By Steve St Clair
This web page, posted by David Faux of a Shetland DNA study, gives a good ideas of just how little we all knew about Sinclair DNA in the early days. The posting was from March 21, 2004, not long after Stan and I started the St. Clair / Sinclair DNA study.
Click here to read a post made with very limited data about Sinclair DNA ... but that's all any of us had at the time.
It's human nature to want to figure things out, even with limited data. And we certainly had limited data in the early days of the Sinclair, St Clair DNA study. In fact, we had about 12 or 25 markers; no more. In hindsight, making judgements based on such limited data seems futile. Given that, we still made some very good decisions.
In this case, David Faux noticed the migration of Sinclair DNA from Caithness up into Shetland and Orkney. His logic was good and has still held up to scrutiny.
The official blog of the Sinclair St Clair DNA study. You can learn more at http://www.StClairResearch.com. Keep up with our latest discoveries here.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
St. Clair DNA Trip
I was traveling this week by car down to Virginia. As I always do, I drove by the old St. Clair Cemetery between Bedford and Roanoke Virginia. I suspect many members of our St. Clair DNA lineage known as L193 have also been to this cemetery.
Unfortunately, this time the old gravel road which leads up to the cemetery had a brand-new shiny fence put in front of it. The road had been freshly graveled, and made much wider, as well as having taken a new path up the hill. Because I had my teenagers with me, I only had a few minutes in which to try to find the cemetery (they do not share my interest in genealogy, and they are teenagers). I was not able to get to the cemetery on this day. This leaves me wondering if the cemetery has been moved, damaged, or made more difficult to access.
I write all of this to remind the members of our St. Clair DNA study to keep up with these precious resources of our history. We all still have a great deal more research to do. And these resources of our past will be a vital part of that research.
Unfortunately, this time the old gravel road which leads up to the cemetery had a brand-new shiny fence put in front of it. The road had been freshly graveled, and made much wider, as well as having taken a new path up the hill. Because I had my teenagers with me, I only had a few minutes in which to try to find the cemetery (they do not share my interest in genealogy, and they are teenagers). I was not able to get to the cemetery on this day. This leaves me wondering if the cemetery has been moved, damaged, or made more difficult to access.
I write all of this to remind the members of our St. Clair DNA study to keep up with these precious resources of our history. We all still have a great deal more research to do. And these resources of our past will be a vital part of that research.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
St Clair DNA Plus Peter Sinclair’s Work on Our English Family
Peter Sinclair has just posted new information on the St Clair family of England which I encourage everyone to read AT THIS LINK..
This page about Hubert de St. Clair is new, but you’ll also note several other links on that page. Peter covers the Burgh family, as well as the FitzWalters, the Marshalls, the Lanvelei, and the Moreleys. It's one of the largest additions of research Peter has ever put up at once; quite a lot to read.
Many in our family are aware of Peter’s work. He’s on the ground in England and has a great deal of information others would never be able to get their hands on otherwise.
On the St. Clair Research website, you’ll notice a link called “A Confluence of Surnames.” In this work, I compare what may be a super-family of surnames that existed before surnames became fixed and carried through generations.
In that study, I kept bumping into the names Lanvelei and Marshall, as well as others which were signing the same documents and charters, and making gifts to the same priories and abbeys in Normandy and England.
Through our DNA study, I’m hoping that I can offer more data to geology studies like Peter’s. Where this will all lead is anyone’s guess. But careful documents research, plus unbiased DNA work will hopefully one day lead us to certainty on our St Clair ancestors in medieval times.
This page about Hubert de St. Clair is new, but you’ll also note several other links on that page. Peter covers the Burgh family, as well as the FitzWalters, the Marshalls, the Lanvelei, and the Moreleys. It's one of the largest additions of research Peter has ever put up at once; quite a lot to read.
Many in our family are aware of Peter’s work. He’s on the ground in England and has a great deal of information others would never be able to get their hands on otherwise.
