The results from a long awaited Y-DNA test for the Davenport DNA Surname Project has arrived. This is a major breakthrough, so I thought I should report it separately. We are trying to get DNA samples from all of the branches of the various Davenport lines around the world to see how we are related. For more information and to see the results go to http://www.DavenportDNA.com -------------- First a little background. There were five Davenports that appeared in the Boston area in the 1600's. They were the Rev. John, Thomas of Dorchester, Humphrey of Barbados, Capt. Richard, and Lancelot. All were originally recorded as being from England although no genealogical connection has been found. However, researchers believed they were related since they all used the same family crest. DNA testing has since shown the Humphrey line is not related, but the Rev. John and Thomas are. We have also found the Albemarle line of North Carolina match these two. There has been much research on the Davenports of Cheshire England, going all the way back to Ormus De Davenport, (one of many spelling versions), around 1066AD. Some of his lines have been traced down to the present day. Including the Bromley Davenports. One of the goals of the DNA project is to try to determine if there is a connection between the American Davenports and the ancient Davenport lines of Cheshire. If the link could be make, then the line could be extended back to Ormus. So, we set out trying to find Davenports of documented English descent, especially Bromley Davenports. We did find English Davenports and some matched the American lines, but they were uncertain of their exact Cheshire connection. Finally, we found a Bromley Davenport who was willing to participate. And... his results are in. The Bromley Davenports match the others. This means the Rev. John, Thomas of Dorchester, Albemarles, and several other individuals of "unknown ancestry" all have a common Davenport ancestor with the Bromley Davenports. So, it's official now. Who that is - we don't know, but there are people working on it. ------------- I have also made some changes to the DavenportDNA webpage to account for this new development. In the past we would compare individuals within a particular line. In this way we could determine what the modal Y-DNA values were for the line - meaning, for example, what the DNA of Thomas of Dorchester looked like. We could then call any differences within the line away from the modal, a mutation. It was by comparing these modal values for the Thomas, Rev. John, and others that we able to determine that they were related. Now that we have the Bromley Davenport results, we were able to develop a modal for the entire English Davenport line. It may change slightly as we get more results, but it should be fairly close. Comparing our tested lines to the new modal shows us that there is a close relationship: Thomas of Dorchester - 1 step away from modal Rev. John - 2 Albemarle - 2 Bromley Davenport - 4 It is important to remember that it is not necessary to match the Bromley Davenport exactly. His line has mutations away from the original, just like all the rest. So the Rev. John line may be six steps from Bromley, but he is only 2 from the perceived modal. ----------- Our next step is to find more Davenports with documented connections to England to help fine tune the process. So if you know of any - please point them to the DNA project. ------------ This and all previous reports can be seen on the News page at >http://www.DavenportDNA.com If anyone would like to join the DNA project or has any questions please contact me. Bill Davenport Surname DNA Project Administrator >wbdave@aol.com