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My thanks to Beryl Turner for this contribution...
We have again made significant
progress with our project since the last update.
Drumlanrig/Queensberry/Douglas of Morton lines
defined.
We have established the genetic
characteristics of the Drumlanrig/Queensberry/Douglas of Morton (not the
Earls of Morton) line back to the 1478! This is a remarkable feat and
means that in three families there has been no non-paternal event
(illegitimacy, adoption) for 15-18 generations each! It also means that
anyone believing they are from this line can now test this out with a
high degree of confidence by yDNA testing. This group is R1a Haplogroup,
and all direct male line descendants of William 6th Baron of
Drumlanrig must be of this Haplogroup.
Earls of Morton
We have proven the Earls of
Morton line to 1756, with distant cousins matching.
All descendants of John, son of
James Douglas 16th Earl of Morton must be R1b1 haplogroup.
There is another descendant of
the Earls of Morton, the Swedish branch which has one representative.
This line is I1a haplogroup, and other I1a members could be related to
the Swedish line, or to the Earls of Morton prior to James the 14th
or 16th Earl. At this stage we are unable to say whether the
Earls of Morton prior to James the 16th Earl were haplogroup
R1b1 or I1a. More information about the lineage of the other I1a members
might throw some light on this.
We would like to have further
testing for this very important line. We need participants whose line
has diverged from the Earls of Morton prior to 1756 and since John of
Dalkeith 1330. ie descended from the early Earls of Morton or the
Douglases of Lochleven or Dalkeith. The further back your line diverges
from the Earls of Morton line the more valuable you are to the project
at this stage.
Domini Douglas.
Domini has emerged as a distinct
yDNA line in the Douglas
family. Domini was thought to be an illegitimate son of George (13th
or 15th Earl of Morton), and half brother of James (14th
or 16th Earl). However his DNA type does NOT match James’s
son John. This has been proven by testing two men who are descended from
John (5th cousins once removed), and finding that they match.
This proves John’s genetic type. Similarly 2 descendants of Domini have
proven his haplogroup.
So we can say with confidence
now that either Domini or James or John is not descended genetically
from George. And since Domini’s genetic type is distinctively Irish (and
his mother was Irish) it is likely that Domini has an Irish male
ancestor, possibly his father.
This issue will be finally
decided when we have an earlier Earls-of Morton descendant to test.
Niall of Nine Hostages
The Domini line is descended
from Niall of Nine Hostages (a very prolific Irish ancient line) but
there are also others in the group who are descended from Niall but not
through Domini. Some of these will be Irish lines of the Douglas family,
but some of the sons of Niall are known to have visited
Scotland
and may have left behind Douglas
descendants. Niall’s DNA signature is well defined and new participants
with Irish heritage may well find they belong to this group.
Angus or Red Douglases
The haplogroup of our only known
Angus descendant is also R1b, and is also a Niall of nine Hostages
descendant. We will need a second family from this line to test as well,
to examine how long this halpogroup has been in the Angus line.
Daglish (Dagliesh, Dalgliesh)
A number of our members have
strong matches with members of the Daglish family. It is known that in
some cases names have changed from Dagliesh (or variant) to Douglas and possibly also vise-versa at some stage. Some
of these connections are being actively researched as a result of these
matches. These participants are R1b1 haplogroup.
McKenzie-Douglas
We have one participant who
traces his family to this line. He is haplogroup R1b.
Scotti-Douglas
We have a representative of this
family who promised his DNA for testing, although he has not yet
submitted his sample. His family is descended from Sholto Douglas who
was in Scotland in
the AD900s and whose descendants went to
Italy. His result could tell us whether
Sholto was related to Willem. This will also give us another Old line to
compare ourselves with.
Modern families
Within the modern families who
are not connected (yet) to the old lines we have had a number of
matches. These families are busily looking for the common ancestor. Some
of these matches were completely unexpected. Some families have proven
suspected relationships and other relationships have been disproved.
Some have found new cousins. One Douglas
adoptee has found some cousins.
Call for Members:
We still need more men who can
trace their lineage back to the Old lines.
If you are a known descendant of
Willem De Duglis (1174) please consider joining our project. You will be
helping lost Douglases- families who have lost their connection to the
Douglas tree, to focus their research into the major lines
of the family. If you represent a family line that we need for the
project we might offer to pay for your test. We would likely pay for
tests for proven Angus descendants or Earls of Morton descendants who
are not descended from John son of James 14th or 16th
Earl.
European lines of the
Douglas family who have been separated from their Scottish
ancestors for hundreds of years could be strategically very important
for our project at this stage. These lines can give us information about
the earliest Douglases when they are
compared with the documented lines we have already established. We would
be interested in making contact with further examples of European
Douglas lines.
If you are one of the “lost”
families, which cannot find their ancestor’s connection into the Douglas family, then we can now tell you with confidence
whether you are from some of the lines mentioned above. If you are lucky
you might immediately find your line. Otherwise a match will eventually
come along, giving you a clue as to which family line you come from. You
will certainly find a number of lines immediately that you can exclude
from your research.
The project web site (for information or to participate) is
found at
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/douglas/about
If you would like to join the
project discussion group go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/douglasDNA/?yguid=132306060
A
repository of files associated with the project is to be found
here>>>
To talk to a project
administrator (volunteer) or to apply for our free DNA test offer,
message to:
bturner @ occmed.com.au
(no gaps)
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