My presentations at Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013

Both of my presentations from the recent Genetic Genealogy Ireland conference held in Dublin from 18th to 20th October can now be found on the Genetic Genealogy Ireland YouTube channel. You can watch the recordings on YouTube or click on the links below.

 DNA for Beginners: The Three Tests


Chromosomes, Conquerors and Castles: DNA and the Cruise/Cruwys/Cruse One-Name Study 


The handout for my talks can be downloaded from my Dropbox account.

New editor of JOGG

The following announcement was written by Dr Ann Turner and is reproduced with her kind permission:

The editorial board of the Journal of Genetic Genealogy (JoGG)  is very pleased to announce that Dr. Turi King has accepted the position of editor.

Dr. King's PhD thesis topic was The relationship between British surnames and Y-chromosomal haplotypes and she is also co-author (with George Redmonds and David Hey) of the book Surnames, DNA and Family History. Dr. King is currently a Research Fellow in the Department of Genetics and the School of  Historical Studies at the University of Leicester, where she is the project manager for an interdisciplinary project The Impact of Diasporas on the Making of Britain. Turi has worked on the Y chromosome since 1996 and has concentrated on surnames, the Y chromosome and genetic genealogy (among other studies) for over ten years. More details about her background and interests can be found at http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/genetics/people/king/turi.

Dr. King will assume her duties in the fall. In the meantime, prospective authors may send manuscripts to me DNACousins at aol.com so they will be in the pipeline when she begins the process of sending articles out for peer review. The current guidelines can be found at http://www.jogg.info/authors.htm, although Dr. King is at liberty to revise these. Our goal is to make JoGG a respected and even a favored destination for authors and readers alike.

FTDNA group administrators' conference

The Family Tree DNA Group Administrators' Conference took place this year from 4th to 6th November in Houston, Texas. An outline of the conference schedule can be found on the FTDNA website. The conference was attended by around 200 DNA project administrators, mostly from America but with a few travelling from other countries. A number of project administrators have written reports from the conference on their blogs with details of the many interesting developments that have taken place at Family Tree DNA in the last year and news of what we can expect in the coming months.

Ce Ce Moore has provided a very comprehensive report from the conference on her Your Genetic Genealogist blog:

- Family Tree DNA's 7th International Conference on Genetic Genealogy - Day One
- Family Tree DNA's 7th International Conference on Genetic Genealogy - Day Two

Emily Aulicino has also provided an excellent two-part overview of the conference on her Genealem blog.

- 7th Annual Family Tree DNA International Conference Part 1
- 7th Annual FTDNA International Conference Part 2

Tim Janzen has posted two very thorough reviews with lots of technical details about Family Tree DNA's Walk through the Y project on the Genealogy DNA list:

- Tim Janzen's Notes from Day 1 of the FTDNA Conference
- Tim Janzen's Notes from Day 2 of the FTDNA Conference

Debbie Parker Wayne has written a report from the conference entitled Hat Tip to Citizen Scientists.

Dave Dowell has written a very brief blog posting about the conference and hints that an FTDNA sale is in the offing.

Thomas Krahn has put his presentation on the Walk through the Y project online on his DNA Fingerprint website.

Joan Miller has written a brief summary on her Luxegen blog and posted photos from the conference on her profile at Google+.

It is expected that the Powerpoint slides for most of the presentations will be eventually be made available to FTDNA group administrators on the Family Tree DNA website.

© 2011 Debbie Kennett

Irish DNA Atlas Project

A very interesting new DNA Project for Ireland is to be launched at the "Back To Our Past" show in Dublin on 21st October. The Irish DNA Atlas Project is a joint initiative between the Genealogical Society of Ireland and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. The project's first newsletter states that the project has two purposes:

1. To further our knowledge of the population history of Ireland and its connections with other populations in Europe.
 2. To help us understand how genes influence health in Ireland through the creation of a resource for use as 'healthy' controls in researching how genes influence common diseases in Ireland, including (though not confined to) diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

 They are recruiting people with all eight great-grandparents born in Ireland. All of the eight great-grandparents should be born in the same general area of Ireland so that their DNA is representative of that particular region. The project is open both to Irish residents and people living overseas who meet the qualifying criteria.

The project will be using Y-chromosome DNA, mitochondrial DNA and autosomal DNA. I can't find any information in the newsletter about the tests that will be done but I assume they will be doing chip sequencing along the lines of the People of the British Isles Project.

Further information can be found in the Irish DNA Atlas Project newsletter. This can be read online here but the PDF cannot be downloaded without paying a fee to access the hosting company's premium service.

© 2011 Debbie Kennett

The Cruise surname

Cruise is a very old Irish surname of Anglo-Norman origin which has been present in Ireland since the Anglo-Norman invasion in 1169. The family held lands in Dublin and in County Meath. In early records the name is mostly spelt Cruys, and sometimes Cruce or Crues, but the spelling evolved to Cruise, and this is now the predominant spelling of the surname in Ireland today. Some time before 1176 Augustino de Cruce witnessed a grant by Strongbow of land in Dublin,¹ and this is the earliest reference to the surname in Ireland found to date. In about 1200 the lands of Stephen de Cruwes were confiscated by order of the king. He was subsequently allowed to regain possession of these lands on payment of fifteen marks.² There are a number of early references to the surname in the Calendars of the Patent Rolls. There was a Philip de Cruce in Dublin in 1229, and Miles de Cruys held lands in the manor of Balimaglassan in County Meath in 1279. Also in 1279 Sir Hugh de Cruys was granted "certain demesnes" in Ireland for his "good service in [the] Irish wars".³ A Robert de Cruys of Nalle, Co. Meath, died in 1292 and it was noted in his inquisition post mortem that he held "tenements at Nalle, Ardmays, Cruys, and Moderath".⁴ The castle in Naul that was once the family seat in Dublin is now sadly in ruins, but the name lives on in the townland of Cruiserath in Finglas parish, County Dublin. In County Meath the family possessed the castles and estates of Cruisetown (now known as Cruicetown), Moydorragh (possibly the Moderath cited in 1279) and Rathmore. The surname Cruise has now spread around the world and is found today in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the United States, but the highest density of the surname is still to be found in Ireland, particularly in County Dublin.

