MITOCHONDRIAL DNA FROM THE GRIEVE-COULTHARD-HETHERINGTON-DIXON LINE
DNA Double Helix
This page provides an outline of the descendants who have inherited the mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA) from Elizabeth Grieve (1858-1939) of Liverpool and Birkenhead, Mary Ann Coulthard (~1828-1908) from Wetheral (see also Here) and Birkenhead, Elizabeth Hetherington (~1786-1849) from Castle Sowerby (see also Here) and Cumwhinton, and Sarah Dixon (1755-1849) who died in Cumwhinton, and to provide a little background information on their mitochondrial haplogroup (H5e1). Hopefully this will help with your genetic genealogy research if you are related to these individuals from Cumberland (now part of Cumbria), Lancashire, and Cheshire.
See also Lines of Interest for Where I Can Help You, Genetic Genealogy, Do You Have the Right DNA?, Skinny Branches, and Chromosome Mapping: Grieve-Paterson line.
See also Lines of Interest for Where I Can Help You, Genetic Genealogy, Do You Have the Right DNA?, Skinny Branches, and Chromosome Mapping: Grieve-Paterson line.
Wetheral, Cumberland
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Castle Sowerby area, Cumberland – note Wetheral at top right
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Birkenhead and Liverpool
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Elizabeth Grieve (1858-1939)
Hello fellow great, great, great, etc. grand-daughters (and also some great, great, great, etc. grandsons) of Helena (see My DNA Results). We are in mtDNA Haplogroup H5 – see Wikipedia on Haplogroup H5. More specifically (as shown by complete sequence mitochondrial testing at Family Tree DNA and the Genographic Project (Geno 2.0)) we are in the "subclade" of H5 known as mtDNA Haplogroup H5e1. Note that we are definitely related to anyone in haplogroup H5e1 (within about 5,000 years ago or so, that is), but are only more distantly related to anyone with haplogroup H5 (maybe 10,000 years ago). If you have only been tested at 23andMe (or haven't had full mitochondrial sequencing at FTDNA or testing by the Genographic Project) and are shown to be haplogroup H5, this means one of 2 things:
Anyone who has been shown to be "only" haplogroup H5 after complete sequencing is NOT related on the direct maternal line (within about 5,000 years or over 150 generations ago) to anyone who is is H5e1 (but could be related through a different line), or to any of the other H5 subclades (which surfaced at various time periods). This is a very helpful thing for genetic genealogy purposes, because H5 and many of the other H clades are the most common haplogroups found in the UK and Europe. I'm trying to find out how rare subclade H5e1 actually is. We are not related (on the direct maternal line) to any of the other six "daughters of Eve", who are in the haplogroups of Eve's other daughters: J, K, T, U, V, and X (Jasmine, Katrine, Tara, Ursula, Velda, and Xenia – see The Seven Daughters of Eve).
My maternal great-grandmother Elizabeth Grieve (see photograph) and I share the same mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and we also share this with her mother, Elizabeth Hetherington and grandmother, Sarah Dixon and all their direct maternal descendants (see Genetic Genealogy). That is as far as I have managed to trace back on my direct maternal line (6 generations back) – if you have traced back any further, I'd love to hear from you (please Contact Me).
Sarah Dixon lived to be a ripe old age – she died aged 94-95 years of old age. Sadly, daughter Elizabeth Hetherington died of cholera the same day as her mother when aged 61. I have their death certificates, so let me know if they would be of interest to you (it saves you having to buy them yourself).
If we can identify a common matrilineal ancestor, we will share identical mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). However, if these are your ancestors but not on your direct maternal line, you haven't inherited this mtDNA (but we may still have shared autosomal DNA, atDNA or X-chromosome DNA). The results of my mtDNA may be invaluable to have for your genetic genealogy research – and you may have no other relatives with this who are still alive for testing. I'll be happy to give my genetic cousins on these branches access to my mtDNA data to allow you to research things further. Apparently I, and therefore my direct-line maternal ancestors, have a mutation at position 14956, which is so-far unique to H5e1 and should be useful for finding closer matches. This isn't a "bad" thing (like a mutation causing cancer or fetal malformations) – it's just a marker of something in our DNA and makes us special !!
