DNA

I succumbed to the allure of DNA testing. I admit, curiosity is one of my failings. Or strengths, depending on your point of view.

I wanted to know if there was any French in my veins. I also wanted to see if I could find any new information on a few tricksy people in my family tree.

It took me a month or so to spit into the tube and mail it in. Procrastinating is another of my faults. Then came the waiting… it was at least a couple months until the results were finally in.

I was amazed at the amount of new information about my family and at the number of “matches” … people who have taken the test who are my “relatives” …

None of my thorny questions were answered except for the biggest one.

There was absolutely no sign of any French ancestry. None at all.

Not one of my matches were on Auguste’s or Victor’s scions on the tree. In fact there was no sign of a single French relation. And my ethnicity breakdown contained zero French. France did not even get a single percentage point.

The results did catch all of my known ethnic heritage.

Scottish, for sure. My dad’s grandfather’s family came to Canada in 1855. The area they came from in Scotland as well as where they settled here were both identified.

It caught my maternal grandmother’s Germanic lineage, she came from Russia with her parents in 1906.

And, as expected, English. My mother’s father came ftom England in 1913. Then went back to fight in WW1, returning to Canada to stay in 1919.

My paternal grandmother, the descendant of William Dutaillis, came to Canada from England in 1903 with her parents.

The results have been very informative … but I’m kinda sad about the French …

So, it appears William Dutaillis, born 1797 Edinburgh, was most likely a Scot. My DNA results support that theory… as well as my conclusion that he was most likely adopted. I am still thinking by Victor not Auguste.

Whichever one it was. That individual changed William’s life and my family’s destiny, and I am grateful for their influence.