FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE OWSTON/OUSTON DNA PROJECT 1. What has been discovered thus far and what may be discovered with testing? The Owston/Ouston DNA project grew out of the combined genealogical research of Timothy J. Owston and Roger J. Ouston of England and James M. Owston of the USA. While the three individuals began separately researching the Owston/Ouston families as early as the 1970s, they joined forces in 1990. From that time forward, an effort to research and catalog nearly every living and dead Owston/Ouston had occurred. With the exception of several spurious individuals, nearly every living Owston and Ouston can be placed within one of three Owston families that arose in the original East Riding of Yorkshire. These three families, named for their parish of origin, were the Sherburn family descended from Peter Owston who died in 1568, the Ganton family descended from Giles Owston who died in 1641, and the Thornholme family descended from Richard Owston who died in 1739. None of the three families could be satisfactorily connected, although several theories were debated. It seemed that our research was at a standstill until the advent of DNA testing. The Owston/Ouston DNA project began as two separate projects in 2010. The Y DNA project set out to determine whether the three major Owston families originating in Sherburn, Ganton, and Thornholme were related. Y DNA results confirmed that all three families descend from a common male ancestor. The study continued to determine the Y DNA signature of our common ancestor. In addition, it is hoped that the conjectured early, yet unknown, genealogy of the Thornholme line which is thought to have derived from an early Ganton family might be confirmed. The autosomal project grew out of the Cobourg line to answer two problems that could not be satisfactorily answered, as traditional records were non existent. One confirmed the possibility of an unofficial adoption in one family grouping. The other determined that a spurious Owston family was descended from the Cobourg line. Since autosomal testing typically is limited to five or six generations, it was not considered to have been of any significant value in the greater scheme of the Owston/Ouston Y DNA Project until now and the two studies were officially merged. 2. Why were these two projects with different goals merged? In 1990, the above mentioned researchers had meticulously used reasoning and traditional genealogical methods to define the placement of the children of two families headed by two Thomas Owstons living in Ganton from 1770 onward. One Thomas Owston was descended from the Sherburn family and the other from the Ganton family. In most cases, the families named their children with the same forenames and the mother s name was never recorded in reference to the christening of the children. With no apparent conflict, the Cobourg line was placed squarely in the Sherburn camp. This began to be questioned in 2015 when the Y DNA tests of several participants had been extended to 111 markers. At this resolution, Cobourg participants results began matching Ganton participants more closely than Sherburn participants. Typically, this signifies a more recent common ancestor. While a definitive answer requires further testing that includes additional autosomal tests, the original assumption that placed the Cobourg line into the Sherburn family is not as conclusive as was once thought. Therefore, testing autosomal DNA (atdna) from several individuals across a variety of lines is in order to determine the correct genealogical placement of the Cobourg line. Like the situation with the Cobourg line, it is anticipated that additional issues regarding placements of family lines will arise. If this is the case, it is hoped that DNA testing will resolve these genealogical questions as well.
3. Since most of this data is driven by Owston/Ouston males, just how many are there? It is really difficult to know actual numbers, but we would guesstimate that there are approximately 275 Owston/Ouston males worldwide this is a very generous estimate as we have a low frequency surname. By families, they are as follows: The Sherburn family, which includes both the Owston and Ouston spellings, is the largest group. While Sherburn Owstons/Oustons dominate the surname in the UK and Australia, a sizeable number of Oustons also live in Canada. Members of this clan can be found in smaller numbers in New Zealand, the US, France, and the Netherlands. At this writing, 12 Sherburn males have tested. The Ganton family is currently only represented in the US and the UK. The bulk of Owston males living in the US (about 50) are Ganton Owstons; the remaining 10 Ganton males live in the UK. Currently four members of this family are represented in the study. The Thornholme family, which is the smallest of the three families, has members in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Finland. It is estimated that less than 25 Thornholme males are living today. All Owstons in Canada and the Owston Doyle clan of New Zealand are from the Thornholme group. Extremely small numbers of Thornholme Owstons are found in England and Finland. Five Thornholme males have currently tested. The Cobourg family, whose lineage has come into question, is completely found in North America and includes 17 Y DNA males two of whom bear another surname that was adopted by their Owston born grandfather. In addition to eight tested males (with three only identified by haplogroups), the Cobourg family is also represented by nine related females and one non Owston male who have supplied autosomal DNA. 4. If I agree to test, will my complete genetic profile be determined? Complete genomic testing is cost prohibitive and current genetic genealogy tests are based on samples of a person s genome and not the entire genome. For most participants, only Y DNA will be tested. This particular