Monday 18 December 2006

Who's the daddy?

This is from Canadian TV

Now according to the respected medical journal 'The Lancet' anything from 1% of the population to 30% (in Liverpool dirty scousers!) were fathered by someone other than their "father". I only just found this link, I'll do a search of the Lancet in a minute, but it ties in with what I was thinking after watching the recent Channel 4 documentary 100% English, where we saw Garry Bushell find out he was actually part African and Carol Thatcher find out she was 25% Middle eastern, the funniest moments were the Woman who said you had to be able to trace your family tree back to Hastings to be classed as English threatening to sue the programme makers for revealing she was half Romany, and the mad old Diana Mosley wannabe (who was ranting on about gollywhitewogs, whatever they are) and turned out to be a mixture of East Asian and Red Indian!

I think the documentary makers being obvious metropolitan liberals were a bit disappointed to get sensible reactions from Bushell and a young squaddie (25% Balkan if I remember right) who took it in their stride, the squaddie in particular making the point that seeing your true origins might make the more racist amongst us think again.

An honourable mention must go to the patriotic woman from Grimsby who was the most English of all (99% or something) who said that Ian Wright was a true Englishman, unlike some Anglo-Saxons.

Anyway back to my point, all these people were convinced that their families were English going back generations on all sides, DNA tests proved them wrong, which just goes to make you wonder what their Grandmothers were getting up to... It also makes me think about all this family tree searching people seem to be doing recently, fair play but maybe combining it with a DNA test would help to give a fuller picture.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I recall a programme once that took DNA samples from an Anglo-Saxon, a black man, a Chinese man and an Asian (Indian or Pakistani - it was a long time ago now). None of these chaps had met each other before.

Turns out they were all related.

The point was that if you go far enough back - and with DNA samples you can, apparently - you find common ancestry. Which I think is absolutely fascinating.

www.garymonro.squarespace.com

Mat Danaher said...

I always tell people I'm descended from Confucious, because pretty much every European is according to some book I read once.

Matt M said...

I'd love to know what my DNA contains. I can only trace my family tree back a handful of generations, which doesn't throw up anything interesting.

But I think it's possible to over-emphasise lineage. Finding out that my great-great-great-great-great grandmother came from somewhere else doesn't make any difference to who I am now, and, as anon and Mat d point out, you can find anything if you go back far enough.

The main use of DNA profiling seems to be giving xenophobes something to think about.

CityUnslicker said...

Matt is right. To be obsessed by Your distant relatives is meaningless. To me it suggests you must be unhappy with your own life/personality and are looking for inspiration.

IN that case you would do better to spend your time reading about the great men and women of the past rather than trying to trace your auntie from Belgium

Anonymous said...

Cityunslicker, I think you've hit on the reason why genealogy is so popular these days, although I don't share your verdict: many people are unhappy in today's atomised society, and so, it seems to me, are seeking some sense of belonging, or, indeed, meaning to their lives, through their ancestors.

Maybe we should be a bit careful slating this need for belonging here, given that mine hosts are avowed nationalists: some argue that the strength of nationalism derives in part from its appeal to our sense of kinship.

James Higham said...

There was certainly a lot of indiscriminate rumpy-pumpy going on in Victorian times and non-wives of a certain tint.

James Higham said...

Happy New Year and long live the republic.

Anonymous said...

Just popped over via the blogpower link.

As a devolved Scot it's very nice to meet you.

I loved that documentary. I think the DNA thing is fascinating.

You can bet though if alien's landed we'd all suddenly see ourselves as just human!

Fantastic intelligent blog.

Anonymous said...

Rob, William, you guys still around? Hope you're both OK and not stalled of blogging.

cornubian said...

Dydh da!

Just a quick not to publicise the Cornish republican group, The Cornish Stannary Parliament, you might find you have a lot in common!

http://www.cornishstannaryparliament.co.uk/

If you want to publicise your blogg or chat with Cornish nationalists try Cornwall 24!

http://www.cornwall24.co.uk/

cornubian said...