I have been collecting records on the Cruise surname for some time and I have now officially expanded my one-name study to include Cruise as a variant spelling. DNA evidence has already suggested that there is a link between the Cruwys family of Cruwys Morchard in Devon and the Anglo-Norman Cruises. The Devon family is well documented and the family tree can be traced back to the thirteenth century with reasonable confidence, helped by the fact that the family have been Lords of the Manor of Cruwys Morchard continuously from the 1200s to the present day. Irish records are more problematic, and none of the Irish Cruise lines that have been researched to date can be traced back much before the late 1700s, though there are many medieval records that have yet to be explored. We are hoping that genetic evidence will help to fill the gaps in the genealogical record, and will also provide clues as to the origins of the surname in France or Belgium. To this end I am hoping to recruit more Irish Cruises to my DNA project. A sponsor has generously provided funding and I am now able to offer free Y-DNA tests to any Cruise men with documentary proof that they have a Cruise ancestor on the paternal line who was born in Ireland. The offer is open on a first come first served basis but preference will be given to men living in Ireland. The offer is restricted to two free kits per lineage and no men closer than third cousins will be tested. If you are interested in taking part do get in touch. Full details of the offer can be found in a flyer which can be downloaded here.

References
1. T. Gilbert (ed.), Register of the abbey of St Thomas, Dublin (London, 1889), 370. Cited in An Archaeological and Historical Assessment of Cruicetown Church and Graveyard, Cruicetown, Co. Meath. Commissioned by the Cruicetown Cemetery Conservation Committee and carried out by the Discovery Programme’s Medieval Rural Settlement Project, issued 27 May 2005. Available from the Heritage Council. 
2. H.S. Sweetman, Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, 5 vols (London, 1875-86), i, no. 113, 17. Cited in An Archaeological and Historical Assessment of Cruicetown Church and Graveyard Cruicetown, Co. Meath. Commissioned by the Cruicetown Cemetery Conservation Committee and carried out by the Discovery Programme’s Medieval Rural Settlement Project, issued 27 May 2005. Available from the Heritage Council.
3. Knights of Edward I. Volume I: A to E. Notices collected by Rev. C. Moor, The Harleian Society, 1929, p257.

4. Knights of Edward I. op. cit.,  p257.

© Debbie Kennett 2011

A Day Conference on Ancient Britons, Europe and Wales

A very interesting day conference is being held at the National Museum, Cardiff, on 4th June 2011. The subject of the conference is "Ancient Britons, Europe and Wales: New Research in Genetics, Archaeology, and Linguistics". The conference is sponsored by the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies and The Learned Society of Wales. The conference programme is as follows:

Professor Marc Clement (Vice Chancellor, University of Wales) Welcome 9.30

Professor John T. Koch (CAWCS) Wales, the ancient Iberian Peninsula, and the end of Celtic Studies as we know it 9.40

Professor Sir Walter Bodmer (Oxford) The genetic structure of the British populations and their surnames 10.25

Tea 11.20

Dr Stuart Needham (National Museum of Wales) Cultural Connections in the Maritime World of the Bronze Age 11.45

Dr Catriona Gibson (CAWCS) ‘Verging on Atlantic’: Bronze Age entanglements along the coastal zones of Ireland, Wales and Iberia 12.30

Lunch 13.10–14.25

Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe (Oxford) The Celts: our changing vision 14.30

Professor Mark Jobling (Leicester) Power and limitations of genetics in studying (pre)history 15.15

Discussion 16.00

Close 16.45

A flyer for the conference can be seen here [Link no longer available].

The registration form can be downloaded here [Link no longer available].

Professor Sir Walter Bodmer is the lead researcher on the People of the British Isles Project, whose results are eagerly anticipated. Professor Mark Jobling is the Professor of Genetics at Leicester University and is the co-author of some of the key papers on the Y-chromosome that have been published in the last decade.

I have booked to attend the conference along with some of my fellow ISOGG members and DNA project administrators. It promises to be a very interesting day.

Major update to Y-chromosome tree

The following e-mail has been sent out to all group administrators at Family Tree DNA:

Dear Group Administrator
We are excited to announce that we have updated our Y Chromosome Phylogenetic Tree to reflect new haplogroup sub-branches!

Family Tree DNA, in partnership with the YCC  [Y chromosome consortium], periodically reviews known SNPs in order to evaluate those that meet the requirements to be added to the haplotree. The SNPs that passed this review are now included in the haplotree and considered for deep clade testing.

Along with this update to the tree, we have implemented some changes in the ordering process for deep clade and SNP testing:

• We now offer a universal deep clade test for $89. This will identify a customer’s terminal SNP for any haplogroup.
• If a customer has pending results for a deep clade test, they will automatically be tested according to the new tree.
• If a customer has never ordered a deep clade test, they will have the option either to order the universal deep clade for $89 or order individual SNPs from the tree.
• We will no longer be offering a deep clade extension product. For customers interested in upgrading to the new tree, it may be more economical to order the universal deep clade for $89 if there are 4 or more new SNPs available to them (each SNP is $29 individually). If there are less than 4 new SNPs available for a customer, they will not be offered the universal deep clade test and should order the SNPs individually from the tree since this is the most cost-effective option. Newly available SNPs are shown on the haplotree in orange.

The most noticeable change with the introduction of the new nomenclature is that the old haplogroup R1b1b2, which accounts for about 70% of the men in the British Isles, has been renamed as haplogroup R1b1a2. For those who are interested in the technical details the reason for this change is that M18, which was previously R1b1bc1, has now been found to be upstream of V88. M18 was discovered in 1997 and therefore took precedence over the two parallel clades P297 (formerly R1b1a) and M335 (formerly R1b1b).  P297 and M335 were published in a paper by Karafat et al in 2008. As M18 was discovered first it therefore takes precedence and becomes R1b1a, causing P297 and M335 to be renamed. In older versions of the R1b tree M18 did in fact appear as R1b1a prior to the discovery of V88 (formerly R1b1c) in a Cruciani paper in 2010. I hope I've understood all that correctly. It all sounds terribly complicated! In reality it is much easier to use the shorthand versions of the haplogroup names such as R1b-P297 which obviates the need to remember all those complicated letters and numbers! The ISOGG Y-SNP tree has now been updated to conform with the new nomenclature and will continue to be updated as new SNPs are discovered. The ISOGG tree can be found here.

The new Family Finder test from FTDNA

In February this year Family Tree DNA announced the introduction of an exciting new DNA test called the Family Finder. The test is being rolled out in a phased release, and is currently available to existing customers only. It is scheduled to be launched to the general public in the coming weeks. Traditionally family historians have used Y-chromosome (Y-DNA) tests to look for surname matches in the direct paternal line, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) tests to find genealogical matches in the direct maternal line. The Family Finder looks at the 22 autosomal chromosomes to find matches on all your ancestral lines, but is best suited for finding matches with close cousins up to the fourth or possibly fifth cousin level. The test works by locating shared segments of DNA and predicting relationships based on the number and length of shared segments. FTDNA have provided an excellent set of FAQs (frequently asked questions) on the new test which can be found here. The FAQs are updated at regular intervals so it is worth checking back from time to time. A demo can be seen here. If you already have an FTDNA account make sure you are logged out before accessing the demo page.