type of DNA is found on the Y chromosome which is only possessed by males and is passed from father to son. Y DNA that is used for genealogical testing is found on areas on the Y chromosome called junk DNA. Junk DNA carries no information regarding a person s health, traits, or markers that could possibly indentify any specific inherited condition. This type of DNA is slow to mutate, so it is excellent to determine ancestries generations deep. This helps surname studies place a particular lineage correctly within a context of a complete genetic family. For problematic lineages, we may add autosomal testing as this can analyze relationships within five or six generations. A portion of a person s nuclear DNA from chromosomes 1 to 22 will be sampled in this process. While this typically includes areas where traits and health information is found, none of this is analyzed nor is it reported by the testing companies. 5. Can I be identified by Y DNA? No. Typically, men are primarily identified by a haplogroup. From the Greek word haplous meaning one or single, a haplogroup is the larger context with which the Y DNA falls. For example, 22 out of 28 Owstons/Oustons males whose results have been returned thus far fall within the I1 or I M253 haplogroup, which has its greatest concentration in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. Slightly less than 25% of all European men are reported as I1 which is a very large number. The common ancestor of all who descend from the I1 haplogroup extends back thousands of years. A man s haplotype is more specific this is determined by an individual s specific markers. Your haplotype is mirrored by your close paternal relatives, but can go back many generations. It has already
been determined that probably a very large segment of Owstons share the same markers at lower resolutions and thus an identical haplotype so at least 150 or more Owston/Ouston men will probably have the same or extremely similar results. Of the 22 Owston/Ouston men who are confirmed with the I1 haplogroup, 20 have extremely similar haplotypes. Therefore, identifying one specific person by his Y DNA is impossible. 6. Will my DNA be added to a criminal database? Absolutely not and it will never be. Criminal DNA databases use an entirely different system from genealogical tests. While DNA is tested in both cases, it becomes a situation of apples vs. oranges. Both CODIS (used in the US) and SGM+ (used in the UK) only test to see if a Y chromosome is present and do not record any Y DNA markers. CODIS and SGM+ tests use specific STR (short tandem repeat) markers from the 22 autosomal chromosomes these markers look at the number of repeating sequences of a specific marker. Autosomal genealogical tests use SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) that identify amino acids at specific locations. You cannot use an SNP to determine an STR and vice versa. Y DNA testing can be expensive and inconclusive, as many men share identical markers at lower resolutions. For example at the 12 marker Y DNA resolution, Cobourg01 (the first person to be tested in this project) identically matches 417 individuals representing probably 350 or more different surnames. The probability of an exact match of the 10 markers in SGM+ is estimated as one in a trillion. For an exact match on CODIS 13 marker reference, the probability is extended to 10 trillion. These tests are far more conclusive to match crime scene DNA to the exact subject and are less expensive than genealogy tests. 7. Will my identity be protected? Most definitely; we are only identifying persons anonymously by family using pseudonyms such as Ganton01, Thornholme02, Sherburn06, Cobourg03, and etc. These names will only identify which of these families from which an individual originates. The number identifies the order the test results were received. For example, Ganton01 s results were returned before Ganton02 s results. The only other information will be a generic country of origin (not specific town, county, province, or state location) and any spelling variations. These will part of the generic information that could apply to numerous people. For example, the following hypothetical wording could appear in time: the study includes 20 people from the US, 11 from England, 5 from Canada, 1 from Australia, 1 from New Zealand, and 1 from Finland. The following variations of the surname include 26 Owstons, 2 Oustons, and 1 Owston Doyle males; three Owston born females, six different surnamed Owston related females, and one different surnamed Owston related male. 8. Why do you want my DNA? In our initial round in 2010 11, we sought to capture two samples from each of the three Owston families to determine if all of the Owstons and Oustons were related. Since we reached that conclusion, it is our goal to determine (if possible) the Y DNA makeup of our common ancestor. We intend capture at least one sample from someone representing all 23 lines of Owstons and Oustons who exist today. In time, several additional subgroups may be asked to test the total possible lineages including these subgroups are 39. Females in some of the subgroups where the surname in males has become extinct have also been tested. With less than 500 individuals named Owston, or any variation thereof, a large sample of the total population would be a greater proportion than most surname studies normally generate even those with hundreds of participants. As previously stated, we know that every Owston, Ouston, Owston Doyle, and numerous other variations of our surname are related to a common male ancestor. We may never know the common ancestor s name, but with numerous results we can narrow down when this