4IM (4 independence movements): http://4independence.org/

Perhaps this small new UK political party offers opportunities for moderate and left of centre English nationalists and English regionalists.

I don’t know much about them but would love to hear from anybody who does.

cornubian said...

Perhaps you would be interested in England Devolve as well,Devolve! is a radical English devolution movement. We aim to encourage the peoples of England to achieve greater control over their own lives. Tolerance is central to our beliefs. Devolve! is non-party political: http://www.devolve.org/

Then there is the Talk Democracy website which is crying out from input from left of centre English nationalists: http://www.talkdemocracy.org.uk/talk/

Finally why not pop in and say hello to me and other Cornish nationalists on Cornwall 24: http://www.cornwall24.co.uk/

Anonymous said...

You forgot to mention that the Channel 4 tripe programme refused to take into account people who DID have only English ancestors going back thousands of years! Now why would Channel 4 do that?

As for you. Oh dear! You are committing internet bullshite! You are leaving out some of the story. In other words, you are a liar! More than that. You are happy to be lying about the truth.
You need to stop being a freal over. You had better grow up to. Got that?

cornubian said...

The Cornish Stannary Parliament website now links to you blog.

Anonymous said...

Please put this on your website and distribute it far and wide.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/England-freedom/

Thanks

Stephen Gash

cornubian said...

Have you done the same for the Cornish assembly petition or any other Cornish cause?

Copy and past this is you want to help: http://cornishstannaryparliament.co.uk//resources//links/index.php?category=Petitions

Other than that here is my new blog the Cornish Democrat: http://thecornishdemocrat.blogspot.com/

Why not write me a pice on English independence or republicanism and I will post it to the blog.

Anonymous said...

"Celtic neighbours" is totally inaccurate. The UK bloodlines are far more mixed than that, and have been for many centuries.

English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish are nationalities, not ethnicities/genetic backgrounds - and those nationalities should be open to ALL residents of those nations, regardless of origins and genes.

Anybody who lumps together the Scots, Welsh and Irish as "Celts" or calls the English "Anglo Saxon" is labouring under a missaprehension and, at the very least, guilty of ignoring the complex genetic make-up of the people on this island, both now and in the past. At worst, those who believe that notions of ethnic purity are permissable for ANY of the UK's nations are racists.

cornubian said...

"Celtic neighbours" is accurate what is inaccurate is your confusing ethnicity and DNA.
Ethnicity does not have to be linked to DNA. Ethnicity, ones ethnic group, is a subjective perception of oneself.
In this light clearly the Cornish, Welsh, Scottish and Irish nations have every right to consider themselves Celtic and to be considered Celtic by the English. Just in the same way the English have every right to refer to themselves as being Anglo-Saxon.
You see what "blood" I carry has very little influence on my perceived ethno-national identity that I have acquired from the community in which I have grown up.
I share a huge amount of my DNA with the other great apes but this in no way influences my Cornish ethnic identity.

Oll an gwella

CFD Ed said...

Genetically English! The English are such a mixture I find it difficult to believe there is any such thing, I would have thought the best you would get would be some sort of averaging out.

There were had Celts who were invaded by the Romans. And became Romano Britains. The Roman Empire was a mixture of a vast range of peoples from Germanics peoples to Greco/Latins, to North Africans to etc. Many of them came as administrators or Legionnaires for centuries. Married and interbred. Then there were Saxons in the south and the Vikings who settled in large numbers in the North East centred on what is now York. The Normans who were French/Viking. The Dutch who settled in East Anglia… It just goes on and on.

Anonymous said...

Cornish devolution? Don't make me laugh!

Hiolidays, pasties and clotted cream are Cornwall's only industry, I can't see you making a go of it as a country using them.

Or were you thinking of suckling at the European teat, as you have been for years now.

Anonymous said...

Typical "dirty scousers" you brainless mororn

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