Autosomal DNA is shuffled up and becomes diluted with each new generation. The following figures show the average amount of autosomal DNA shared with close relatives:

50% mother, father and siblings
25% grandfathers, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, half-siblings
12.5% first cousins
6.25% first cousins once removed
3.125% second cousins, first cousins twice removed
0.78% third cousins
0.20% fourth cousins

The percentages can vary. A son might for instance inherit 53% of his DNA from his mother, but only 47% from his father. While the Family Finder test is sensitive enough to detect shared DNA for most third cousins, some fourth cousins will test and not have a match. It is recommended wherever possible to test the oldest generations in your family to maximise your chances of finding matches with your more distant cousins. Rather than test myself I have therefore had tests done on my mother and father as part of the beta-testing programme. My dad's results have now come through. My mum unfortunately sent off the vials without including the brushes and is having to redo her test so it will be a while before I get her results! When the results came in I was very surprised to discover that my dad had 12 matches despite the fact that the test is still very new and there can be no more than a few thousand people in the database at present. One of his matches is in the second to fourth cousin range. The remaining matches are what FTDNA terms "speculative" and are in the fourth/fifth to distant cousin range. The screenshot below shows how the matches are presented with the names of the matches obscured for privacy. You will need to click on the picture to enlarge it to see the details.

As can be seen, the Family Finder picks out surnames in common and highlights them in bold. In this case it matched Reid with Rudd and Peden with Paddon, though as far as I can establish there is no known genealogical connection. A chromosome browser is provided so that you can see the location of the shared segments. The screenshot below shows the chromosome browser view with my dad's presumed second to fourth cousin. Names have been removed for privacy.

In this case my dad shares a chunk of autosomal DNA on chromosome 16 with his newly found cousin. If the relationship was closer there would be more matching segments. With a more distant match the segments would be smaller. It is also possible to compare the matching segments for up to three people at a time. The screenshot below shows a comparison between three matches in the fifth to distant cousin range who all have correspondingly smaller chunks of matching DNA, again with the names blanked out.

The Family Finder test will help to identify relatives but establishing where they belong in your family tree can only be achieved by traditional genealogical research. To get the best out of the test you will therefore need to do your own research on all your lines for at least three or four generations. You must also hope that the people you match will have done the equivalent research too wherever possible. I have now contacted most of my matches but we have not been able to find any connections as yet. The closest match lives in America. All her lines are from Germany and Denmark apart from one line which is from England. Unfortunately she has not yet been able to establish where in this country her English line originated, and the surname is not one which appears in my tree.

The speculative matches at the fifth to distant cousin level will in most situations not be worth pursuing because of the difficulties in researching every line back this far. I have already done a substantial amount of research on my father's line but it was quite sobering when I looked at his pedigree to see how far back I could trace all the branches.  Although I can trace some lines back to the 1600s, and in some cases back to the 1200s, I have been less successful with my research in some of the other lines. I can currently identify fourteen of my dad's sixteen great-great grandparents, but just eight of his thirty-two great-great-great grandparents. In most instances I've taken the line back beyond the censuses to a specific parish, but a substantial amount of parish register reconstruction in many different counties would now be required to trace these lines further back in time. I also have a substantial brick wall with a certain William Hunter who was born c.1798 in Scotland. He married in 1828 in Stepney and appears in both the 1851 and 1861 censuses in Limehouse in the East End of London where he rather unhelpfully tells us that he was born in Scotland with no indication as to the county or parish. There are rather a lot of William Hunters born around this time on the Scotland's People website and it would be a huge undertaking to trace and eliminate each one. I suspect that because of the large number of Scottish emigrants to America William Hunter will be responsible for the majority of my dad's matches with cousins on the other side of the Atlantic.

There are further Family Finder features in development. The test will eventually give percentages based on ethnic origin, though this feature would probably not tell me very much as I anticipate that I would be 100% European on both my maternal and paternal lines. More interestingly, I understand that results will eventually be reported for the X-chromosome, and there are plans for a separate X-chromosome browser. The X-chromosome has a special inheritance pattern which makes it easier to pinpoint the ancestor contributing the shared X-chromosome so this should be a very useful tool.

The Family Finder test is not a replacement for Y-DNA and mtDNA testing, but it can be a useful complement to those tests, and can be particularly useful for proving relationships in the last four or five generations. As with all DNA testing it is a tool which needs to be used in conjunction with the paper records. Its value will grow as the database becomes larger and there is more chance of finding meaningful matches. I've seen a lot of orders going through my FTDNA projects, and I'm sure that it will not take long for that to happen.

Updates
With effect from July 2013 the price of the Family Finder test has been reduced to just $99 (£60). See my blog post Autosomal DNA testing is now affordable for all for further details.

An X-chromosome matching service was added to the test in January 2014. For details see my blog post on Family Finder X-chromosome matching.

Read my article An autosomal DNA success story to understand how the test can work in practice.

See also my article Tracking DNA segments through time and space.

© Debbie Kennett 2010

Blood of the Irish DVD

Blood of the Irish is a major two-part documentary which was broadcast on Irish television last year. There was considerable disappointment at that time amongst the genetic genealogy community that the programme could not be seen in the United Kingdom, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and all the many other countries where the Irish diaspora can be found today. I am therefore delighted to report that the programme is now available on DVD from the production company Crossing the Line Films. Further information about the programme can be found on the RTE website here. The DVD will be region-free so that it can be viewed anywhere in the world. There is a standard three-Euro charge for shipping. The following press release was written by Crossing the Line films.

OUT ON 12 MARCH 2010

WINNER OF 2010 IRISH FILM AND TELEVISION AWARDS

BEST DOCUMENTARY SERIES

'Blood of the Irish'

Crossing The Line Films are delighted to announce the release of the IFTA-winning documentary series 'Blood of the Irish', a two-hour documentary that seeks the truth about the origins of Irish people.

Broadcaster Diarmuid Gavin travels to the heart of Africa and beyond in a quest to find the very origins of the Irish people. Who are the Irish and whose blood flows in our veins? A landmark series for RTÉ, Blood of the Irish explores the most fundamental questions about the Irish population; who were the first people to settle here and where did they come from? Why are the oldest Irish human remains less than 10,000 years old when just 100 kms away in Britain, human traces go back 700,000 years? Did the first Irish arrive overland on an ice bridge, or on a small fragile boat blown ashore by the winds of chance?

Produced by Crossing the Line Films, a veteran production company skilled at documentaries exploring history, science and adventure, the documentary is full of spectacular landscapes, cutting edge DNA studies, computer graphics, latest archaeology and prominent academic contributors. It also includes ordinary Irish people and their own quest for their origins – including even an appearance by Daniel O'Donnell.

