Looking for Descendants of Mutiny on the Bounty Mutineers

HMS Bounty List of Mutineers

Here's an interesting DNA story. Phys.org writes that

"Ten pigtails of hair thought to be from seven mutineers of "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame and three of their female Polynesian companions will be analysed in a new collaboration between the Pitcairn Islands Study Centre at Pacific Union College (California, US) and the forensic DNA group at King's College London (UK)."

Since there are no hair roots in the saved pigtails, Y-DNA is not possible which means DNA analysis will not be able to trace male ancestry of the pigtail owners. However researchers are hopeful that mitochondrial DNA can be extracted. This will provide details of their maternal ancestry.

The pigtails on display in the US were housed in a nineteenth-century cylindrical tobacco tin. Also with the locks of hair was a handkerchief said to have belonged to Sarah, the daughter of William McCoy, one of the Bounty mutineers.
A worn, faded label with the pigtails notes that it is attached to the hair of William McCoy. The mutineer McCoy died on Pitcairn Island in 1800. Notes written on the label also state that the pigtails are of seven of the mutineers of H.M.S. Bounty and "also that of three of the Tahitian women," who accompanied the mutineers to Pitcairn in 1789.

Continue reading Forensic analysis of pigtails to help identify original 'mutineers of H.M.S. Bounty'

Baby Boy Hacht - Dead, or Kidnapped and Alive Today??

"A baby boy who was never named was born in July 1944, in Detroit, Michigan.  The family believes that he was kidnapped and another dead baby substituted for Baby Boy Hacht.  While at first this sounds improbable, if not incredulous, it isn’t." Source:DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy

Baby Boy Hacht's sister Patti and her brothers are looking for answers through the use of DNA. You, or someone you know, may be the key to this puzzle.

"The Y DNA of Baby Boy Hacht or his male child or male grandchild through a son will match that of Patti’s brother.  The autosomal DNA of Baby Boy Hacht or his children or grandchildren of any gender will match with Patti and her family." Source: DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy

 This incredible story needs no further explanation from me. Please read the full blog post at DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy

DNA links 5,500 year old remains to 200x Great-Grandaughter

This is an exciting find for scientists who studied DNA from various individuals in an attempt to match them with four very old skeletons found previously.

The study used DNA samples from 60 modern members of the indigenous Tsimshian, Haida and Nisga’a tribes from the Metlakatla First Nation for a study.  The samples were compared with mitochondrial DNA extracted from the teeth of four ancient people: two skeletons aged 6,000 years and 5,500 years unearthed in an ancient shell midden on Lucy Island, and two skeletons aged 5,000 years and 2,500 years found on Dodge Island.

Three living individuals had DNA matches with the older Dodge Island skeleton, and three of the skeletons matched at least one living person.  The oldest Lucy Island skeleton didn’t match any living relatives, but did match a 10,300-year-old skeleton previously unearthed on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. [Source: Abroad in the Yard]

Continue reading this fascinating story at

DNA links 5,500 year old remains of aboriginal woman found in Canada and her 200 x great-grandaughter who still lives nearby

You too can test your DNA with Ancestry DNA Kit Please note that these kits can only be shipped to a USA address.