Thread by @rolandmcs

Every few years, I do a spot of genealogy. Random observations from this time around:
1. The number of searchable online records is quite astounding.
2. Widely-used DNA testing (and portability of output) has nudged everything up several gears.

3. Both DNA and the availability of more recent directory/electoral roll records and Births/Marriages/Deaths up to the modern day make it easier to trace 'downwards' i.e. from an ancestor to a living person).

4. The number of 4th-6th cousins is notably high and this becomes very evident when on a DNA database like Ancestry dot com. But then simple maths (and larger families in former times) has always pointed this way.

5. It's already well known but still striking how much family members looked after each other (living under the same roof or next door/road; using older nieces/nephews to help out with younger kids; etc)

6. The gravitational pull of London. For several branches of my family, this happened between 1885 and 1895; arriving into from Devon, Lancashire and Norfolk. In one case, 2 family units arrived together (& with a grandmother) and went into one small house.

And yes I do have a lot of European/Germanic genes. But then my mother is Swiss so it was expected.