For all those with an interest in Irish history and prehistory, geneaology, genetics, archaeology and general Irish studies, 'Blood of the Irish' is a showpiece documentary which offers an educational and approachable view into one of the great mysteries of Irish people. Who are we; and where do we come from?

Out on 12 March 2010 in retailers throughout Ireland and available region-free through the website www.ctlfilms.com

PG rated
RRP 17.99 euros

CONTACT:
Crossing The Line Films
Barr an Uisce, Killincarrig Road
Greystones, Co Wicklow
www.ctlfilms.com
Tel: (01) 287 5394

A lecture by Dr Spencer Wells at the National Geographic Store in London

On Sunday 13th December I was privileged to attend a lecture by Dr Spencer Wells at the National Geographic Store in London. Spencer Wells is a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and the Director of the Genographic Project, an exciting five-year scientific research programme which is attempting to compile the evolutionary human family tree by collecting DNA samples from around the world. The historical information in our DNA can also tell us about the migratory journeys of our ancient ancestors who left Africa some 60,000 years ago. This brief video provides an introduction to the Project.

The Genographic Project was launched in April 2005. To date over 60,000 DNA samples have been collected from indigenous populations around the world. The general public are also encouraged to take part in the project by purchasing a public participation kit. The response has been overwhelming, and has exceeded all expectations. Over 10,000 kits were sold on the very first day! Today over 330,000 public participation kits have been sold in 130 different countries. The research team have only just started to mine the data from the public kits, and scientific papers are promised in due course. All the data from the project will eventually be made public.

The Legacy Fund is an important component of the project. Proceeds from the sales of the kits are used to fund further field research and to support indigenous conservation and revitalisation projects. Dr Wells showed us some examples of the type of projects supported. In Sierra Leone funds have been used to document the oral poetry of the indigenous population. In South America work is under way to catalogue the native plants and their traditional uses. In Australia work is being done to record and archive traditional music.

Dr Wells gave us a fascinating insight into the difficulties of collecting samples from some of the more remote countries in the world. Many of the countries visited have been off limits to outside researchers for a long time because of civil war or rebel activity. He found Chad in central Africa to be a particularly interesting place to visit. The country is known as the crossroads of Africa as it occupies a strategic position in the centre of the continent. The north of the country is largely desert whereas the south is a more fertile savanna zone. Dr Wells travelled across the Sahara in temperatures of 136 degrees Fahrenheit to collect samples from the remote tribes. Wherever possible blood samples are taken from indigenous peoples because more DNA can be extracted from blood, and it is not known if an opportunity will ever arise again to visit these remote places. For the public participation programme a simple cheek swab is required. For the most part the local population are thrilled to participate in the research and are fascinated to learn more about their history through their DNA. There have however been problems in countries which were once under colonial rule, especially where land rights are involved, and the project is working closely with Native Americans and Aborigines to increase their participation.

At the end of the lecture there was a very lively question and answer session, and it was clear from the questions that the subject had inspired the public interest. Dr Wells was available after the talk to sign copies of his book Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project. He also told us that he has a new book due out in June 2010 entitled Pandora's Seed: the Unforeseen Cost of Civilisation which will focus on society and culture rather than genetics. Dr Wells is now starting to work on The Genographic Source Book, a huge compendium of all the data generated from the project, which is scheduled to be published in 2011.Further information can be found on the Genographic Project website. Public participation kits can be purchased in the UK from the National Geographic online store for £68.94 plus £4.95 for postage and packing. Kits are also on sale at the National Geographic Shop at 83-97 Regent Street, London, W1B 4E1, but are much more expensive at £99 (the same price in sterling as the retail price in dollars in the US!). Not surprisingly, therefore, very few of the people attending the lecture actually bought a kit on the day. If you are interested in purchasing a kit I would therefore recommend ordering direct from the National Geographic online store. Outside the UK, kits can be ordered direct from the Genographic Project website in America. The shipping costs are however very expensive for anyone not living in the US or Canada. For many people it will be more economical to test first through a surname or geographical project at Family Tree DNA and then transfer their results to the Genographic Project. To do so visit your FTDNA personal page, click on the Genographic Project link under Tools and follow the instructions. You will be asked to agree to the Project's consent terms, and there is a nominal fee of US $15 per test. Proceeds from this fee will be directed to the Legacy Project. For those people who test first with the Genographic Project I would recommend transferring your results to the Family Tree DNA database, where you can join the relevant surname, geographical and haplogroup projects, and order upgrades and further tests as required.
The Genographic Project will test either your mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down each generation from mother to child and reveals your direct maternal ancestry; or your Y chromosome (males only), which is passed down from father to son and reveals your direct paternal ancestry. I've already had my own mitochondrial DNA tested through Family Tree DNA, and have added my results to the Genographic Project database. I shall follow the progress of the project with interest and shall look forward to reading the research papers as they are published.

DNA article in Family History Monthly

The October issue of Family History Monthly is now on sale in the UK. It is a DNA special with a four-page article by yours truly on DNA testing. There is also an interesting article by Chris Pomery on the use of DNA in the Dr Crippen case, and a competition to win a free DNA test from Family Tree DNA. I am currently the project administrator of three DNA projects at Family Tree DNA. I have two surname projects for the surnames Cruwys/Cruse and Kennett. I also run a geographical project for the county of Devon. I would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in joining these projects.

DNA Projects for the British Isles

I find that I am increasingly spending time advising people on which geographical projects to join at Family Tree DNA. I always recommend that people should test within a surname project wherever possible as you are most likely to have a match with someone with the same surname. (For a basic introduction to DNA testing please read my article here.) However, there are many surnames for which no projects have yet been established. The prospect of setting up a surname project might well be a daunting task for some people. If you are hoping to get an elderly relative to take a test on your behalf you will want to ensure that his or her DNA is stored before it is too late, and there will not necessarily be time to wait until a suitable DNA project has been established. A useful alternative in such situations is to test with a geographical project. In this way you can benefit from the discounted project pricing and the free 25-year archival storage provided by Family Tree DNA. Some geographical projects focus on both Y chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Others focus specifically either on Y-DNA or mtDNA. Geographical projects can be a particularly useful repository for mtDNA results as you are most likely to have a meaningful match with someone from the same location. Family Tree DNA have an alphabetical list of geographical projects on their website, but it is a time-consuming task sorting through the list to see if there is a project for a particular area of interest. I have therefore compiled this list of geographical projects relating to the British Isles for the benefit of UK researchers. Once you have tested with Family Tree DNA you can join as many other relevant projects as you wish. There are some overlapping projects and it will usually be possible to join both projects. I have excluded from the list some projects which no longer appear to be active. If you know of any projects which are missing from the list please get in touch and I will be happy to include them. All the projects at Family Tree DNA are run by volunteer administrators who decide on the criteria for joining their projects. Some projects have very specific requirements, whereas others are very broad.

