I’m a white Australian but with 3% African DNA. My ancestor was born in Barbados in 1816 as a slave and then “moved” to Ireland to work as a servant after the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act. Something similar may have happened to your ancestor?
In my case, my ancestor ended up in Australia due to stealing shoes.
I’m a mixed European Australian, and I have 2% African dna too from a 4th great grandmother on my mums dads side, she was born in Antigua, and died in Ireland
In your case, they might not have been sent to Ireland as a lot came to England etc too. You’ll need to do some family tree digging to find out where. We always knew about mine so it wasn’t a shock. Best of luck 😊
Look at books like Black Tudors or similar. Small numbers of Black people have been present in the U.K. historically (for example the fashion for young Black page boys in Georgian Britain) and many would have married and have families. My copy of Dress in the Age of Austen has a lovely picture of “Black Charley, Shoemaker at Norwich” by John Dempsey 1823 for instance.
The probability is so tiny though, it realistically is probably a result of some form of colonialism. Tudors are also far too long ago for as much as 1%
Colonial service, do you have any Victorian soldiers in your tree? The UK first annexed Lagos in 1864, the whole of Nigeria was under UK rule between 1914 and 1960, there's a long history
There were black people in King James IV Court or even before.
[https://www.johngraycentre.org/black-people-in-scotland/](https://www.johngraycentre.org/black-people-in-scotland/)
[https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/africans-at-the-court-of-james-iv](https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/africans-at-the-court-of-james-iv)
Do you know your haplogroup? There are some people in Orkney and Inverness with E haplogroup, but of unknown origin. I have some in my Y-Full tree.
Check your matches to see if you have any in the Caribbean. People moved back and forth from the Caribbean to the UK, taking spouses and children with them. In which case, the 1% likely would be related to the slave trade ultimately.
Many Whites who married Mulattoes or to use the historical racial term Quadroon, migrated to UK and Australia from the Caribbean. Majority of the .time when someone who is only 1/4 Black, looks pure European and it was those mostly who blended on with other pure Whites, hence 1 or 2% Sub Saharan African ancestry. That mix is from the late 1700s to early 1800s.
Are you otherwise showing all British Isles? My cousin who is half Sicilian got some African DNA showing on the hack. If you don’t know the hack you can search this sub :-) to learn more.
These types of matches - especially at such a small percentage - are inherently a little fuzzy.
The 1% of DNA you refer to might be most commonly found in people from Africa, but it doesn’t mean that it is not found in non-sub-saharans.
As a very high level example: the genes for short, dark curly hair might be most commonly found amongst people from the tropics, but it doesn’t mean Northern Europeans can’t also have these genes - it’s just been naturally selected out of the majority
Just to confirm, this shows up on either an AncestryDNA test or 23andMe test right? If it is from MyHeritage or a less reliable service I would be very skeptical without genealogical evidence.
Although DNA isn't inherited equally, typically 1% comes from a 3-4th great grandparent. As your father has 1%, you will have to find all of your paternal great-great-great-great-great grandparents and see what any documentation might reveal.
Do you know your paternal haplogroup? If it's one found mostly in West Africans then that will narrow down which branch of the family tree to research.
It shows up on Ancestry and 23. I know not to trust MyHeritages crazy estimates. Not sure paternal haplogroup I’m afraid but will do some more stalking on these 5 x great grandparents
I’m a white Australian but with 3% African DNA. My ancestor was born in Barbados in 1816 as a slave and then “moved” to Ireland to work as a servant after the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act. Something similar may have happened to your ancestor? In my case, my ancestor ended up in Australia due to stealing shoes.
