Latest DNA results a bit of a quandry

Our STERRY DNA Project is now in its 7th year and 26 male STERRYs have now joined. The DNA results have proved a very helpful supplementary tool in our ongoing quest to understand how the different STERRY trees are related, especially where historical documentation has not survived or is uncertain. In recent months DNA evidence has demonstrated that the Lowestoft, Suffolk; Ipswich, Suffolk; and both branches of the Southwold, Suffolk Sterry trees are all part of the same genetic group and are definitely related.

John Sterry from the Ipswich, Suffolk line is our most recent and is the second member of the Ipswich, Suffolk to join. As these two Sterrys were second cousins, an exact match was anticipated.

However, a 2-marker mismatch between them was recorded and both were now 3-markers distant from the calculated mode or 'signature' of the DNA group to which we believed they both belonged. This was rather disconcerting. [Specially selected DNA 'markers' are used to determine relatedness; such markers being passed down largely unchanged from father to son over hundred of years.]

So we sought the advice of two excellent Rootsweb mailing lists: the Guild of One-Name Studies mailing list [available to members only] and Y-DNA-Projects [a public mailing list for the discussion and sharing of information regarding practical issues related to testing for Y-DNA surname projects] as well as the helpdesk at Family Tree DNA.

June Willing from the GOONS mailing list provided a particularly detailed and helpful reply. [The #numbers are the IDs of the two Ipswich line participants in the STERRY DNA Project.]

"I don't see any problem with #349959 being closely related to #169049, even though they have a GD [genetic distance] of 2. #349959 has a mutation on [marker] CDYb which the others in the group do not have. #169049 has a mutation on 385b which the others in the group do not have. So each has picked up one mutation in 3 generations. Nothing unusual in my experience. They both have a mutation on [marker] 570, suggesting they could be more closely related to each other than to the others in the group. Some markers tend to mutate pretty quickly and those concerned in your results, CDY and 385, are among the fast- moving markers.

DNA results do not in themselves prove a relationship, but must be used in conjunction with the documentary evidence. But in this case, in my opinion, the results do not contradict this."

Darren Marin from Family Tree DNA provided an intriguing insight into the possible cause of the unexpected mutations:

"While this is unusual to have two mutations and be related within the past 4 generations it is entirely possible. One way of reading the TiP calculation would be to say we see this exact scenario almost 30% of the time.  While what causes mutations is not well understood one thought is that the older a man is when he has a child the more likely a mutation will be to occur since the DNA replication seems to not work as well as when younger.  If either of their lines have older fathers this may explain the more recent mutations. "

David Sterry, Co-Coordinator of the Sterry DNA Project comments:

"We were thereby reassured that the two members of the Ipswich Sterry tree were indeed related and that the mismatch could have been the result of genetic mutation in a recent generation, possibly caused by the common ancestor fathering one of his sons "later" in life. In this case we noted that George Arthur Sterry was 24 when Mervyn`s grandfather Ernest Sterry was born whilst he was 42 when John`s father Robert Charles Sterry arrived.

Another feature noted was the sharing of a common marker difference to the combined Lowestoft, Southwold & Ipswich modal indicating an earlier mutation which may be related to the progenitor George Starry being 48 when his son, George, was born.

Ultimately, the suggested connection of the Ipswich line with the Southwold branches and the older Lowestoft tree appears to be firming up.

We would now very much like to recruit a member of the Pakefield, Suffolk line to check out our developing suspicion that the progenitors of both that line and the Ipswich line were brothers! "

Sterrys in the Republic of Ireland

A new and improved set of Irish civil registration indexes has been launched on IrishGenealogy, the state-run website best known for its church records microsite. These free indexes differ from those currently available via FamilySearch, Ancestry and findmypast by including births, marriages, and deaths right up to 2013 - as well as a certain amount of additional detail to aid identification.

"The Births Index, which dates from 1864, includes the mother's maiden surname from 1900. Additionally, the actual date of birth is included from 1900 to 1927 and from 1966 to current. The Marriages index, which dates from 1845 for non-Catholic marriages and from 1864 for all marriages, includes the names of both bride and groom for all marriages from 1913, and for some marriages from 1900 to 1912. The Deaths Index, which starts in 1864, includes the age at death from 1924 and the marital status of the deceased from 1966.

"As with the pre-existing online database, the new GRO Indexes cover the entire island up to and including 1921. Thereafter, it includes only those events registered in the Irish Free State/Republic of Ireland.

