So, I’m British. 80% British. What does this mean? Well, Ancestry.com says that “We’ve found that approximately 60% of the typical native’s DNA comes from this region.” I seem to be more British that the “typical” native.
In December, Ancestry.com DNA had a big sale while I was already debating whether or not I wanted to send in for their DNA test. Because the price was the absolute lowest I had seen, I went ahead and sent in my test. On Sunday morning, I received an email with a link to my results. It only took a month for the results to arrive—which given the holidays, I impressed that they were processed so fast. Once I clicked on the link, the message of my “genetic ethnicity” was very clear.
The fact that I had some British in me was not surprising. I have a great-grandfather who immigrated from Scotland. What was surprising was that 80% of my DNA comes from this region. My Great-Grandfather would only represent a small portion (12%?), there is plenty more British DNA from other ancestors. But, as I considered the DNA estimate, I also see that the estimate makes me purely American. Ancestry outlined, from their research, the migration pattern of similar DNA and shows the migration from Great Britain to America prior to the Revolutionary War. It will be interesting to see where that leads me in the records.
So, as Ethnically British, I will continue to enjoy my tea but I will definitely throw it into the sea if that tea is taxed without representation!