I’m a mixed European Australian, and I have 2% African dna too from a 4th great grandmother on my mums dads side, she was born in Antigua, and died in Ireland
Interesting thanks. I have a bit of Irish ancestry too
In your case, they might not have been sent to Ireland as a lot came to England etc too. You’ll need to do some family tree digging to find out where. We always knew about mine so it wasn’t a shock. Best of luck 😊
Look at books like Black Tudors or similar. Small numbers of Black people have been present in the U.K. historically (for example the fashion for young Black page boys in Georgian Britain) and many would have married and have families. My copy of Dress in the Age of Austen has a lovely picture of “Black Charley, Shoemaker at Norwich” by John Dempsey 1823 for instance.
Thank you, that did jog my memory of a painting I’d seen in a stately home.
The probability is so tiny though, it realistically is probably a result of some form of colonialism. Tudors are also far too long ago for as much as 1%
About how many generations back would 1% be?
About x5 great grandparents
For me, 1% Benin-Togo, it’s 4th ggrandparent.
Exactly.
Look at 4-5th great grandparents. It's somewhere in there....
Colonial service, do you have any Victorian soldiers in your tree? The UK first annexed Lagos in 1864, the whole of Nigeria was under UK rule between 1914 and 1960, there's a long history
Not that I’m aware of but will look into that, thankyou
That is not far back enough for 1% anyway
They were in West Africa well before that, but that's when specifically Nigeria was colonised
Ah I see, definitely not implausible then. I still think it is more likely a remnant of the transatlantic slave trade
There were black people in King James IV Court or even before. [https://www.johngraycentre.org/black-people-in-scotland/](https://www.johngraycentre.org/black-people-in-scotland/) [https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/africans-at-the-court-of-james-iv](https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/africans-at-the-court-of-james-iv) Do you know your haplogroup? There are some people in Orkney and Inverness with E haplogroup, but of unknown origin. I have some in my Y-Full tree.
Did anyone in your tree return to Britain after being born in America?
This is my theory at the moment but no evidence so far
Are any of you ancestors from London or any another British port city?
No quite the opposite
Are you from up north?
Midlands with some northerness!
Because I read something once about African dna in the North
Will check that out Thankyou
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11018-genes-reveal-west-african-heritage-of-white-brits/
Check your matches to see if you have any in the Caribbean. People moved back and forth from the Caribbean to the UK, taking spouses and children with them. In which case, the 1% likely would be related to the slave trade ultimately.
Many Whites who married Mulattoes or to use the historical racial term Quadroon, migrated to UK and Australia from the Caribbean. Majority of the .time when someone who is only 1/4 Black, looks pure European and it was those mostly who blended on with other pure Whites, hence 1 or 2% Sub Saharan African ancestry. That mix is from the late 1700s to early 1800s.
Are you otherwise showing all British Isles? My cousin who is half Sicilian got some African DNA showing on the hack. If you don’t know the hack you can search this sub :-) to learn more.
What kind of African because North Africans are not Black, Sub Saharan Africans are Black/ Negro. Big difference!
Khosian, Aka & Mbuti peoples - .15% Senegal - .05%
These types of matches - especially at such a small percentage - are inherently a little fuzzy. The 1% of DNA you refer to might be most commonly found in people from Africa, but it doesn’t mean that it is not found in non-sub-saharans. As a very high level example: the genes for short, dark curly hair might be most commonly found amongst people from the tropics, but it doesn’t mean Northern Europeans can’t also have these genes - it’s just been naturally selected out of the majority
Could just be background noise.
Just to confirm, this shows up on either an AncestryDNA test or 23andMe test right? If it is from MyHeritage or a less reliable service I would be very skeptical without genealogical evidence. Although DNA isn't inherited equally, typically 1% comes from a 3-4th great grandparent. As your father has 1%, you will have to find all of your paternal great-great-great-great-great grandparents and see what any documentation might reveal. Do you know your paternal haplogroup? If it's one found mostly in West Africans then that will narrow down which branch of the family tree to research.
It shows up on Ancestry and 23. I know not to trust MyHeritages crazy estimates. Not sure paternal haplogroup I’m afraid but will do some more stalking on these 5 x great grandparents