St Clair DNA in England
On the St. Clair Research website, you’ll notice a link called “A Confluence of Surnames.” In this work, I compare what may be a super-family of surnames that existed before surnames became fixed and carried through generations.
In that study, I kept bumping into the names Lanvelei and Marshall, as well as others which were signing the same documents and charters, and making gifts to the same priories and abbeys in Normandy and England.
Through our DNA study, I’m hoping that I can offer more data to geology studies like Peter’s. Where this will all lead is anyone’s guess. But careful documents research, plus unbiased DNA work will hopefully one day lead us to certainty on our St Clair ancestors in medieval times.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Sinclair DNA U106 Lineages
By Steve St Clair
Our Sinclair DNA project currently shows 4 Lineages who have tested positive for the U106 SNP or some of the downstream SNPs. As you can see from the chart below, there are lots of SNPs "downstream" of U106.
The U106* Lineage - That asterisk means that, while there are SNPs downstream to test for, the participants currently have tested negative for all available to date. We currently have 2 confirmed members of our study who show this SNP.
The Z9* Earldom Participant - This gentleman has a Burkes Peerage confirmed paper trail that supposedly connects him to our Earl of Caithness. He currently has no other matches in the entire FTDNA database, including the St. Clair famly. This makes sense if you consider this line's proclivity for having female children.
Our Z2 Argyle Lineage - We've tested 3 different Sinclair DNA study members who have very good documents back to Argyle. 8 of these members are tested out to 67-markers. Even the participants who have the greatest genetic distance (all 3 proven Z2+ via SNP testing) show up as sharing a common ancestor about 540 years ago with FTDNA's TiP Calculator.
There are 12 members of this lineage tested out to 37-markers. Again, at 37-markers, the TiP calculator still shows about 540 years to a common ancestor.
Our Z1 Northern Scotland Lineage - We currently have 7 members who have been confirmed Z1+ via SNP testing. There are currently 17 members of the Sinclair DNA study who have tested out to 67-markers. The same number shows up at the 37-marker level. Using FTDNA's TiP Calculator, those furtherest from each other in genetic distance in this Lineage show a common ancestor about 600 years ago.
Our Sinclair DNA project currently shows 4 Lineages who have tested positive for the U106 SNP or some of the downstream SNPs. As you can see from the chart below, there are lots of SNPs "downstream" of U106.
The U106* Lineage - That asterisk means that, while there are SNPs downstream to test for, the participants currently have tested negative for all available to date. We currently have 2 confirmed members of our study who show this SNP.
The Z9* Earldom Participant - This gentleman has a Burkes Peerage confirmed paper trail that supposedly connects him to our Earl of Caithness. He currently has no other matches in the entire FTDNA database, including the St. Clair famly. This makes sense if you consider this line's proclivity for having female children.
Our Z2 Argyle Lineage - We've tested 3 different Sinclair DNA study members who have very good documents back to Argyle. 8 of these members are tested out to 67-markers. Even the participants who have the greatest genetic distance (all 3 proven Z2+ via SNP testing) show up as sharing a common ancestor about 540 years ago with FTDNA's TiP Calculator.
There are 12 members of this lineage tested out to 37-markers. Again, at 37-markers, the TiP calculator still shows about 540 years to a common ancestor.
Our Z1 Northern Scotland Lineage - We currently have 7 members who have been confirmed Z1+ via SNP testing. There are currently 17 members of the Sinclair DNA study who have tested out to 67-markers. The same number shows up at the 37-marker level. Using FTDNA's TiP Calculator, those furtherest from each other in genetic distance in this Lineage show a common ancestor about 600 years ago.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
One St Clair DNA Lineage of Virginia is L193
If you're in a DNA study, these regular updates will help you understand more about your results.
SNP testing is a critical step for anyone in the Sinclair / St Clair DNA study, and every other family out there. A single-nucleotide polymorphism is a very stable mutation and, therefore, one that can be considered irrefutable. If other in the FTDNA database have the same SNP, then it is certain that you share a common ancestor with them in a particular timeframe. That timeframe depends on which SNP it is that you share.