[Source: http://www.lostcousins.com/newsletters/jul14news.htm#Ireland]

Almost all of the STERRY events listed in these new enhanced indexes relate to one Dublin family descended from John Edmund Bagge Sterry [1889-1965] and Mary Margaret Felton. John Edmund Bagge Sterry and his descendants can be found on the Southwold, Suffolk, UK Sterry tree.

Details on this Dublin Sterry family can also be found on the My Heritage website on the well researched Dolan-Haugh Family Tree. You need to sign up [for free] and login to view.

Researching Norfolk Parishes

Have returned to working on parish registers in Norfolk, England. I recently rejoined the Norfolk Family History Society. NFHS has a large number of their own transcribed Norfolk parish registers and memorial inscriptions accessible from their website through their Norfolk Online Record Search [NORS]. All their online records have now been cross referenced to what we already have on Sterry WorldWide. I will now be trawling through any Norfolk parish registers on the Family Search website that have not already been checked through other sources. These are being done in simple alphabetical order for all baptisms, marriages and burials 1700-1780 and have so far been checked up to Great Massingham.

The Sterry Family of America 1670-1970 by Walter Smith now online

This seminal book on Sterry Genealogy has been published online as an ebook by the Genealogical Society of Utah aka FamilySearch.

Copyright free the entire book of 368 pages in pdf format can be freely viewed online or downloaded

https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE1018560

The Connecticut Clan, Descended from Roger, of Stonington by 1670, and the Maine Clan, Descended from Samuel, of Ipswich [Mass.] by 1753, with Mention of Other Sterrys and the Family in England Back to 1190 [Sturry]) by WALTER BURGES SMITH.

Printed privately in Israel for the author.

Researching Wills in Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire

I am currently researching the STARY/STARIE family of Burford and Corely in Shropshire, Knighton-on-Teme and Neen Sollars in Worcestershire and Stoke Bliss and Stoke Prior in Herefordshire. Although this sounds as though they are spread over quite a large area, in fact they are all within about 15km of where they appear to have originated in Burford, as the following snip from a googlemap shows.

It so happens that almost this entire area, although covering three counties, came under the Diocese of Hereford as far as pre-1858 probate records are concerned and the Episcopal Consistory Court of Hereford in particular.

There is a very useful Family Search wiki article on the Episcopal Consistory Court of Hereford. The wiki very conveniently cross references to Family Search films that can be ordered online and viewed at your local LDS Family History Centre.

The titles of the films indicate fairly clearly what they contain. Here are some I have looked at so far, with some excellent results: see Stary/Sterry Herefordshire Wills.

Original Wills, Administrations, Inventories Court of the Bishop of Hereford 1579-1631 [LDS Film 91671]
Original Wills, Administrations, Inventories Court of the Bishop of Hereford 1602-1623, 1631-1650 [LDS Film 91672]
Probate Indexes and Abtracts, Court of the Bishop of Hereford 1662-1669 [LDS Film 1647469]
Registered Wills, v.17-18, 1709-1714 [LDS Film 91597]
Registered Wills [Court of the Bishop of Hereford] 1709-1714 [Film 91597]

The series 91632-91679 are Wills, Administrations and Inventories 1540+-1660+  proved at the Court of the Bishop of Hereford. Apart from the probate declaration at the end of the document, they are in English and are indexed. They are arranged by letter of surname and year range. However,  some of the years are out of sequence. Some are organised by particular surnames.

The series 91588-91621 are complete, registered Wills from 1663-1858 proved at the Court of the Bishop of Hereford. Apart from the probate declaration at the end of the document, they are in English and are indexed. They are arranged by letter of surname and year range. Note however that the index and the Wills they refer to may continue over two films.

The series 1647469-1647653 are only abstracts proved at the Court of the Bishop of Hereford from 1662-1858 and contain only very limited information, such as the most recent parish where the testator lived and the names of the executors.They are also in Latin. However, they are useful as they effectively provide a combined index to Wills and Administrations from 1663-1858.

There are two series that I have not looked at. Films 91680-91716 contain Administrations and Inventories from 1662-1736; films 91622-91628 contain Act Books from 1662-1858.

An Index to Wills proved in the Bishop's Court of Hereford 1442-1579 [Film 990127] is also available.

Apart from the Family Search collection, there are two published indexes for the Court of  the Bishop of Hereford that can be referenced at family history libraries and some record offices - if you're lucky enough to have one that is accessible.

