Case Study Pinpointing the Grace English Paternal Ancestral Genetic Homeland

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1 Case Study Pinpointing the Grace English Paternal Ancestral Genetic Homeland Dr Tyrone Bowes 12 th June 2017

2 INTRODUCTION A simple painless commercial ancestral Y chromosome DNA test will potentially provide one with the names of many hundreds of individuals with whom one shares a common male ancestor. But what often perplexes people is how one can potentially match many individuals with different surnames? The answer is quite simple. Roughly 1,000 years ago one s direct medieval male ancestor, the first for example to call himself Grace was living in close proximity to others with whom he was related, but who assumed other surnames like Lyon, West, Beckham and Brock. In the 1,000 years since paternally inherited surnames were first adopted there will be many descendants of those individuals some of whom will today undergo commercial ancestral Y-DNA testing. Hence the surnames of one s medieval ancestor s neighbours will be revealed in today s Y-DNA test results. Surnames in England can still be found concentrated in the area where they first appeared, or in the area where ones ancestors first settled. One can therefore use census data to determine the origin of the surnames that appear in one s Y-DNA results, identifying an area common to all, and reveal ones Paternal Ancestral Genetic Homeland. The paternal ancestral genetic homeland is the small area (usually within a 5 mile radius) where one s paternal ancestors lived for hundreds if not thousands of years. It is the area where one s ancestor first inherited his surname surrounded by relatives who inherited others. It is the area where ones ancestors left their mark in its placenames, its history, and in the DNA of its current inhabitants. Since modern science can pinpoint a paternal ancestral genetic homeland it can also be used to confirm it by DNA testing individuals from the pinpointed area. Notes of caution! 1. Paternally inherited surnames were adopted in England after the arrival of the Normans in 1066AD. Surnames in England tend not to reflect a genealogical record of a surnames founding ancestor, but rather denote either a person s profession e.g. Taylor, Thatcher, Smith, a notable feature e.g. Short, Brown, Wise, or the place where they lived e.g. Townsend, Hill, York. As a result English surnames often have multiple points of origin, and hence potentially a large number of unrelated founding Adams. 2. Science has demonstrated that only 50% of individuals with a unique surname will be related to that surname s founding ancestor (the surname Adam), the other 50% of males will have an association that has arisen as a result of what are called non-paternal events, usually a result of adoption or maternal transfer of the surname. 3. Often people are looking for their DNA results to trace back to a specific area. One must remember that at present the results reflect one s ancestor s neighbours from around 1000 years ago. As a result if one s English ancestors were descended from Viking raiders or conquering Normans, then ones Y- DNA results will often reflect earlier continental European or Scandinavian origin. In Ireland for example, only 60% of those with Irish ancestry are related to the pre-christian Gaelic tribes. One must approach this process with an open mind!

3 INTERPRETING THE Y-DNA RESULTS To identify a paternal ancestral genetic homeland one must first identify the surnames that appear as one s genetic matches. With few Y-DNA genetic matches in the FTDNA database the test subject s results were analysed at Ysearch.org where one can drop the match criteria to reveal additional genetic relatives, see Figure 1. Figure 1: Mr Grace s closest genetic matches in the Ysearch.org database. An analysis of the test subject s Y-DNA results in the Ysearch database revealed additional close genetic relatives. The test subject s closest matches in the Ysearch.org database include many surnames that are associated exclusively with England. This indicates that the test subject s direct male ancestor lived in England when surnames first appeared an estimated 1,000 years ago. Upon Y-DNA testing the test subject matched a single other individual named Grace with a genetic distance of 1 at the 37 marker level in the Ysearch.org database, see Figure 1. This close genetic match indicates that the Grace surname has either been in the test subject s paternal line for a considerable timeframe, or that the test subject may be directly descended from a Grace-Adam; literally the first male (Adam) to take that surname who lived approximately 1,000 years ago (when paternally inherited surnames became common). Grace is an English surname, and the complete dominance of English surnames among the test subject s closest genetic matches revealed in the Ysearch.org databases indicates that his paternal ancestral genetic homeland is located within England, and almost certainly in an area of England associated with the Grace surname, see Figure 1. The test subject s closest genetic surname matches as revealed in his Y-DNA results arose among related males living within a specific part of England approximately 1,000 years ago. English Grace An examination of the 1841 UK census revealed just over 2,500 individuals named Grace, see Figure 2. Those Graces were not distributed evenly throughout England but are concentrated in specific areas, see Figure 2. Since surnames arose in an agrarian society, farmers with each surname could still be found in early census data concentrated in the area where their surname first appeared. An examination of the 1841 census reveals that English Graces are associated mainly with Lancashire, Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire, Surrey and numerous potential locations along England s east coast, see Figure 3. Since the test subject may be descended from a Grace-Adam, or since his ancestor may have acquired his surname in an area associated with the Grace surname, it means that his paternal ancestry is potentially associated with either with Lancashire, Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire, Surrey or one of a number of places along England s east coast, see Figure 3. An examination of English placenames revealed at least 2 locations that appear to be references to

4 English Grace s, which are also located in areas associated with the Grace surname, see Figure 4. Figure 2: English Graces in Early census data reveals that English Graces are not distributed evenly throughout England but are concentrated within London (due to urban migration), and the English counties of Lancashire, Buckinghamshire, and Hampshire (panel A). An examination of farmers named Grace revealed 41 individuals scattered across 4 geographically distinct areas; Lancashire in the northwest, Kent and Surrey in the south, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the midlands, and Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire along the east coast (panel B).

