Which extraordinary DNA ancestor are you most closely connected to?

Question

Following our recent WikiTree Challenge in partnership with mitoYDNA.org, this week we're looking at profiles with extraordinary mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA lines, starting with Katherine Swynford. She was a wife of John of Gaunt, and great-grandmother of Richard III.

Here are other ancestors to check your connection to:

• Renée Breau
• Jane Coles
• Gofraid of Lochlann
• Ivar II of Waterford
• Ocaan Ro
• Michele Sauvagie
• Catherine Strutt
• John Thorpe
• Charibert von Neustria
• Katharina von Pfannberg

Which one is most closely connected to you? If you're one of the 29.5 million of us who are connected to each other on our big tree, you can check with the Connection Finder.

In addition to the above and our many Featured Connections, you can check your connections to any category on WikiTree, such as mtDNA Haplogroup H and WikiTree Challenge Guest Stars. Click the green MyConnections button in the upper right hand corner of the category page.

Let us know how you're related below. If you want to share your connection on social media with cousins and friends, click the "get shareable image" below the results, e.g. King Charles III and Katherine Swynford. Then just upload it along with the URL of your direct connection. (Please refrain from sharing your connection on the featured profiles themselves, though. It clutters conversations on research and collaboration. Thanks!)

Help us find and improve the profiles for next week's Gordon Lightfoot and Co. feature.

Comments

I see that Charles III has 349 direct descents from Katherine Roet in Wikitree. (I have 3.) He has 1757 direct descents from her father in law Edward III. (I have 1.)

An exercise like that puts things in perspective and helps explain why having one Edward III descent is not so unusual.

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Here is my list. It's odd for me as most of these ties aren't DNA direct related. (Dispite the title)

 They are related through my one of my step grandfathers. (Grandma married 5x) 

I am also still trying to figure out the degrees to generations deal.

•  22 degrees from Katherine Swynford 
•  18 degrees from Renée Breau 
• 19 degrees from Jane Coles
• 36 degrees from Gothfraid Of Lochlann
• 33 degrees from Ímar of Waterford 
• 36 degrees from Ocaan Ro
• 19 degrees from Michele Sauvagie
• 19 degrees from Catherine Strutt 
• 19 degrees from John Thorpe 
• 44 degrees from Charibert von Neustria
• 27 degrees from Katharina von Pfannberg
• 24 degrees from Betsy Ko

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Katherine Swynford is my 18th great grandmother through my paternal grandmother. Exciting!

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Katherine Swynford is my 17th great grandmother through my paternal great grandmother, Cornelia (Sterling) Seymour - Sterling-2655

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I am 20 degrees from her.

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Charibert von neustria is my 43 great grandfather. Which also included Pepin the short a descendant.

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Bonnie: it would be very unusual, perhaps impossible, to find a DNA match to people this far back in time UNLESS it was through a direct male or female line (Y DNA or mitochondrial DNA). I think they were selected because there are claims of such modern matches via a pure male or female line?

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What makes these particular lines so "extraordinary"?  What does WikiTree mean by that?

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Andrew: Okay. Though some like me are said to be related, but if you look at the path it's not at all a direct path. I have more connections via marriage then DNA, even close to me on WikiTree.

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I'm not sure only having one isn't very unusual, as opposed to ordinary, however considering the royal family essentially would have had their trees mapped for them, and having had it done so for a very long time, as it is central to the nature of what they do, in order to even do something equivalent, it requires mapping ancestry and other lines that aren't always going to be immediately evident.

I guess it depends on the gateway ancestry - my own is the Staffords (Grafton) to Audrey Barlow - and there is another Stafford with not much history in Britain that married into the same family after arriving in New England in the 1600's.

I've read about it not being uncommon to have multiple gateway ancestry when someone has a fair number of early ancestry in New England (in my case it is all Great Migration -not Mayflower) -but I haven't found any other than Audrey Barlow (Almy).

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Katherine (Roet) Swynford 19th ggm through both my mother and father;

Gofraid 31st ggf through my father, 34th ggf through my mother

Ivar (Ímar) of Waterford 28th ggf 

Charibert (Neustria) 39th ggf through my dad, 42nd ggf though my mother

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We share the same ggf information. So, I looked, and we are 9th cousins through the Magruders.

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Debra, I am pleased to learn of another cousin.

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Hello Judy,  They are extraordinary due their presence on a direct paternal (or maternal) lineage spanning numerous generations, and having a direct descendant with their DNA profile featured on mitoYDNA.org.

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OK, that is what I thought. The message was a little confusing without this missing information. :) I wonder how many people replying understood it that way?