person may have lived. It appears that our most recent common ancestor lived prior to the adoption of English parish registers in 1538 and probably extends back to the late 15 th century. 9. Are there any other reasons for collecting as many samples as possible? Yes, the greater number of participants adds validity. A wide net that is spread over descendants across the world will also lend credence to this study. We already have representatives from the England, Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Finland. We would like further representation from Wales, Scotland, and other countries where Owstons and Oustons may live. Not only does this show the extensive nature of Owston/Ouston DNA, it also becomes attractive when the report is finally published. At the time of publication, no participant s name will be identified except the author s who is also known as Cobourg01. 10. If I participate, can my brother, father, son, and/or Owston first cousin also participate? Your Y DNA and the Y DNA of your close relatives will most likely be identical matches so it is not necessary to test males in the surname line that are at a close relationship with you. This includes anyone at the second cousin level or closer. Unless there is a question concerning someone s results or there are a limited number of descendants from a particular line, we probably will not seek to test anyone closer than a second cousin although we have some siblings and father/son pairs in the study. Most Y DNA participants are at the 9 th cousin level or greater. In the autosomal arena, the closest relationships are parental/child (3) and sibling (3); however, many autosomal participants are at the fourth cousin level. 11. Can my sisters participate? Only if it becomes necessary to test autosomal DNA of a particular line will we test females. We are currently testing specific lines for autosomal DNA to determine an anomaly in Y DNA that questioned the assumed genealogy of the Cobourg line. We currently have 20 autosomal participants ten of whom are Owston surnamed males. Of the remaining nine autosomal participants, eight are females and one is a non Owston surnamed male; all nine descend from a male Owston. 12. Will my sexual preference be identified or measured via my Y DNA test? No. Sexual preference is irrelevant. We know of no DNA marker for sexual preference. Your sexual preference is your business and not ours. 13. How much will this cost me? There is no charge for participation. The Owston/Ouston One Name Study pays for the testing. You will be required to pay local postage to the United States as a slight charge, but that will be the extent of your financial obligation. We desire to make this decision as painless as possible. Individuals desiring to participate on their own are welcome to do so. Three individuals in our study have supplied their own DNA results while a fourth was tested through a project conducted by a university at no cost. 14. Will my test inform me of my ancestry? Y DNA testing only tracks one lineage your father s father s father s etc. line. This goes back thousands of years; therefore, ancestries that can be assumed are ancient and only tell the story of being from wide geographic areas. While the majority of Owstons/Oustons tested as I1, narrowing down where our family originated is somewhat difficult. The I1 haplogroup is usually associated with Vikings; however, a large portion of Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Frisians, and Normans also carried this identification among others. Further testing of Cobourg01 shows that he carries the F2642 and Y1884 mutations which are shared by others who trace their ancestry to regions of Europe where the Angles and Vikings lived. Both settled in a number of places in Britain including what is now Yorkshire where all three Owston families originated. While autosomal DNA can indicate ancestry, it depends on the testing
company s reference data on whether these assumptions are correct or not. Since autosomal DNA is passed from parent to child randomly, siblings may show as having slightly different ancestral markers. 15. Will I get my results and when? Yes. As soon as you results are returned, a copy of the results will be either emailed or mailed to you. Testing is a long process and could take as long as 12 weeks after the lab receives your sample. We periodically update our online report regarding new findings. The speed in which results are returned are determined on how busy the labs are at any given moment. 16. What kind of results will I get? Y DNA does not look at the chemical make up of the DNA, but rather how many times a segment of DNA code is repeated on each marker. The chemical makeup for these markers is the same for every living male it does not vary, but the number of repeats does. Therefore, the results will be returned with a series of numbers for the number of repeats. You will see something on the line of table below. DYS393 DYS390 DYS394/19a DYS391 DYS385a DYS385b DYS426 DYS388 DYS439 DYS389I DYS392 DYS389II 14 22 14 10 13 14 11 14 11 12 11 28 The areas named as DYS are the identities the markers being tested and the digits below the marker names are the number of repeats found on the markers. In the example above, these are the 12 markers from the basic Y DNA test and are identical for the following individuals: Cobourg01, Cobourg05, Cobourg06, Sherburn02, Sherburn04, Sherburn05, Sherburn08, Sherburn09, Sherburn12, Ganton01, Ganton03, Ganton04, Thornholme01, Thornholme04, and Thornholme05. Sherburn01 and Ganton02 only deviate with one marker each. Further deviation occurs as the tests are increased to 37, 67, and 111 markers. For autosomal DNA, the shared segments of DNA are important to our project. A relationship estimate may be made based upon the amount of shared DNA between subjects; however, since the passing of segments is random, these estimates may not be conclusive. The following indicates position and amount of sharing of one participant and four of her fourth cousins and a fourth cousin, once removed. The chromosomes where no matching DNA was found were removed. This graphic is from 23andMe.