For instance, I also show the L21 SNP. The timeframe for the common ancestor in that one is quite old. Downstream (or more recently), I show the L513 SNP. This one is believed to have a common ancestor in Southwest England. The timeframe is somewhat uncertain. The geography of these SNPs works like this -
L21 - Western Europe, about 4,000 years ago
L513 - Southwestern England - ??
L193 - Possibly in the Borders Region of Scotland - about 900-1,000 years ago.
These timings are still being debated, as are the specifics of the geography.
Learn about our approach in exploring the L193 Lineage of the Sinclair DNA study here.
SNP testing is a critical step for anyone in the Sinclair / St Clair DNA study, and every other family out there. A single-nucleotide polymorphism is a very stable mutation and, therefore, one that can be considered irrefutable. If other in the FTDNA database have the same SNP, then it is certain that you share a common ancestor with them in a particular timeframe. That timeframe depends on which SNP it is that you share.
For instance, I also show the L21 SNP. The timeframe for the common ancestor in that one is quite old. Downstream (or more recently), I show the L513 SNP. This one is believed to have a common ancestor in Southwest England. The timeframe is somewhat uncertain. The geography of these SNPs works like this -
L21 - Western Europe, about 4,000 years ago
L513 - Southwestern England - ??
L193 - Possibly in the Borders Region of Scotland - about 900-1,000 years ago.
These timings are still being debated, as are the specifics of the geography.
Learn about our approach in exploring the L193 Lineage of the Sinclair DNA study here.
More on St Clair DNA showing L193 and L21 in this video:
Specifics on the St Clair Sinclair lineage showing L193 DNA SNP at this link.
Think you might have the L193 SNP? Contact the Sinclair DNA Study here.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
St Clair Research Passed the 200 Mark in DNA tests
We've been so busy working with people to help them understand their DNA that we completely forgot to point out that we've passed a major milestone - 200 people tested.
In fact, we're out to 216 people. We're overwhelmingly a Y-DNA study, otherwise known as a one-name study. Our goal is to fully understand just one surname, and all the lineages and participants who carry it.
This blog exists to help us put out thoughts out more quickly than the main website and to keep people informed.
All those who help with the study, with genealogy, and with data management are doing this out of our love of the family and our interest in DNA.
We continuously stay abreast of the latest learning in DNA for genealogy. There are several online communities that you can follow as well. DNA-forums.org is hosted by Family Tree DNA. It's divided up into sections that you can follow based on your own DNA Haplogroups, on the geography of your ancestors and on your interests.
We intend to continue working to help the St Clair / Sinclair / Sinceler family understand our history as long as possible. To that end, we've set up a secession plan to make sure the work continues into the next decades.
In fact, we're out to 216 people. We're overwhelmingly a Y-DNA study, otherwise known as a one-name study. Our goal is to fully understand just one surname, and all the lineages and participants who carry it.
This blog exists to help us put out thoughts out more quickly than the main website and to keep people informed.
St Clair Research is Non-profit
All those who help with the study, with genealogy, and with data management are doing this out of our love of the family and our interest in DNA.
St Clair Research Has Learned Much
We continuously stay abreast of the latest learning in DNA for genealogy. There are several online communities that you can follow as well. DNA-forums.org is hosted by Family Tree DNA. It's divided up into sections that you can follow based on your own DNA Haplogroups, on the geography of your ancestors and on your interests.
St Clair Research is a Life-Long Hobby
We intend to continue working to help the St Clair / Sinclair / Sinceler family understand our history as long as possible. To that end, we've set up a secession plan to make sure the work continues into the next decades.
Monday, February 20, 2012
St Clair DNA
Welcome to the St Clair DNA study. This is where we'll put up postings and occasional thoughts about the DNA of the Sinclair family.
Look around the web and you'll find a lot of information about the Sinclair family. Much of what you'll find is based on the lore of the movie Da Vinci Code. That work of fiction caused a great deal of difficulty among those in our family who'd rather believe myth than fact.
