Since my original post on DNA (here), I have examined many more matches and delved further into the likely background of ancestors of mine of whom I know little. My main effort has been to establish more information on my Scots forebears, and their connections. Sadly I have no closer links than those I found originally on the Ancestry website, but I have discovered many, many more with varying degrees of cousinship, which has enable me to pinpoint at least one area from which one line of my family derives. This is north-west Perthshire; I have a large number of matches whose lines lead back to the Killin, Crieff, Aberfeldy triangle, the upper Tay valley. The surnames associated with these matches, Campbell, McGregor, Dewar and so on confirm this area as one of my ancestral homes, as they are all closely connected to the region. All I can do is hope that someday, a closer match will appear which helps tie down the precise line.
I have made progress in other areas however. Several unconnected (to each other) matches have confirmed my paper research lines regarding my Flexney ancestors, proving the line back to Thomas Harwood (b 1708) and his wife, Jane Hanks (1710-1768). The latter is especially interesting as she descends from my (paper) line of Burson of Shipton under Wychwood. In this Oxfordshire line, I also have a match with the Harris family of Hailey and Witney. This is not conclusive, but seems to confirm my ideas concerning the Godfrey line of Hailey as they share a common ancestor in Anne Smith (d 1805) See here.
One confirmation I am very pleased with is a match with my supposed ancestors, John Street (1776-1850) and his first wife, Sarah Cave (1778-1808). I have always thought that one of their children was my ancestor, George Street (c1805-1868) although no baptism record can be found. A direct match helps prove my theory extremely likely (here)
So far so good, but a more unexpected connection has recently appeared. My ggg grandfather, James Peters (1776-1850) married Jane Jefferson (1777-1850) at Chew Magna, Somerset in 1800. Several matches confirm my descent from this couple, but I’ve never been able to find a baptism for Jane. The 1841 census records her county of birth as Somerset but such details are unreliable, owing to who gave the information to the enumerator. The surname Jefferson is of northern origin, commonly occurring in the counties of Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland. There were however, several individuals with this name appearing in the parish records and censuses of Somerset and Bristol, but I can find no link with my Jane. A cousin, also descended from the Peters family, led me to a Jane Jefferson, baptised at Hudswell in North Yorkshire in 1778, although this seemed unlikely to me because of the distances involved. In the last few weeks however I have discovered several DNA matches with the Jefferson family of Hudswell; small amounts of shared DNA it’s true, but the fact of there being several of them point towards this being my Jane. Further research in Yorkshire parish records will be needed to see if anything more can be found.
bumsteadhistory 