English DNA Projects
There are currently very few English geographical projects, and a number of the projects in this list, including my own new Devon project, have only been set up in the last few years. There will no doubt be many new projects established in the months and years to come as more people from the UK get their DNA tested. If anyone is interested in running an English county project and would like some idea of the work involved please get in touch. I would be particularly interested in hearing from anyone who might be interested in setting up a Somerset project as I have a number of people who have expressed an interest in joining such a project. The following is a list of all known active projects for English counties and regions:

Birmingham and West Midlands mtDNA Project
Project members must have a paper trail back to Birmingham or those areas close by in the West Midlands (Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire). Only those people who have taken a high-resolution mtDNA test (HVRI and HVR2) are eligible to join.

Colchester Camilla Project
The Colchester Camilla Project was set up in February 2011. It is a geographical project for everyone with a direct paternal or maternal ancestral line originating in or around the town of Colchester in Essex. The project is aiming to show a genetic link with the DNA taken from human remains of people who lived in or around Colchester during the Romano-British period (43AD to 410AD). Further information on the archaeological findings in Colchester can be found here.

Cornwall Y-DNA Project
A new Y-DNA project established in July 2011. The project is restricted to those who have a good paper trail to Cornwall on their paternal line.

Cornwall mtDNA Project
This project is for anyone with an ancestor on the direct maternal line who lived in Cornwall.

Devon Y-DNA and mtDNA Project
My Devon DNA Project was only established in March 2009 but has already attracted over 130 participants. The project is open to everyone with a direct paternal or maternal ancestral line from Devon, and participants must have a documented paper trail to Devon. The project specifically excludes deep-rooted lines from America where the only connection with Devon is in the 1500s or 1600s, as these pedigrees are prone to error and are very difficult to verify. There is also the possibility of a non-paternal event leading to the introduction of non-Devon DNA.

East Anglia Y-DNA and mtDNA Project
The East Anglia DNA Project is for anyone whose paternal or maternal line can be traced to East Anglia. For the purposes of the project East Anglia is defined by its historical boundaries, which include the counties of Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, plus northern Essex and southeast Lincolnshire. Although the bulk of the participants have been tested at Family Tree DNA the project is hosted on an external website and is therefore able to accommodate results from other testing companies.

Hampshire Y-DNA Project
The Hampshire project is open to anyone with a direct paternal line from Hampshire.

Manx Y-DNA Project
A new DNA project launched in August 2010 by Guild of One-Name Studies member John Creer.

Nidderdale Y-DNA and mtDNA Project
A new Y-DNA and mtDNA geographical project launched in 2011 by Guild of One-Name Studies member Nigel Brooks. The project is open to everyone with a direct paternal or maternal ancestral line originating in this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the county of North Yorkshire.

Northumberland Y-DNA and mtDNA Project
This project is open to "all with any association with the county of Northumberland".

Oxfordshire Y-DNA and mtDNA Project
The Oxfordshire DNA project is a dual DNA project which is collecting Y-DNA and mtDNA results for people with a direct paternal or maternal ancestral line from Oxfordshire. Participants must have a documented paper trail to Oxfordshire prior to 1900.

Ravenstonedale DNA Project
A DNA project for people with any of the surnames found in the parish of Ravenstonedale in Westmorland. Participants must have a documented paper trail to an ancestor who lived in Ravenstonedale before 1800. The project accepts Y-DNA, mtDNA and  Family Finder results.

Saddleworth Surnames DNA Project
A new Y-DNA project established in December 2013 which is investigating the surnames of Saddleworth in Yorkshire. Updates are posted on the project's Saddleworth History Blog.

Yorkshire Y-DNA and mtDNA Project
A new project established in July 2013 for people with proven or suspected Yorkshire heritage on the direct paternal or maternal line.

Irish DNA Projects
The Ireland Heritage Project is the largest country-specific project in the world with almost 5,000 Y-DNA participants and over 1000 mtDNA participants as of March 2013. The project has its own website with background information on the project and tips and resources for researching in Ireland. The Y-DNA and mtDNA projects have separate project pages at Family Tree DNA:

Ireland Heritage Y-DNA Project

Ireland Heritage mtDNA Project

These projects welcome respectively those with paternal or maternal lines of Irish origin regardless of whether or not the county of origin is known.

Munster Irish Y-DNA Project
This is a research project focusing on the historical families of Munster present in pre-Norman times, studying the ancestral haplotypes prevalent in the province.

Ulster Heritage Y-DNA Project
The Ulster Y-DNA Project aims to "further the study of Ulster surnames, families, clans, and tribal affiliations of the people of Ulster and their descendants throughout the Diaspora". The project is open to anyone with Ulster ancestry which includes "Ulster families of Native Irish, Hebridean Gael, Ulster Scot and English Settlers, Norman, Welsh, Frisian, Manx, etc., origins".

Ulster Heritage mtDNA Project
The Ulster Heritage mtDNA Project is open to all men and women who have Ulster ancestry.

Irish clans
There are in addition a number of projects devoted to the various Irish clans. A listing can be found on the Clans of Ireland website.

Scottish DNA Projects

Scottish DNA Project
The Scottish DNA Project (formerly the Scottish clans projects) was established in October 2001. It was one of the very early geographical projects, and is now the largest geographical with over 5,500 members as of March 2013. The project is now administered by the Genealogical Studies team at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. The Scottish DNA blog provides news and updates from the project.

Border Reivers Y-DNA Project
This project has been set up to test the Y-DNA profiles of members of the families found along the Anglo-Scottish Border who are collectively known as the Border Reivers. A full list of surnames associated with the Border Reivers clans can be found on the Electric Scotland website. The project is also open to descendants of 'transplants' to Ulster, the United States, Canada, Australia, and around the world.

Isles of the Hebrides Y-DNA and mtDNA Project
This project is open to those people whose ancestors in either the direct paternal or maternal line resided on one of the Isles of the Hebrides.

Mid Argyll Y-DNA Project
A study of a group of families from mid Argyll who are often referred to as the MacLachlans of Dunadd (Clann Mhic Lachlainn of Dunadd).

Orkney Y-DNA and mtDNA project
The project has not defined the entry criteria, and appears to be open to everyone with ancestry form Orkney.

Shetland Islands Y-DNA and mtDNA Project
The Shetland DNA Project is "only open to those who can show with genealogical records that their ancestor in either the direct paternal or maternal line resided in Shetland in the 1800s or earlier". In addition the ancestor's name should appear in the Shetland families database. A patronymic naming system was common in the Shetlands among Norse families until the 1800s and DNA testing will help researchers to make genetic connections further back in time.