Answer 1

Renée Breau - 11th great grandmother

Gothfraid - 37th great grandfather

Charibet  -  43rd great grandfather

Betsy Ko - 11th cousins

Comments

Hey Aaron we are 7th cousins 2xs rmvd, sharing 145 common ancestors

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Hi Lisa, we are 8th cousins, and share 152 common ancestors.

Answer 2

Note: **Charibert von Neustria has so many [uncertain] lines. I have over 100,000 connections to him, but in my first 100, I could not find a line that didn't have at least 4-5 [uncertain] connections.

Ancestors and Cousins:

20 degrees - Katherine Swynford (18th great grandmother)
22 degrees - Betsy Ko (20th cousins, 1x removed)
32 degrees - Ivar II of Waterford (30th great grandfather)
34 degrees - Gofraid of Lochlann (34th great grandfather)
42 degrees - Charibert von Neustria (40th great grandfather) - Uncertain**

Connections:

14 degrees - John Thorpe - 2 branches (5-10)
15 degrees - Michele Sauvagie - 2 branches (4-12)
16 degrees - Renée Breau - 3 branches (3-6-8)
18 degrees - Catherine Strutt - 3 branches (6-3-10)
19 degrees - Jane Coles - 4 branches (6-2-2-10)
24 degrees - Katharine von Pfannberg - 2 branches (6-19)
33 degrees - Ocaan Ro - 2 branches (21-13)

Answer 3

• 15 degrees from John Thorpe
• 16 degrees from Michele Sauvagie
• 17 degrees from Catherine Strutt
• 17 degrees from Jane Coles
• 19 degrees from Renée Breau
• 20 degrees from Betsy Ko - 19th Cousin 1x removed (Uncertain).
• 22 degrees from Katherine Swynford
• 25 degrees from Katharina von Pfannberg
• 34 degrees from Ocaan Ro
• 34 degrees from Ímar of Waterford
• 35 degrees from Gothfraid Of Lochlann - 34th Great grandfather.
• 43 degrees from Charibert von Neustria - 41st great grandfather (Uncertain)

Answer 4

•  19 degrees from Katherine Swynford
• 15 degrees from Renée Breau
• 16 degrees from Jane Coles
• 33 degrees from Gothfraid Of Lochlann 32nd great grandfather
• 32 degrees from Ímar of Waterford 32nd great grandfather
• 32 degrees from Ocaan Ro
• 15 degrees from Michele Sauvagie
• 16 degrees from Catherine Strutt
• 14 degrees from John Thorpe
• 40 degrees from Charibert von Neustria 40th great grandfather
• 23 degrees from Katharina von Pfannberg 

Answer 5

I am most closely connected to Jane Coles at 21 degrees. Her 11x great granddaughter married my 2nd cousin 3x removed.

Comments

Jane Coles is my closest connection too (18 degrees) but who is she?

Answer 6

17 degrees from Michele Sauvagie.

17 degrees from John Thorpe.

18 degrees from Renee Breau.

18 degrees from Catherine Strutt.

19 degrees from Katherine Swynford. 18th great grandmother.

24 degrees from Katharine von Pfannberg. 2nd cousin 24 times removed of her husband, Meinbardt Gorizia. MRCA Konrad (Plast) Grogowski (aft 1229 - aft 1273).

31 degrees from Imar of Waterford. 31st great grandfather, some uncertainty.

31 degrees from Ocaan Ro.

33 degrees from Gothfraid of Lochlann. 32nd great grandfather.

41 degrees from Charibert von Newstria. 40th great grandfather.

Answer 7

Two of the women in this group are among my 12G grandmothers and are 14 steps from me:

• Michele Sauvagie
• Catherine Strutt

But I won't look for any possible mtDNA connections to either of them. Michele Sauvagie is an ancestor of my maternal grandfather and Catherine Strutt is an ancestor of my paternal grandfather.

My most distant connection on this list is 41 degrees from Charibert von Neustria, who is very distant in time.  Remarkably he is supposedly an ancestor (41G grandfather), but I'm not much interested in investigating the connection.

Answer 8

12 degrees from Renée Breau (10th ggm)
14 degrees from Michele Sauvagie (12th ggm)
16 degrees from Catherine Strutt
17 degrees from John Thorpe
17 degrees from Jane Coles (15th ggm)
20 degrees from Katherine Swynford (18th ggm)
24 degrees from Katharina von Pfannberg
32 degrees from Ímar of Waterford (30th ggf)
33 degrees from Ocaan Ro
35 degrees from Gothfraid Of Lochlann (33rd ggf)
43 degrees from Charibert von Neustria (41st ggf)

Answer 9

The closest by degrees is Michele Sauvagie at 15 degrees (with no relationship).

