Hello, My name is Patrick Payne and I am from King George County, Virginia. I am the coordinator of the PAYNE Family DNA Project at http://home.earthlink.net/~ppayne1203. Through my genealogical research and our DNA data, I have been able to trace my earliest known ancestor to a Thomas PAYNE (d. 1673) and Jane SMALLPEECE (d. 1675) of St. Mary's County, Maryland. They arrived in America in the year 1664 aboard the ship GOLDEN FORTUNE, Edward PEARCE, Master. Beyond this ancestry, I have very little to go on. For this reason, I am subscribing to several rootsweb lists in the hopes that someone will recognize something that might open some doors for my research. I have been stuck in Maryland for far to long and want nothing more than to discover my English heritage. I have three basic lines of thought about my Thomas PAYNE. 1. Thomas PAYNE may have belonged to a PAYNE family that, evidently, lived in the area of Market LAVINGTON, Wilts. This family is said to have fled the Isle of Jersey at the close of the English Civil Wars for Devon. However, in 1795, a descendant of this family, Ralph PAYNE, rose to the peerage as Baron Lavington- a title chosen for him due to the "Wiltshire origin of his ancestors" according to "The History of Parliament" (although Ralph had requested the title "BRAMPTON"). DNA shows that I am distantly related to known descendants of this family that must have settled in Wiltshire rather than Devon as our family traditions maintain. I have also noticed that a SMALLPEECE family is known to have been residing in the area of Cranleigh, Surry, which is not to far from Market Lavington. As an aside, Lord Lavington was a brother (of the half-blood) of Admiral John Willett PAYNE, who was a friend and personal secretary of HRH, the Prince of Wales (later George IV) and they are s! aid to have been kinsmen of the Banker, Rene PAYN, of SMITH, PAYNE and SMITH Bank. Prince George was a nephew of the Duke of Cumberland, who married (against the Royal Marriage Act), Olive WILMOT, whose niece, Olivia WILMOT, was the wife of Capt. William PAYNE of Lancaster County, Virginia, of Warwickshire and of Miles End, London". Capt. Payne is described in records as "Captain of the Hudson from London." Although there appears to be some form of connection here, we have yet to make it. 2. Thomas may have been a member of the PAYNE family of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, who, during the 16th and 17th century, had been Lords of the manors of NOWTON, WORLINGTON, NETHERALL TINDALLS and SOHAM. Two generations of this family (from bef. 1521 to 1568) had served as Bailiffs of the Manor of HENGRAVE under the 3rd Duke of Buckingham and his successor, Sir Thomas KYTSON. The possible connection here is formed through the marriage of Sir Thomas SMALLPEECE (d. 1673) of METFIELD and WORLINGHAM, with Alice JERMY (d. 1672), daughter of Francis JERMY and Alice IRBY. The PAYNES of Suffolk were connected to the JERMY'S and their circle of friends.