#AtoZChallenge A for Ancestry
The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is a challenge put out to bloggers to publish a post from A-Z every day in April, except for Sundays. April 1 is A, and so on throughout the month. The theme I have chosen for 2018 is The Story Of Me
I have been tracing my family history for many years, and about two years ago, had my DNA tested. As expected the results showed no surprises at all with most of my ancestors being from Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The main reason that I had the DNA test done was because my great great grandfather Thomas McQueen was born in Jamaica. As he had a traditional Scottish name, I did assume his parents were Scottish and in Jamaica, perhaps as military. But I thought I should confirm that.
The DNA test definitely confirmed that he was not of West Indian heritage. There were no surprises at all with my ethnicity results.
I was born in Australia, as were my parents, Thomas Lloyd Jones and Eunice Joy Morrison and my grandparents, Thomas Morrison and Leola Jean Waters.My other grandparents, also born in Australia, were William Lowe Jones and Emily Taylor, who I never met. They both passed away when my father was a small child.
My great grandparents Ernest Welfare Waters and Hilda Mary Beatrice Gilmour were the first generation of their families to be born in Australia. The Waters family originated from Dunton, Bedfordshire, England. The Gilmour family came to Australia from Ireland. As yet I haven’t done thorough research into that family, so haven’t uncovered where in Ireland they lived.
My great grandparents Francis William (John) Morrison and Ada Louisa Love were both born in Victoria, Australia. The Morison family originated from Glenshiel, Ross-shire, Scotland while the Love family came to Australia from Wiltshire England.
Great grandparents, Cornelius Jones and his wife Mary Calnan were also born in Australia. The Jones family originally came to Australia from London, England. The Calnan family were from Kilkenny, Ireland.
My great grandparents William Lloyd Taylor and his wife Janet McQueen also known as McEwan were born in Australia.
In summary, my great grandparents, in all family lines were born in Australia. When I was originally researching the family, it wasn’t until I had the information as far back as my great great grandparents, that I found the first to emigrate and settle in Australia.
My ethnicity is British, but my family arrived in Australia in the very early years of settlement, with the earliest, my great great grandfather, Thomas Jones, arriving before 1839.
This is a very brief outline of my ethnicity. I have collected this information in much more detail over a period of many years.
Please visit again to see my story unfold
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Tracking Down The Family 
Look forward to following along your A to Z journey. Sometimes it is good not to have surprises and have your research confirmed.
My cousins on both sides of my family have traced our heritage and given me a copy. It is fascinating to read and learn so I will be very interested in reading your A to Z journey. My cousin had her DNA testing done as well. Great start to the challenge Jennifer!
That’s quite a lengthy family tree to all be born in Australia Jennifer – a couple of my grandparents were from Scotland and England (and so were my husband’s) so we don’t have the same dynasty of Aussiness yet.
Leanne | http://www.crestingthehill.com.au
A for Avoid Negativity
Family history is so interesting. I’ve traced mine back to the 1700s but I’m yet to do the DNA thing. Mind you we’re all in the same town still so I’m not sure it’d be worth it. Good luck with the challenge
Love the stories we write about our families. I did a year long of All about Me. This year I’m writing on my fav childhood book character- Nancy Drew… https://everyonehasafamilystorytotell.wordpress.com/category/2018-a-to-z-all-about-nancy-drew/
Thanks for visiting Jeanne. I love you Theme and will drop in and see what you have to say.
I found you at the beginning of A to Z and then lost you again. Thanks to Anne Young I found you again in her Reflections. I look forward to settling down tonight and working all the way through your posts. It’s funny how your A for Ancestry looks a lot like mine.
Thanks for visiting again Linda, I’ll check out your AtoZ tonight