Although there is little crossover in this example, comparing with others will show shared segments of a number of family members. 17. What kind of sample will I need to provide? The FTDNA kit contains swabs which you will gently scrape the insides of your mouth, whereas 23andMe collects a sample of saliva. We recommend that the sample be collected the first thing in the morning before you brush your teeth or have any liquids or food. It will guarantee that your sample will carry enough genetic material to be processed. The process does not hurt and only takes a couple of minutes to complete. You will not need to go to a lab to be sampled as all materials including the return envelope are included in the kit. 18. What company provides the tests? We originally contracted with GeneTree in Utah, USA to provide a Y DNA test of 43 markers. Unfortunately, GeneTree was sold and its successor company no longer offers Y DNA testing. We are now contracting with Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) in Houston, Texas for an initial 12 marker test, as these can be purchased rather inexpensively. If the results return a matching I1 haplotype, we will upgrade the test to at least 37 markers. Since GeneTree and FTDNA s results are not completely compatible at the 37 marker level, we are attempting to get earlier participants to retest with FTDNA as well. FTDNA offers a testing resolution of 111 markers. It is planned that eventually everyone sharing a matching I1 haplotype will be moved to 111 markers. We have currently moved nine participants to this resolution. No further testing will be required for the upgrades. By having numerous participants at 111 markers, the Owston/Ouston study will be highly regarded as most studies typically are at the 37 marker level. The move to 111 markers has already raised questions in regard to the Cobourg line s origins. In specific instances, autosomal testing will be added to certain participants. We use both 23andMe and FTDNA s Family Finder tests for autosomal DNA testing. Those not having Y DNA testing will be tested by 23andMe and those who are receiving Y DNA testing will be tested by FTDNA. Some individuals are in both companies databases. While the tests are slightly different, an independent utility allows us to compare results across the two companies. Most of the original autosomal tests were conducted through 23andMe, as they were the first service to offer autosomal testing. 19. You mentioned mutations. Is this something I should be concerned about? Absolutely not! Everyone s DNA naturally mutates from time to time. In most cases this poses no harm or threat to the individual. Historically, mutations introduced new eye colors, blood types, and other aspects of the human race that make us somewhat different. Y DNA mutations occur on junk DNA that carries no building blocks for the human species or for us as individuals. With Y DNA, a mutation will manifest itself with an increased or reduced number of repeats found on a marker. Typically, most Y DNA markers mutate about every 500 years. Some mutate more rapidly (i.e., every five generations). We anticipated seeing a mutation or two when comparing various individuals; however, at certain resolutions a number of Owston men have identical matches. Some close relationships that should have been identical, showed a mismatch. For example, second cousins Cobourg01 and Cobourg06 have a one marker mismatch at 37 and 67 markers. Fourth cousins once removed, Sherburn01 and Sherburn09 have four marker mismatches at both the 37 and 67 marker resolutions this appears more distant than it actually is.