DNA doesn't lie but, by itself, it cannot tell the entire truth. DNA is a string of numbers. Without genealogy, linguistics, the testing of ancient bones, or archaeology DNA remains a string of numbers, subject to the half-truths or outright lies of those who would invent for themselves a more romantic history.
The St Clair DNA study has shown that our family has (as of now) 12 distinct lineages who do not share a common ancestor for a very long time. Some of our lineages don't share a common ancestor for at least 2,300 years. Others don't share one for 4,000 years. Some don't connect to the rest for about 50,000 years. But this is to be expected of a family who derived their name from a place.
As an article on the St Clair DNA Study shows, there were many places in France with the name Saint-Clair - nearly 30, scattered throughout France. Anyone who owned land might have styled themselves "de Sancto Claro," or "of St Clair." This simply meant they were living on land called St. Clair. Later, these place names were adopted as surnames.
This article by Steve St. Clair explores surname connections in DNA and in medieval English and Norman records. Certain families inter-married before the time that surnames became fixed in stone. The Ashley / St. Clair connection is a perfect example. As is the de Vaux / St. Clair connection. There are many more illustrated in this 24-page paper.
If you carry a surname of the Saint-Clair famly - St Clair, Sinclair, Sinceler, Sinkler, etc. - then we recommend you read up on the origins of our family and our surname. These days, everyone focuses entirely too much on our history in Scotland. We had a much stronger influence on events in medieval England than we ever had in Scotland.
Enjoy our DNA study.
Kind Regards,
Steve St. Clair Regular thoughts and updates about the Sinclair DNA study are posted on Tumblr. Learn more about our Sinclair family DNA study at our main website. Click Here. Check out the YouTube channel where we post frequent videos to better explain the complexities of our Sinclair DNA SNPs.
This is the official blog of the St Clair DNA Study
Look around the web and you'll find a lot of information about the Sinclair family. Much of what you'll find is based on the lore of the movie Da Vinci Code. That work of fiction caused a great deal of difficulty among those in our family who'd rather believe myth than fact.
The St Clair DNA study deals with facts
DNA doesn't lie but, by itself, it cannot tell the entire truth. DNA is a string of numbers. Without genealogy, linguistics, the testing of ancient bones, or archaeology DNA remains a string of numbers, subject to the half-truths or outright lies of those who would invent for themselves a more romantic history.
The St Clair DNA study has shown that our family has (as of now) 12 distinct lineages who do not share a common ancestor for a very long time. Some of our lineages don't share a common ancestor for at least 2,300 years. Others don't share one for 4,000 years. Some don't connect to the rest for about 50,000 years. But this is to be expected of a family who derived their name from a place.
As an article on the St Clair DNA Study shows, there were many places in France with the name Saint-Clair - nearly 30, scattered throughout France. Anyone who owned land might have styled themselves "de Sancto Claro," or "of St Clair." This simply meant they were living on land called St. Clair. Later, these place names were adopted as surnames.
The St Clair DNA Study has shown that our Norman ancestors weren't as attached to their second names as we are today
This article by Steve St. Clair explores surname connections in DNA and in medieval English and Norman records. Certain families inter-married before the time that surnames became fixed in stone. The Ashley / St. Clair connection is a perfect example. As is the de Vaux / St. Clair connection. There are many more illustrated in this 24-page paper.
If you carry a surname of the Saint-Clair famly - St Clair, Sinclair, Sinceler, Sinkler, etc. - then we recommend you read up on the origins of our family and our surname. These days, everyone focuses entirely too much on our history in Scotland. We had a much stronger influence on events in medieval England than we ever had in Scotland.
Enjoy our DNA study.
Kind Regards,
Steve St. Clair Regular thoughts and updates about the Sinclair DNA study are posted on Tumblr. Learn more about our Sinclair family DNA study at our main website. Click Here. Check out the YouTube channel where we post frequent videos to better explain the complexities of our Sinclair DNA SNPs.
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