Scotland and the Flemish People Y-DNA Project
A project focusing on Scottish families with Flemish roots. The project is being developed in tandem with Scotland and the Flemish People, a research project run by the Institute of Scottish Historical Research at St Andrews University

Individual Scottish clan projects
There are numerous individual Scottish clan projects, many of which will include a variety of different surnames. The Clan Donald DNA Project is now "the largest family-based genetic genealogy project in the world" and was the first project to acquire 1,000 members. A listing of Scottish clan projects can be found on the Scotland DNA Project website.

Welsh DNA Projects

Wales Y-DNA and mtDNA Project
The Wales DNA Project is attempting to collect the DNA haplotypes of as many persons as possible who can trace their Y chromosome and/or mtDNA lines to Wales. Project members are required to submit an ancestral chart.

The Welsh Patronymics Y-DNA and mtDNA Project
The Welsh Patronymics project was launched on 6 December 6 2002 and focuses on the patronymic-style surnames (Williams, Jones, and Roberts, etc) which are found in Wales.

The British Isles Y-DNA and mtDNA Project
If there is no surname project for your surname and none of the geographical projects listed above meets your requirements another alternative is to test with the British Isles DNA Project. This is the largest geographical DNA project in the world with 4,552 project members at the time of writing. The project is very broad in its scope. It "is open to persons whose family history or surname indicates a paternal or maternal lineage originating in the British Isles, or who have a family tradition pointing back to the British Isles". Participants can therefore join even if they have not identified an ancestor who lived in the British Isles.

Other geographical projects
There are many other geographical projects for other countries and regions, and it is not possible to provide details here. There is however a very useful listing of DNA projects with 50 or more members on the World Families Network website where most of the large geographical projects can be found. DNA Ancestry is the only other testing company which hosts geographical projects. Their website does not have a public listing of geographical projects. The majority of Ancestry projects are however very small and are mostly duplicates of existing projects at Family Tree DNA. If anyone knows of any other geographical projects for the British Isles do let me know and I will add them to my list.

This page was last updated on 23rd May 2016.

© 2009-2016 Debbie Kennett

DNA news

Family Tree DNA have announced a special summer promotion for a limited period starting today and ending on 24th June 2009. They are offering a combined Y-DNA 37-marker test and mtDNA HVR1 test for the bargain price of $119 (approximately £74). The normal project price for a 37-marker Y-DNA test is $149 (£93), and the normal project price for the two tests combined is $248 (£154). FTDNA are therefore in effect offering the Y-DNA test at a discounted price and throwing in a free mtDNA test. If you have been considering participating in the Cruwys/Cruse/Crewes DNA Project and have been put off by the price, now is the ideal opportunity to buy a kit at this very special price. Note too that the pound/dollar exchange rate is currently much more favourable than it has been in recent months for those of us in the UK.

In addition to my Cruwys/Cruse/Crewes DNA Project I have also recently set up a new project for the English county of Devon. Further details about the Devon DNA Project can be found here. If you have friends or relatives with roots in Devon it would be much appreciated if you could encourage them to join this new project.

If you are interested in testing a different surname and you don't have Devon ancestry, Family Tree DNA now have over 5,400 surname projects, so there is a good chance that your friends or relatives will find that their surname is already represented. If not, then to take advantage of the special promotion they should join one of the geographical projects. There are projects for Hampshire, East Anglia, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. There is also a catch-all project for the British Isles. You can find a full listing here.

If you do not yet understand how DNA testing works then I recommend that you read my short article from the Berkshire Family Historian which can be found online here.

I have copied below the letter from FTDNA with full details of the special promotion.

Dear Family Tree DNA Group Administrator,

Last summer we offered a pricing special that was the most successful offering of its kind in our company’s history.

Many project administrators strongly supported our recruitment efforts and both their projects and our database grew significantly.

This year we will offer an early summer special with an unparalleled promotional discount.

Offer summary:

• Y-DNA37+mtDNA for $119. (The regular project price is $248 – a reduction of more than 50%!!)
• The promotion will begin on June 9, 2009 and will end on June 24, 2009
• Kits ordered in this sale must be paid for by June 30, 2009

This is your new members’ opportunity to skip past the Y-DNA12 and Y-DNA25 tests and get the best Y-DNA Genealogical test on the market in addition to an mtDNA test for an extremely reduced price!

I should also mention that according to one of our competitors’ method of counting markers our 37-marker test could also be called a "41-marker test" as we do test and report markers 464e, 464f, 464g, and DYS19b. Though we test them, it is very rare that individuals have results for these markers. Therefore, by our conservative counting method, our competitor's "33-marker test" is actually a "29-marker test". We mention this to make sure that you understand the difference between these tests and are able to compare "apples to apples".

So... I hope that with this promotion your project can gain many new members.

As always, that you for your continued support.

Max Blankfeld
Vice-President, Operations and Marketing
http://www.FamilyTreeDNA.com
"History Unearthed Daily"

If you have any questions about my DNA projects or DNA testing in general do please get in touch.

Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2009

I spent two enjoyable days on Friday and Saturday at the "Who Do You Think You Are?" show at Olympia in London. This year's show was much smaller in scale than last year, with fewer exhibitors and less of the razzmatazz. The absence of the military vehicles, the wargaming societies and the archaeologists meant that there was more space for the traditional genealogy suppliers to display their wares, and it was easier to move around the hall and visit the stands, as can be seen in the photo below which was taken late in the day on Saturday when the crowds had subsided. A new feature of this year's show was the DNA workshop, sponsored by Family Tree DNA. There were so many interesting talks that the only way I could fit them all in was by attending on two consecutive days!The first DNA talk on Friday was given by Max Blankfeld, Vice-President of Family Tree DNA. The company was set up in April 2000, and now has the largest genetic genealogy database in the world. On 9th February the company announced that they had reached an historic milestone having received their 500,000th order for a DNA testing kit. The database is now so large that male adoptees taking a Y-DNA test apparently have a 30% to 40% chance of matching someone bearing the surname of their biological father. FTDNA also carry out the testing for The Genographic Project, a ground-breaking study which has enabled scientists to track the migratory path of mankind around the world over thousands of years. The project launched in April 2005 after 18 months of planning. It was originally conceived as a five-year project, but has been so successful that it will now continue indefinitely. For those of you in the UK, DNA kits for the Genographic Project can be purchased over the counter at the National Geographic store in Regent Street, London. Kits can also be purchased online in the UK from their online store. The Genographic Project provides an excellent introduction to DNA testing for those people who are interested in their deep ancestry but whose surname is not yet represented in a DNA project. There is an option to add your results to the FTDNA database so that you can be notified of any subsequent matches.