- That you are in a "subclade" of H5 (i.e., H5e1 or multiple other possibilities)
- Or that your haplogroup is actually H5
Anyone who has been shown to be "only" haplogroup H5 after complete sequencing is NOT related on the direct maternal line (within about 5,000 years or over 150 generations ago) to anyone who is is H5e1 (but could be related through a different line), or to any of the other H5 subclades (which surfaced at various time periods). This is a very helpful thing for genetic genealogy purposes, because H5 and many of the other H clades are the most common haplogroups found in the UK and Europe. I'm trying to find out how rare subclade H5e1 actually is. We are not related (on the direct maternal line) to any of the other six "daughters of Eve", who are in the haplogroups of Eve's other daughters: J, K, T, U, V, and X (Jasmine, Katrine, Tara, Ursula, Velda, and Xenia – see The Seven Daughters of Eve).
My maternal great-grandmother Elizabeth Grieve (see photograph) and I share the same mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and we also share this with her mother, Elizabeth Hetherington and grandmother, Sarah Dixon and all their direct maternal descendants (see Genetic Genealogy). That is as far as I have managed to trace back on my direct maternal line (6 generations back) – if you have traced back any further, I'd love to hear from you (please Contact Me).
Sarah Dixon lived to be a ripe old age – she died aged 94-95 years of old age. Sadly, daughter Elizabeth Hetherington died of cholera the same day as her mother when aged 61. I have their death certificates, so let me know if they would be of interest to you (it saves you having to buy them yourself).
If we can identify a common matrilineal ancestor, we will share identical mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). However, if these are your ancestors but not on your direct maternal line, you haven't inherited this mtDNA (but we may still have shared autosomal DNA, atDNA or X-chromosome DNA). The results of my mtDNA may be invaluable to have for your genetic genealogy research – and you may have no other relatives with this who are still alive for testing. I'll be happy to give my genetic cousins on these branches access to my mtDNA data to allow you to research things further. Apparently I, and therefore my direct-line maternal ancestors, have a mutation at position 14956, which is so-far unique to H5e1 and should be useful for finding closer matches. This isn't a "bad" thing (like a mutation causing cancer or fetal malformations) – it's just a marker of something in our DNA and makes us special !!
<ADD BRIEF PEDIGREE or FAMILY CHARTS>
mtDNA Matches at FTDNA
Because I have had full sequence mtDNA sequencing at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA), I initially didn't have any mitochondrial DNA (myDNA) matches. Although I was somewhat disappointed about the lack of matches, it does mean that when a specific match comes through that this is more meaningful (and you're not overwhelmed with hundreds or thousands of matches, as with autosomal DNA testing), so I now have a different perspective. I was excited when a match came through in December 2013, although we have a "genetic distance" of 2 (so not close) and so our most recent common ancestor (MCRA) was probably from several hundred to a few thousand years ago, rather than during a genealogical time-frame where we may be in a position to identify the MRCA.
Since then, my mother's full sequence mtDNA results have come through and, not surprisingly, she and I are exact matches. Was it a waste of money me paying for mtDNA testing in my mother? Yes it almost certainly was! There was a very, very, very slim chance that there could have been a minor mutation between her and me and because I'm an obsessive scientist who wanted confirmation, I went ahead and paid for her testing. But I wouldn't advise others to do the same.
NOTE: In contrast to testing autosomal DNA and finding new cousins or testing Y-DNA in a surname project, testing mtDNA in the hope of finding a random match usually doesn't pay off. However, it can be extremely informative if wanting to test a hypothesis for the potential relationship between 2 individuals who on the matriline (i.e., the direct maternal line), as it can definitively disprove certain hypotheses, and be an extremely strong indicator when there is a match (although it won't be able to discern whether, for example, the relationship between two individuals on the matriline have the relationship of sister/mother/maternal grandmother, etc.).
Since then, my mother's full sequence mtDNA results have come through and, not surprisingly, she and I are exact matches. Was it a waste of money me paying for mtDNA testing in my mother? Yes it almost certainly was! There was a very, very, very slim chance that there could have been a minor mutation between her and me and because I'm an obsessive scientist who wanted confirmation, I went ahead and paid for her testing. But I wouldn't advise others to do the same.
NOTE: In contrast to testing autosomal DNA and finding new cousins or testing Y-DNA in a surname project, testing mtDNA in the hope of finding a random match usually doesn't pay off. However, it can be extremely informative if wanting to test a hypothesis for the potential relationship between 2 individuals who on the matriline (i.e., the direct maternal line), as it can definitively disprove certain hypotheses, and be an extremely strong indicator when there is a match (although it won't be able to discern whether, for example, the relationship between two individuals on the matriline have the relationship of sister/mother/maternal grandmother, etc.).
IMAGE DETAILS (DNA Double Helix): This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Apers0n at the English Wikipedia project. This applies worldwide. This image is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the National Institutes of Health.
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Page updated 24 July 2104 |
