Three boxed DNA testing kits are on a wooden table surface: two kits are in navy boxes from Ancestry, and the remaining kit in the middle is a colourful box from My Heritage

Would you like a free autosomal DNA kit?

I have three autosomal DNA kits to give away: two Ancestry kits and one MyHeritage kit. If you’re over 18 and a UK resident, then you can find details of how to apply for one of these below. Submissions will remain open until the end of April 2023, so get your application in as soon as you can.… Read the rest

Six themed images: a line of coloured hats; a DNA helix; a journal; the exterior of the Victoria and Albert Museum; book Tunnel 29; and an Ishihashi slide to test for colour blindness

Autumn/Winter 2021 at The Parchment Rustler

Six themed images: a line of coloured hats; a DNA helix; a journal; the exterior of the Victoria and Albert Museum; book Tunnel 29; and an Ishihashi slide to test for colour blindness
Just a little hint of some of the themes I have in the pipeline for you here at The Parchment Rustler over autumn/winter 2021. Image credits: Ishihashi slide c/o Wellcome Collection, CC-BY 4.0; Tunnel 29 photo and Six Hats image (C) Sophie Kay.

You may have noticed that things have been a little quiet of late here at The Parchment Rustler – at least in terms of new articles coming out (believe me, the behind-the-scenes stuff never stops).… Read the rest

Welcome to The Parchment Rustler

Seven years old: I’m clutching a pen and my brother and I are asking questions, lots and lots of questions. The sheet of paper in front of us gradually fills with names – some we know, others we don’t. Bold lines crisscross the page, drafted out by my mother, ascending from the familiar names at the bottom to the strangers that lurk, barely discovered, near the top.Read the rest