Katharina von Pfannburg is my 18 great, grandmother and Charibert is my 40th great, grandfather,

Answer 10

Been working on this just last night. Katherine Swynford is my 17th GGramama. I love that she is the sister-in-law of Geoffrey Chaucer.

Comments

Thanks for pointing out her sister.  If Katherine’s mother was added (i.e. Unknown Unknown) then five more people would have Katherine’s mtDNA associated with their profiles: her mother, her sister, and her sister’s three children.

Answer 11

13 Degrees Michele Sauvagie, two branches (4-10)

15 Degees Catherine Strutt, two branches (7-9)

16 Degrees John Thorpe, four branches (2-2-4-9)

17 Degrees Jane Coles, three branches (6-3-9)

17 Degrees Renée Breau, three branches (8-2-8)

20 Degrees Katherine Swynford, two branches (12-9)

24 Degrees Katharina von Pfannberg, six branches (2-5-1-1-1-15)

33 Degrees Gofraid of Lochlann, Ancestor, 32nd great grandfather, one branch (34)

33 Degrees Ivar II of Waterford, three branches (7-14-13)

34 Degrees Ocann Ro, four branches (13-4-9-9)

41 Degrees Charibert von Neustria, Ancestor, 39th great grandfather, one branch (42)

Answer 12

Wow.  I'm only 12 degrees from Michele Sauvagie, my 10th great grandmother.  No chance of mitochondrial DNA, though.

In terms of connections the others range from 16 to 43 degrees.  There are three distant grandparents, but (no surprise) a mix of males and females along the way.  No DNA confirmation for me :).

Answer 13

I am most closely connected to Renée Breau at 15 degrees of separation.

• 15 degrees from Renée Breau
• 16 degrees from Michele Sauvagie
• 18 degrees from John Thorpe
• 19 degrees from Jane Coles
• 20 degrees from Catherine Strutt
• 20 degrees from Katherine Swynford
  • 18th great grandmother
• 25 degrees from Katharina von Pfannberg
• 33 degrees from Ímar of Waterford
  • 33rd great grandfather
• 35 degrees from Gothfraid Of Lochlann
  • 33rd great grandfather
• 36 degrees from Ocaan Ro
• 43 degrees from Charibert von Neustria
  • 41st great grandfather

Answer 14

• 15 degrees - Michele Sauvagie
• 17 degrees - Jane Coles
  • 15th great-grandmother
• 19 degrees - John Thorpe
• 20 degrees - Renée Breau
• 20 degrees - Catherine Strutt
• 23 degrees - Katherine Swynword
• 27 degrees - Katharina (Pfannberg) von Pfannberg
• 35 degrees - Ímar of Waterford
  • No connection, but my grandmother was fully Irish, so it's possible.
• 36 degrees - Ocaan Ro
• 37 degrees - Gofraid of Lochlann
  • 38th great grandfather (Uncertain)
• 44 degrees - Charibert von Neustria
  • 45th great-grandfather (Uncertain)

Answer 15

Gothfraid of Lochlann is my 33rd great grandfather and so is Ivar II of Waterford

Charibertus, Nobilis was my 41st great grandfather

Degree-wise, I am most closely related to 16 degrees from Renée Breau and 16 degrees from John Thorpe

Answer 16

I am related to two of the extraordinary DNA ancestors:

1) 35º Gothfraid of Lochlann: 36th  great granddaughter

2) 42º Charibert von Neustria: 43rd great granddaughter

Other non-related extraordinary DNA ancestors:

14º Renee Breau; 15º Michele Sauvagie and Catherine Strutt; 16º John Thorpe; 17º Jane Coles; 22º Katherine Swynford; 25º Katharina von Pfannberg; 33º Imar of Waterford and Ocaan Ro

 

Answer 17

My closest connection is 12 degrees from Renee Breau. But that connection is through my French Canadian spouse.

My husband is a direct descendant of Renee Breau. He is a 9th great grandson of Renee Breau. He is also 11 degrees from Renee Breau.

Answer 18

I am 22 degrees from Karherine Swynford

22 degrees from Michele Sauvagie

23 degrees from Jane Cales

23 degrees from John Thorpe

23 degrees from Katharina von Pfannberg

24 degrees from Catherine Strutt

26 degrees from Rene'e Breau

28 degrees from Betsy Ko (23rd cousin five times removed

33 degrees from Imar of waterford

36 degrees from Gothfraid of Lochlann

36 degrees from Ocaan Ro

41 degrees from Charibert von Neustria (39th great granddaughter)

Answer 19

Charibert von Neustria was my 39th great-grandfather.

Katherine Swynford was my 17th great-grandmother.

Answer 20

Francis Scott Key