Calendar of Probate and Administration Acts, 1407-1550 in the Consistory Court of the Bishops of Hereford, with an Appendix of Abstracts of Registered-Copy Wills 1552-1581, ed. Michael Faraday, 2009

Calendar of probate and administration acts 1407-1541 and abstracts of wills 1541-1581 in the court books of the Bishop of Hereford, ed. M.A. Faraday and E.J.L. Cole, British Record Society, 1989.

But the Wills they refer to in the above indexes evidently no longer exist.

There is a long-standing project by the British Record Society to produce a consolidated index to all records in the Episcopal Consistory Court of Hereford and  the Consistory Court of the Dean of Hereford [that covered parishes in Hereford itself and nearby parishes] up to 1700, but this is currently unpublished.

Of course it's one thing to locate a probate record; it's not necessarily an easy task to read it - especially if it's pre-1700 and partly in Latin. But it is possible to teach yourself with enough determination and patience.

And I have found quite a few online resources to help me do this.

But I'll leave that topic for another post!

Guild of One-Name Studies Australian Seminar

Attended the first GOONS Australian Seminar last Saturday, October 27 in Sydney, organised by the New South Wales Regional Rep for NSW, Karen Rogers.

Speakers included Heather Garnsey from the Society of Australian Genealogists [Sydney], Richard Merry [Regional Rep for South Australia], David Evans [Regional Rep for Victoria], Michael Mitchelmore and Karen Rogers.

Apart from a rare opportunity of meeting face-to-face with others who shared a passion for researching a particular surname worldwide, I found the presentations by Richard Merry and David Evans the most personally useful.

Richard gave an overview of the latest information on using Y-DNA [the male sex chromosome] as part of a One-Name Study. Amongst a lot of information, he recommended a very useful site Eupedia-Genetics: http://www.eupedia.com/genetics/

Although I have been running a STERRY DNA Project for over three years myself, there is always so much that you don't know and so much more to learn.

David Evans gave an overview of how the Guild works. There are no many support services now available as a member of GOONS
http://www.one-name.org/

that it was great to be reminded of all that is on offer, especially online. David's presentation has certainly stimulated me to have another look at their excellent website, including a fairly new section called Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness where members can offer to help other members. As someone living in Australia with strong research interests in England, any offers to do look-ups in county Record Offices is a great boon to my own research.

Although Heather's presentation on the resources available at the Society of Australian Genealogists [SAG] was for me very much talking to the converted as I have been a member - and indeed a sometime volunteer - for many years, there is always something that is forgotten. During her talk Heather mentioned the TROVE Newspaper Archive of the National Library of Australia.

This is indeed a fabulous site for genealogical research. The number of newspapers, especially country and regional newspapers, that have now been been digitised and can be searched for particular names online is prodigious and is being added to all the time.

Although this site is not new to me, I checked it again when I got home and was surprised how much new material had been added. I had one particularly excellent find: an item on my g.grandfather, William Sterry from 1891. It appears someone stole his horse and cart from right in front of his bakery at Smith St, Collingwood in Melbourne, Victoria. Although I knew that my g.grandfather was indeed a baker in Melbourne in 1891, I previously had no idea where his shop was located. This opens up a whole new area of research!

Thanks Karen for organising a most interesting seminar.

Locating Wills in England before 1858

After parish registers, undoubtedly one of the most valuable source records that are available to anyone undertaking family history research in England are probate records.

But knowing where to look for Wills before a civil system was introduced in 1858 has always been tricky. Wills could be 'proven' in any one of a number of ecclesiastical jurisdictions depending on where the deceased's property was located.

And even if you knew which ecclesiastical court applied, indexes of Wills in regional and district courts are few and far between and/or difficult to use.

In my own STERRY research I found many years ago that Wills proven in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury [PCC] were the best indexed and most readily available. [Wills were proven in the PCC if the deceased had property in more than one ecclesiatical diocese.]

These days indexes of PCC Wills can be readily searched online and the copies of original Wills from 1462 to 1858 downloaded for a small cost.

And now, thanks to the Familysearch Wiki, locating Wills in Episcopal and lower courts is also much easier.

https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/England_Probate_Records

The range and number of  indexes and original probate records in England that have been filmed by the LDS is awesome and so far I have only begun to scratch the surface.

Allthough I live in Australia, I can order these probate indexes and original Wills through my very handy and local LDS Family History Centre at a very reasonable cost.

I am currently researching Wills mainly in Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire and I plan to share my journey via the Sterry Family History blog over the coming months. I hope you may find what I learn of interest in your own research.

More as it happens .....