Dr Michael Hammer, the chief Y-DNA scientist at Family Tree DNA, gave a very interesting and visual presentation about our deep ancestral origins. Scientists have now discovered over 600 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, known as SNPs (pronounced snips), in the Y-chromosome. A SNP is a change in a base in the DNA sequence which occurs over time. These SNPs can be used to identify population groups known as haplogroups. The tree of mankind is now divided into 20 major haplogroups which are designated by letters of the alphabet from A through to T.

Dr Doron Behar, the chief mtDNA scientist at Family Tree DNA, gave an equally interesting talk on mitochondrial DNA and the female line. His enthusiasm for mtDNA was infectious, and he has persuaded me to save up my money to upgrade to the full genome sequence mtDNA test!

Katherine Borges, the Director of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG), gave an informative talk about British DNA. She explained how we know Prince Philip's mitochondrial genetic signature, and warned of the limitations of autosomal testing as used for Colin Jackson on Who do you think you are? The DNA haplotypes (genetic signatures) of Prince Philip and other famous people can be found on the ISOGG website.

On Saturday I had the privilege to attend Megan Smolenyak's talk on DNA testing. Megan provided the big story of this year's WDYTYA. DNA testing has now revealed that Chris Haley, the nephew of the African-American writer Alex Haley, author of the historical novel Roots, is of Scottish ancestry. Chris met June Baff-Black, the daughter of his newly found DNA match, at WDYTYA on Saturday. The story has been widely reported elsewhere, and was also featured on the BBC news at breakfast time on Saturday. The best accounts can be found on Dick Eastman's blog, and in The Daily Telegraph.

Family Tree DNA were doing a roaring trade throughout the two days of the show that I attended. The stall always seemed to be crowded with people. There was so much interest that the supply of kits ran out and more had to be drafted in from elsewhere. I was surprised to see so many people swabbing their cheeks to provide the samples on the spot. The show went so well that FTDNA have already decided they will be back next year, and they are hoping to have a bigger area for the DNA talks.

Related links

• The Cruwys/Cruse/Crewes DNA project


• An introduction to DNA testing


• International Society of Genetic Genealogy


• Family Tree DNA

DNA pedigrees

I have been busy revamping the DNA project website and preparing outline pedigrees for the participants. The pedigrees can now be found on the website, and can be located by clicking on the results tab at the top of the page. Some project members have only just started out on their research, whereas other project members have been researching for 30 years or more. I have done extensive research on some of the lines, whereas others, and in particular the American lines, are completely new to me. The length of the pedigree does not however always reflect the time devoted to the research. Some lines are lost in London in the early 1800s whereas others go back for many centuries. The American research is particularly problematic because so many records were lost in the Civil War, and the records which are available are not as informative as their British counterparts. It's interesting to see the results in outline form because you can see at a glance how the surname has evolved over the years, often in different ways in different counties and countries. In one line in Wiltshire Cruse changed into Scruse, in two of the American lines Crews changed to Cruse, and in Newfoundland in Canada, Cruse changed to Crews. There is also the unusual Cruwys spelling which was only used from the late 1700s onwards to conform with the spelling used by the family at Cruwys Morchard in Devon. To complicate matters further the Cornish branch of the Cruwys Morchard family predominantly adopted the spelling Crewes. No doubt other evolutions of the surname will come to light as research progresses.

When I started the DNA project back in September 2007 I really had no idea what to expect, but the response has been most gratifying. We now have an astonishing 44 project members, far more than I ever anticipated. We've made some very interesting discoveries with matches linking together trees which were not previously known to be connected. We still have a number of people with no matches, and I hope that as more people come forward for testing they will get matches in due course which will enable them to progress their research. There are also a number of kits still being processed, some of which could potentially provide some interesting results. Do check out the pedigrees and if your line is not included do get in touch.

DNA discounts extended

I was very pleased to learn from Family Tree DNA that their Sizzling Summer Sale has now been extended until 30th September. Full details of the discounted prices can be found on the DNA Project website. The reduced prices for the last two weeks of August have already helped bring a few more people into the DNA Project, and we now have 33 participants from six different countries (England, France, Australia, Canada, America and Cambodia). Many people will have been on holiday in August so I hope that the extension of the sale will encourage a few more people to take part.

The sale couldn't have come at a better time as I have just had an article about DNA testing published in the September 2008 issue of the Berkshire Family Historian, the journal of the Berkshire Family History Society. The only Cruse in the BFHS is already a member of the project, but I hope that the publicity might help to attract some further interest. Dennis Wright has kindly made the article available on his website and a slightly expanded edition of the original article can now be found online here.

My mtDNA results

I've now received my mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) test results from Family Tree DNA. Somewhat surprisingly my maternal line belongs to haplogroup U4, a small Indo-European haplogroup which seems to be quite rare. The haplogroup is found in only 1.63% of the population of England and Wales. The highest frequencies of U4 are found in southern Siberia, and it is also found in Eastern Europe, the Urals, in some German-speaking populations and in a few lineages in India.

Brian Sykes gives names to the seven main European mitochondrial haplogroups in his book The Seven Daughters of Eve. All the women in Europe can supposedly trace their genetic ancestry back to one of these seven women. Haplogroup U4 is not one of Sykes's original clan mothers but is a sub-clade or sub-branch of haplogroup U, otherwise known as Ursula. "Ursula" lived around 45,000 years ago. "Ulrike" is of more recent origin and lived around 18,000 years ago. Sykes describes Ulrike thus: thus:

The clan of Ulrike (German for Mistress of All) is not among the original "Seven Daughters of Eve" clans, but with just under 2% of Europeans among its members, it has a claim to being included among the numerically important clans. Ulrike lived about 18,000 years ago in the cold refuges of the Ukraine at the northern limits of human habitation. Though Ulrike's descendants are nowhere common, the clan is found today mainly in the east and north of Europe with particularly high concentrations in Scandinavia and the Baltic states.

I have so far been able to trace my direct maternal line back to Mary Ann Butler, the daughter of James Butler, a labourer. Mary Ann was born in Purton, Wiltshire, in around 1815. She married Moses Ball in 1842 in Walcot, Somerset. Moses and Mary Ann had six children who were born in Sherston, Wiltshire, and Westonbirt, Gloucestershire. My maternal line continues with their daughter Hannah Ball, who moved to London and married William Saunders, a coachman and stage coach driver, on 16th June 1872 at the Parish Church of St Marks in North Audley Street. The other names in the later generations of my maternal line are Tidbury, Rattey and of course Cruwys.

