I haven't found it. So I apologize in advance if this question should be somewhere else. And I will move it if pointed in the right direction.

I have just done a full sequence genome (FSG) of my mt-DNA for whom my earliest known ancestress (this is my mother's mother's mother's mother's mother's line). She is Mary Hosking of Ludgvan, b abt 1775).

Another "unrelated" researcher did her FSG through her maternal line to a woman in 18th century Crowan. It turns out that we are -- in a full sequence genome -- only one marker different. One marker on a 12 marker test is significant, but on a full sequence test the almost identical pattern may be very meaningful indeed in terms of tracing migration patterns (not recent, I hurry to say).

This leads us to wonder who else might have done mt-DNA tests for the West Penwith area who might want to compare notes and see if there are similar connections out there. Anyone?

Cornwall seems (to us anyway) a particularly interesting place to test deep ancestry because in one respect it is quite isolated geographically, but in another respect -- due to the sea lanes it can have incomers from many areas.

[kerthen]

Sorry, miswrote. It's Full Genome Sequence or FGS. I had the last two letters transposed.

[trencrom]

Thanks for that. This is very interesting. Perhaps you could send a query through the CFHS journal to see who else in Penwith has done similar tests?

May 1, 2008 17:55:53 GMT -5 kerthen said:

Cornwall seems (to us anyway) a particularly interesting place to test deep ancestry because in one respect it is quite isolated geographically, but in another respect -- due to the sea lanes it can have incomers from many areas.

I would agree about the isolation. I wouldn't expect that there would have been much immigration by sea at all. Cornwall had no major ports and I would have expected that most incomings and outgoings into Britain would have taken place in the bigger ports further east, Southampton, Portsmouth and so forth, Plymouth also in later centuries.

Trencrom

[kerthen]

Thanks for your reply, Trencrom. I think what we're talking about is DEEP ancestry -- like probably Bronze Age, so very BC and unlikely to be involving big ports anywhere, but just small migrations, especially of those dealing in tin and sailors in general, though obviously in the case of matrilineal DNA we are talking a woman who was a member of the migration into Cornwall.

Most of those in the particular subclade we are dealing trace their ancestry to the British Isles and it is a Celtic subclade.



Thanks for the suggestion, too, about contacting the CFHS. I may also contact the Cornish lists from Rootsweb.