DNA testing for genealogy has been available since 2000, and provides many benefits for your family tree research or surname study. There has been steady growth in the field every year, with more people taking a DNA test. As a result, the databases of results have grown significantly.

The test with the longest track record is a Y-DNA test. Each of us has 23 pairs of chromosomes, with 22 of those pairs known as autosomes, and the 23rd pair is the sex chromosomes. If you have XX for your sex chromosomes, you are a female. If you have XY, you are a male.

The Y-chromosome is passed from father to son, typically unchanged. In most cultures, surnames follow this route. This combination of the surname and the Y-chromosome travelling the same path is what makes this DNA test so powerful for genealogy. Of course, there are some exceptions, such as voluntary name change, adoption or an illegitimate male who takes the mother’s surname.

Surname projects
Y-DNA testing is typically organised in surname projects, which cover a surname and its associated variants. Some projects also include exploratory surnames, which are ones the researchers think may be variants, but they aren’t sure.

A surname project typically has an administrator, and usually co-administrators to help with the various tasks involved. These people are volunteers, and have a wide range of reasons for starting or joining a project in an administrator capacity. For example, they may have started the project to use Y-DNA testing to help with a brick wall, or to sort out various trees of the surname in a location where the records do not give a definitive answer; or perhaps they were curious to determine if everyone with the surname is related. Most projects have multiple goals.

Surname projects are very beneficial, since they group together all those with the surname and its variants.

The Ricketts surname project, for example, was established in 2009, with multiple goals, including trying to find the surname origin for each group of trees that match.

Ricketts is a multiple-origin surname, which means it came about at multiple locations at different times. Most surnames are of this kind. This means that there will be multiple different Y-DNA results. Since the genealogical component of Y-DNA covers the time period from the adoption of surnames to today, you typically have groups of documented trees which match. Sometimes you can’t find the connection, since the trees are related in the time period between the adoption of surnames and the start of the documented trees, where insufficient or no records exist.

The Ricketts surname project is a global project, encouraging and recruiting participants worldwide. One issue that makes the project difficult is the frequency of the surname, with approximately 30,000 Ricketts and close variants worldwide.

The Ricketts Family History Project (see box below) collaborates with the Ricketts surname study, run by Salli (née Ricketts) Dyson of London, and registered with the Guild of One-Name Studies based in the UK.

Recruiting participants: Canada

David Ricketts in Ontario came across the Ricketts project on the internet. From his family history research, he knew his tree connected to the Ricketts tree which had been in Jamaica from the 1600s until the 1800s. Three men from this tree had already tested, with each man representing a son of a Ricketts of this tree, born c1680. All three men had matched, validating these three branches of a tree that spanned multiple centuries. Unfortunately, David’s participation wasn’t needed, since his branch had tested. Even so, David was willing to contact another Ricketts he knew in Ontario to see if his friend would participate. Although they knew each other, they didn’t know of any connection – DNA would tell them if they were related.

At this point, the other man, Charles Ricketts in Ontario, had researched his tree from Ontario to Quebec to Kent, England, and needed to dig out some old records to see if the tree could be documented further back in time.

Recruiting participants: New Zealand
A key element of a surname project is recruiting participants. Each one offers potential for either a match or a new DNA result, providing an opportunity for discoveries and interesting information.

The Ricketts Family History Project has taken a very proactive recruiting approach, mailing letters to Ricketts in various countries around the world and, if a response isn’t received, following up with a phone call to explain the discoveries the male can make and the benefits to their family history research. In addition, the male Ricketts are informed about how their participation will result in a contribution to the knowledge about the surname.

Geoffrey Ricketts in New Zealand received a letter from the project. For him, the letter was intriguing, since Geoff had researched his family tree, taking his Ricketts line back to 1790, and had also visited the ancestral homeland, the parish of East Knoyle in Wiltshire. He hadn’t heard of Y-DNA testing – but was willing to give it a try.

DNA results
The result for Charles came back from the lab, and he didn’t have any Ricketts matches at 37 markers, which is the minimum level required for a genealogical time-frame. He did have some matches at 12 markers which didn’t remain matches at 25 or 37 markers. This happens. These 12-marker matches represent an anthropological time frame, and it is just a coincidence that the men have the same surname.

Although it was disappointing not to have any genealogical matches, Charles understood that this happens with a multiple-origin surname, until there is a large number of participants representing most of the family trees. As more people were tested, he would most likely have a match or multiple matches in the future.

The results from Geoffrey in New Zealand came back from the lab, and he matched Charles in Ontario, Canada. This was quite exciting for everyone. The two men were a 36/37 match (see p84).

East Knoyle
Charles had luck when looking in an old trunk and found a copy of a distant Ricketts ancestor’s marriage certificate from 1846. This ancestor was married in the parish church of East Knoyle. Coincidentally, the New Zealand man’s tree went back to 1790 – also in East Knoyle.

Neither Charles nor Geoff knew of each other, or about the common ancestor, or this other branch of their family tree.

Extensive further research was performed by the Ricketts Family History Project, focusing on the parish registers of East Knoyle, which showed that both men were in the same documented family tree. Their common ancestor is John Ricketts, baptised in 1766. Each man descends from a different son of John. A genetic distance of 1, or a 36/37 match, is very reasonable for a relationship in this time frame of over 250 years. Random mutations or changes occur, typically where a marker increases or decreases by one. We can see the difference of 1 in the two markers in their results. We do not know which man represents the ancestral result. Further males on this tree would need to be tested to determine the result for the common ancestor John.

The parish register of East Knoyle started in 1538. A thorough review of the register shows the first Ricketts event to be recorded was in 1584, with the baptism of Robert, son of Thomas. The lack of any prior Ricketts events indicates, but of course doesn’t prove, that this Ricketts tree migrated to East Knoyle by 1584. As more DNA testing is done, we should find more matches, and perhaps clues about the situation.

Only one tree was present in East Knoyle since 1584, except for a migration into the parish in the 1800s where a removal order was then issued. Unfortunately, there are no Ricketts remaining in this parish today. Many lines daughtered out, and some disappeared, and we have not yet found where they went.

The ancestors of Geoffrey and Charles are buried at East Knoyle. Various gravestones give tribute to these ancestors, though the moss is making the stones very hard to decipher.

Dr Christopher Wren was appointed rector of East Knoyle in 1623, and remained in that position until 1646. Dr Wren (father of the architect of the same name) was later Dean of Windsor and Registrar of the Order of the Garter. We can only imagine what impact Dr Wren had on the Ricketts in his parish.

Conclusion
DNA testing is a very powerful tool when combined with your family history research.

It opens the door to discoveries that can’t be made from the paper records alone, plus provides an opportunity to confirm research and enables you to sort out multiple families in the same location.

You may discover lost branches of your family tree, and these may point you to a new location for research. For those who cannot make a document-

based connection to their ancestral homeland, DNA is invaluable.