5 Figure 3: Grace farmers in By plotting the parishes where English farmers named Grace are recorded in 1841 it reveals at least 3 main locations within Lancashire, Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire, and Surrey together with numerous locations scattered across Eastern England. Figure 4: Grace Placenames. The longer a surname has been associated with an area the greater the likelihood of finding a placename or historical monument associated with it. An examination of English placenames revealed only 2 locations that could be a reference to the Grace surname, both found in areas associated with the Grace surname.

6 Y-DNA, SURNAMES AND LAND Paternally inherited surnames first appeared about 1,000 years ago at a time when the vast majority of people were involved in agriculture; hence many surnames appeared among farming communities whose descendants can often be found in census data farming the lands where their ancestor lived when he first inherited his surname. However, the link with the land for many English surnames has disappeared due to the early industrial revolution and one must therefore examine early census data to determine where farmers with the surnames that appear in one s DNA results lived; identifying an area common to all, and reveal one s paternal ancestral genetic homeland. Hence it is one s closest genetic surname matches (identified in Figure 1), as a snapshot of one s ancestral neighbours/relatives from the time when paternally inherited surnames became common which will reveal where one s paternal ancestral genetic homeland is to be found. This means for example that upon Y-DNA testing a Grace from Surrey will be a genetic match to individuals with surnames like Burberry, Comber and Bowring; surnames associated with Southeast England. While in contrast, a Grace with paternal ancestral links with Lancashire will have genetic matches to individuals named Turton, Worrall and Calland; surnames associated with Northwest England. The test subject s closest English-associated genetic matches include the surnames Lyon, Grace, Beckham, West, Brock and Baldwin, see Figure 1. The 1841 census data reveals that farmers named Beckham are associated exclusively with Norfolk in East Anglia, while the similar sounding surnames Buckham and Bickham area associated with Northumberland and Somerset respectively, see Figure 5. It is also within the Counties of East Anglia (and neighbouring Lincolnshire) that one also finds farmers named Lyon, Grace, West, Brock and Baldwin, see Figure 5. An added advantage of analysing one s matches in Ysearch is that one can also explore the matches of one s closest genetic relatives. The Lyon surname appeared among the test subject s closest matches and an examination of Mr Lyon s closest Ysearch matches revealed multiple individuals with the English surname Goddard (data not shown). An examination of the distribution of farmers named Goddard reveals that it is also associated with East Anglia, see Figure 5. A closer examination of the parishes where farmers named Grace, Lyon, West, Brock and Beckham are recorded in 1841 reveals a solitary Grace farmer in Cambridgeshire close to the Norfolk and Lincolnshire borders, see Figure 6. What is striking is that that Grace farmer is surrounded by farmers named Lyon and West which appear as the test subject s closest genetic relatives, while more distant genetic matches are found further afield, see Figure 6.

7 Grace - A Case Study Figure 5: The test subject s closest genetic surname matches reveal a paternal ancestral link with East Anglia. An examination of the Grace, Lyon, West, Beckham and Brock farming communities (panel A) reveals that they are all associated with the neighbouring Counties of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk (red broken circle, panel B), the latter two of which form part of East Anglia. Figure 6: The Graces of Cambridgeshire. A closer examination of the farming communities of Eastern England reveals a solitary Grace farmer in Cambridgeshire (red arrow) who lived surrounded by farmers named Lyon and West; surnames that appear as the test subject s closest genetic matches. Further afield one finds more distant genetic relatives the Brocks and Beckhams. The Beckham surname appears to be associated exclusively with East Anglia.

8 Mr Grace s English Paternal Ancestral Genetic Homeland The Grace, Lyon and West farming communities are found in closest proximity to one another in East Anglia on the Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk borderlands; and it is there that the test subject s English paternal ancestral genetic homeland is to be found, see Figure 7. It was there that the test subject s direct male ancestor lived when surnames first appeared within England approximately 1,000 years ago, and it was there that his paternal ancestor lived when he acquired the Grace surname, see Figure 7. When one s ancestors have been associated with an area for long enough, one will often find evidence of their historical association in the historical monuments and placenames one finds there. An examination of this area revealed a Grace Garden in the town of Ely, and since many of the local roads and streets are reference to local surnames, it may well be a reference to the Graces of Northeast Cambridgeshire, see Figure 7. The Graces will also have left evidence of their ancestral connection with this location in the historical records of this area, and in the DNA of the Graces who may still live there. Figure 7: Mr Grace s English Paternal Ancestral Genetic Homeland. Mr Grace s paternal ancestral genetic homeland lies in the farmland that surrounds the parish of Littleport on the Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk borderlands in East Anglia. It is there among its farming community that the test subject s direct male ancestor lived when surnames first appeared within England an estimated 1,000 years ago, and it is there that the test subject s paternal ancestor lived when he first acquired the Grace surname. An examination of this area revealed a Grace Gardens in nearby Ely, which may well be a reference to the Graces of Northeast Cambridgeshire. It the surrounding area one also finds references to the test subject s Baldwin and Brock genetic relatives. Confirming the Paternal Genetic Homeland One must keep in mind that this is a scientific DNA approach. The DNA does not lie and a simple painless commercial ancestral Y-DNA test of Graces who live on the

9 Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk borderlands would confirm the paternal ancestral link with that area.