20. What if I or my father (or other ancestor) was adopted? We would want to know this prior to participation. If the adoption was generations ago and there are numerous descendents with the name Owston or Ouston from the adoptee, we may still want a participant to identify the Y DNA of this lineage for future reference. We know of two lines where official adoptions have occurred and one line where an unofficial adoption was present. It is conjectured that an unofficial adopted occurred in another line. 21. What if my great great grandfather was illegitimate and he took his mother s surname which was Owston? The same principles apply as above. We would want to know this information prior to participation and then depending on the number of Owstons descended from this individual, we may or may not desire to test someone from this line. We have identified about six instances of illegitimate sons found within the three Owston families that carried the surname through their descendants; however, most of these do not have a large number of male descendants. One of the larger Owston lines (about 35 males) bears the Owston surname; however, their Y DNA would not match the majority of Owston families DNA because an Owston ancestor was illegitimate. Different Y DNA would come from the father of the illegitimate child and this same Y DNA identity would be carried through his descendants. Because there are so many males in this line, we will test this line the future. Unlike the adopted descendants, this family is still genetically linked to the Owstons just not through the Y chromosome. These individuals may be candidates for autosomal testing. 22. What if my markers do not match anyone else in the study? Unfortunately, this is a possibility and it has happened with seven Y DNA participants, one autosomal participant, and another who participated in both Y DNA and atdna testing. In one case, the subject s second great grandfather was illegitimate and was given his unmarried mother s surname. While this participant also tested at I1, he did not match anyone else in the study. Knowing his own ancestry, he knew that he would not match other Owstons. He is, however, genetically related through his ancestral mother. A similar instance occurred with the birth of one participant s father; he too is genetically related, but not via the Y chromosome. Another participant had a great grandfather who was believed to be unofficially adopted and took the surname of his mother s second husband. DNA testing at both the Y DNA and autosomal levels confirmed this suspicion as being correct. The remaining circumstances are unknown and could have been the result of a number of different possibilities including the two examples above. Other scenarios include the following: a formal adoption, a child raised by his grandparents or other relatives thus taking their surname, a change of name (formal or informal), a pregnancy from another man that occurred prior to marriage, and infidelity upon the part of an ancestral mother. In most of these cases, the reason will not be known and the fact that a match is not found does not indicate that a person is any less an Owston or Ouston. It means that you would be an Owston or Ouston with a different Y DNA signature. Your connection to the Owston/Ouston surname is confirmed by your genealogy as everyone has a traceable lineage back to Owston forebears. We assume that most of these variations occurred in the 19 th century or earlier. 23. What other haplogroups have been found among Owstons and Oustons? In addition to I1, we have recorded I2 (common in Southern Europe), G2a (most common in Anatolia), R1b (the most common European haplogroup), and two individuals with non matching I1 markers.
While a specific generation cannot always be ascertained when the divergent DNA entered the lineage, it may be possible to determine after when this occurred by comparing to those of similar lineages. 24. What s in it for me? The only thing we can offer is knowledge and the satisfaction that you contributed to a greater knowledge about your/our family. This is especially helpful if your generation is the final generation of Owston males in your line. While Y DNA is only a small part of our genome, it has thus far allowed us to determine that all Owstons are related. Your sample will add to the body of knowledge in helping us determine the closeness of our connection. 25. Are there Owston/Ouston lines that could become extinct? Yes. To visualize this, 26 Owston and Ouston lineages ceased to exist in the 100 years between 1902 and 2001. Of the lines and segments we have tested thus far, four participants are the last males in their specific line and two others are one of two remaining males. Of the untested lines and segments, three have only one Owston/Ouston male and two others have only two Owston/Ouston males. In one of the untested lines, the only adult male passed away suddenly in 2013 before being asked to test. 26. Who is conducting this study and what are his qualifications? Jim Owston is an American member of the Cobourg Owston line. He is a descendant of William Owston (1778 1857) who came to Canada in 1820. Seven of William s eight children eventually immigrated to the US. Jim holds a doctorate from Marshall University, and recently, his dissertation won two major research awards. More importantly, Jim has immersed himself in Owston family history since 1978. Beginning in 1990, he began working with two researchers from the UK: Timothy J. Owston and Roger J. Ouston. Over the years, we have come to have a better understanding of our origins. Although not a geneticist, Jim began exploring DNA testing in 2008 as an extension of his genealogical research. DNA has provided answers that conventional genealogy could not answer. In addition, Jim has researched nearly 1,200 men who were members of an American Civil War Unit: the 9 th Pennsylvania Reserves an infantry regiment that contained several of his relatives including Captain Charles W. Owston. In 2011, Jim registered the Owston/Ouston research project under the Guild of One Name Studies in London. He is also a member of the International Society of Genetic Genealogists. It is our wish that you participate in our Owston/Ouston DNA project. Thanks for your consideration.