The Role of DNA in Genealogical Research

We are currently in the midst of the annual FamilyTreeDNA Seasonal sale. So far there hasn’t been much uptake from the Warburton community. I recognise it is not relevant to everybody but equally I wouldn’t want anyone to miss an opportunity. Therefore I fell a review of the role of DNA testing in genealogical research is in order, particularly with reference to the Warburton Project.

Traditional genealogical research is limited by the availability of paper records. Unless you belong to the aristocracy you are limited in how far genealogical research will take you. Normally you can get back to around 1800 or a bit earlier. If you are lucky and your ancestors didn’t move about too much and left wills, manor records or gravestones you might get back to 1600, but there are very few records before that. Furthermore the industrialisation of the late 18th century lead to considerable movement from the land into the towns. A number of Warburton clans begin with a couple who either married, or started having children in the late 18th century, but whose baptism record is not in that location. They presumably moved from elsewhere, but finding the link is difficult. When the couple actually emigrated it can be even more so.

DNA might help to a degree, depending on the type of test. The Warburton project focusses on Y-chromosome tests. These test the paternal line, just one of the many lines of ancestors you may have. This is relevant in the context of a one-name study, and it is the traditional line of inheritance, but doesn’t help with all those other ancestors.

In recent years a new type of test has emerged that addresses all these other lines. Called an autosomal test it is available from FamilyTreeDNA as the FamilyFinder test. It is only helpful over the last 5 generations or so, but if you want to find your 2nd, 3rd and 4th cousins it should help. It is also the period where records are more plentiful so cross-checking DNA results with the historical record will give added proof. If anyone wants to order FamilyFinder through the Warburton project and advertise for money off vouchers just let me know.

There is also mitochondrial testing of the maternal line. It is similar to Y-chromosome testing, but because the amount of mitochondrial DNA is small, there are fewer mutations making fewer and less frequent branches. It is unlikely to help resolve issues with your family tree, but it will tell you how your mitochondria (and that of the rest of your haplogroup) travelled over the centuries, potentially from when it first left Africa, to arrive at you.

The same is true for the Y-chromosome, except the branches are more dense, and at some point your Y-chromosome met the Warburton name. So the purpose of the Warburton DNA Project is to know when this meeting took place and how many of the Warburtons share your history. Of course for some the meetings will be more recent. Not every boy gets his name and his Y-chromosome from the same source, but you could say he is fortunate as he now has two ancient lines to explore, that of his name, and that of his Y-chromosome.

The issue of course is cost. A DNA-Y37 test is $139. The Big Y sale price is $495. Vouchers for up to $100 dollars off Big Y or $10 off Y37 are available.  I also have $95 dollars in the General Fund and will commit to put another $100 in for the right candidate(s).

An important point to remember is that these histories are shared with the rest of your family or clan and so the cost can also be shared.

So assuming we can overcome the cost issue,  how do you decide to test yourself or a Warburton relative?:

1. Do you belong to a published Warburton clan? If not have you followed your Warburton line back as far as you can? When you have identified your earliest possible Warburton ancestor you have defined a new clan (which can hopefully be published in due course).
2. Does your clan already have a DNA profile? If not you now have the opportunity to identify one with DNA-Y37 test.
3. Is that profile matched with one from another clan? If not then there is a need to find out when that profile met the Warburton name. If you are in the same clan as the person already tested you will have a common ancestor. If you have the same profile then you inherited it from that common ancestor. Depending on how many generations back your common ancestor is, it would be desirable for you to take the DNA-Y37 test also. It is possible you may not match, but match someone from another clan so proving a common ancestor for the two clans.
4. If there is a profile from your clan which does match another clan or clans then you belong to an existing group. So far we have 2 large Warburton groups (The Cheshire Group, and The Lancashire Group), and three smaller groups. In this case any further testing will depend on the requirements of the group, and should preferably be funded by the group as they will all ultimately benefit.

To illustrate this last point I will finish with a review of the current situation with the Cheshire Group. I have addressed the Lancashire Group in recent posts. For the three smaller groups the most important step forward would be for someone to take a Big Y test to establish the group’s position within the overall Y-chromosome haplotree, and thus clarify the Y-chromsome’s deep ancestry.

The Cheshire Group

Where we are at: apart from knowing the Cheshire Group clans share an early Warburton ancestor, we also know they share ancestors with a group of Duttons. Whilst there is no known data that contradicts the idea that this Warburton-Dutton link arises from the documented descent of both families from Odard de Dutton, and indeed that is the most obvious solution, there is as yet no conclusive proof that they are descended from Odard.

What more might be achieved by further testing: There are two forms of more conclusive proof that might emerge. Firstly there is the possibility of finding someone who both shares the group’s DNA profile, and has a documented descent from Odard. Alas as the line of Warburtons from Arley Hall has died out we are dependant on a Dutton for this. I believe they exist, but we must await the group’s Dutton cousins finding one and persuading him to test.

The second form of proof is the emergence of branches from the group’s line of descent in the centuries immediately before Odard. Currently there is a period of close to 3,000 years where no branches have been found. If they are found they should give clues as to where the group’s ancestors were in that 3,000 years and how they found their way to Normandy (if indeed they did). Again we are dependant on the emergence of other test results, and so must patiently await developments.

There is however one other area that could be explorde. Apart from a few instances we don’t know how the group’s various clans are linked. We have seen that unless you belong to the aristocracy genealogical research is limited by the availability of records.  However it should be possible to use DNA to build a skeleton onto which we could hang the group’s clans.

It works like this. I am the only member of the group who has a Big Y result. This shows I have 4 SNPs (mutations) that are unique to me. They occurred since the split from the Duttons. This is an unfortunate result because I could have expected to have about 7 in that time, and Mike Dutton has 12. However we might expect that other group members might share some or all of them. If they were to share two it would mean that their line split from mine earlier than someone who shared 3, but later than someone who shared one. In this way a crude skeleton could be built.

They might also expect to have more SNPs of their own after splitting from my line, and the earlier they split the more they might expect (though nothing is certain).

Ideally a panel of 7-10 SNPs is needed to place anyone testing them, and by extension their clans onto a skeleton DNA tree. It is possible to do this at a company called YSEQ, but we are short of a few SNPs (7 is the minimum they will build a test for). Finding hitherto unknown SNPs requires a test like Big Y that hunts for new SNPs rather than just testing known ones. Another Big Y from the Cheshire Group, alongside my result, might produce the requisite number of SNPs, particularly if we test someone who is more distantly related to me.

So the objective is to find the right candidate and test him? That is probably anyone who is NOT in the Hale Barns/Mobberley/Ringley group, or the Houghton clan. It doesn’t have to be the same person who tested previously. A close relative would do.