Mutations occur much less frequently in mitochondrial DNA and the tests are therefore not so useful as the Y-DNA test which we are using for the Cruwys DNA Project. Most people who take the mtDNA test have large numbers of matches in the various databases. Not surprisingly, with my rare U4 haplotype, I do not have a single match in the Family Tree DNA database. I have also uploaded my results to Mitosearch, the public mtDNA database sponsored by Family Tree DNA, but again I do not have any matches. It is also possible to search the Mitosearch database by haplogroup. There are only 472 people in the whole world with my haplogroup in the database at present.

I regard the mtDNA test as an investment for the future. My grandmother was an only child and my great-grandmother was the only daughter in her family. My sister and I have both had sons so our direct maternal line is now at an end. Sons do of course inherit mtDNA from their mother but they cannot pass it on to the next generation. My mtDNA results will have more value as more people in the UK get tested and once I start to make further progress with my research into my maternal line in Wiltshire. With a rare haplogroup it should also be much easier to verify my maternal line.

Another DNA breakthrough

The DNA project continues to provide surprises. We now have a big breakthrough with the large Australian tree. The vast majority of the Cruwyses in Australia are descended from John Cruwys and Elizabeth Prichard who married in 1817 in Westminster, London. Their son, John George Cruwys, died in 1877 and two years later his widow Sarah Cruwys emigrated to Australia with her family. They sailed on the Blair Athole, arriving in Sydney on 4th March 1879. Despite much searching we have been unable to find any record of the baptism of John Cruwys senior. However, a descendant from this line has taken the DNA test and his results have now been received. He matches on 34 out of 37 markers with an English tester who is descended from the Wiveliscombe Cruwys tree. This line goes back to John Cruwys and Jone Lee who married in 1708 in Oakford in North Devon. Their son Richard Cruwys moved to Fitzhead in Somerset where he married Betty Moor. Later generations of the family settled nearby in Wiveliscombe. In 1794 Richard's son John Cruwys tried unsuccessfully to bring a claim against the Cruwys Morchard estate in the Court of Chancery. He claimed that he was a descendant of John Cruwys of Cheriton Fitzpaine, the shoemaker mentioned in the will of the Reverend John Cruwys of Cruwys Morchard.

The 34/37 match indicates that the two men have a 91.75% probability of sharing a common ancestor within 16 generations and a 99.21% probability of sharing a common ancestor within 24 generations. Further research will now be necessary to establish precisely where the two lines link, but at least we now have a focus for our research.

The testers from the Australian and Wiveliscombe trees rather surprisingly both belong to haplogroup G. They are predicted to be in haplogroup G2 but a haplogroup backbone test is required to confirm this prediction. Haplogroup G is very rare in the British Isles and only around 1% or 2% of men belong to this haplogroup. Further information on haplogroup G can be found here. Further information about the DNA project can be found here.

What this result also means is that we now have two distinct Cruwys groups, which is somewhat unexpected in view of the rarity of the surname. (There were only 126 people with the surname Cruwys in the 2002 UK Electoral Register.) The first haplogroup G result was so surprising that I initially assumed that it was a rogue result and was perhaps the result of a so-called "non-paternal event" in more recent times. With the two matching results from two men with the same surname this is clearly not the case. Oakford is just a few miles away from Cruwys Morchard, the ancestral parish of the Cruwys family. It seems inconceivable that the surname could develop independently in the same area of North Devon. I would therefore guess that there has been a non-paternal event in the distant past in one of the two Cruwys lines. The picture will become clearer as we test more people and more results are received. It is proving to be a most interesting voyage of discovery.

A DNA breakthrough

We have another interesting match from the DNA Project. The results are now through for the tester who is descended from the Berkshire/Wiltshire Cruse tree. He matches on 36 out of 37 markers with the tester from the South African Cruse tree. According to the Family Tree DNA Tip calculator the probability that the two men share a common ancestor within eight generations is 88.06%. Within 12 generations the probability increases to 97.1%. This result is particularly exciting because so far all attempts to find the origins of the South African tree have proved fruitless. I wrote about the search for Henry Cruse in one of my first blog postings entitled Shipwrecked in South Africa. Since that time countless records have been searched, particularly in London. A number of potential candidates have been identified but all the Henrys found so far have had to be eliminated as we have been able to track them through the English censuses and civil registration records. The DNA match is particularly welcome as it gives us a much more specific focus for the research. It was stated on Henry's death certificate that he was born in Great Britain. We will now be able to narrow the focus of the research and look specifically at the Wiltshire and Berkshire records in the hope that one day we will find the elusive baptism.

Another exciting DNA result

We now have another exciting result from the DNA project with a Cruwys in England and a Cruwys in America matching on 36 out of 37 markers. Based on this result, the Family Tree DNA calculator indicates that both these men have an 88.06% probability of sharing a common ancestor within eight generations. This fits in perfectly with the paper trail which indicates that both men are descended from William Cruwys and Margaret Eastmond who married in 1814 in the small village of Rose Ash in North Devon. William and Margaret had eight children, two of whom died in childhood. The English tester is descended from the youngest surviving son, Thomas Cruwys, who was baptised on 19th June 1831 in Burrington, Devon. Thomas was a tailor. He moved to Bristol where he married Anne Wall in 1860. The American tester is descended from William Cruwys and Sarah Burrows who married on 21st November 1848 in Prince Edward Island, Canada. The Canadian tree is now very well documented and accounts for nearly every single person in America and Canada with the surname Cruwys. We believe that the William who emigrated to PEI is the third son of William Cruwys and Margaret Eastmond, who was baptised on 21st January 1821 in Burrington. William junior makes his last appearance in the British records in the 1841 census when, at the age of 20, he was a male servant living in Chulmleigh, Devon. His mother Margaret and brother John were living in the same village. No trace of William can be found in any of the subsequent British censuses and there is no matching death registration in the General Register Office indexes.

Canadian research is particularly difficult because the civil registration system in PEI did not commence until 1906, and there are very few surviving passenger records. William's departure from England and his arrival in Canada are therefore not documented. His earliest appearance in the Canadian records is in 1848 with his marriage to Sarah Burrows. I have a copy of the marriage certificate from the PEI Archives but, unfortunately, unlike a British marriage record from this date, the certificate does not provide the fathers' names. There are however a number of clues which link William with Burrington, the first of which is the use of the distinctive name Augustus, which is used exclusively by the Burrington Cruwys family and was the name chosen by William and Sarah for one of their sons. William died on 19th October 1873 in Kingston, Queens, PEI. His age at death was said to be 52 years, which matches perfectly with the presumed 1821 baptism in Burrington. I have transcribed his will and published it online on Genuki. The Canadian records provide no clues as to the origins of Sarah Cruwys née Burrows. The censuses merely indicate that she was of English origin. It is however surely no coincidence that a Sarah Burrows was baptised on 3rd June 1822 in Burrington. It therefore seems highly likely that William and Sarah were childhood friends and it is quite possible that they sailed to PEI together on the same ship.