East Anglia is a hotbed of both Barnard and Bernard families, so I want to give notice of our Barnard_Bernard Y-DNA project with Family Tree DNA. The project has the aim of uniting Barnards worldwide who are interested in discovering the origins of their families and uniting members who have common ancestors so that they may compare their paper research to the benefit of each. Only males bearing the Barnard, Bernard, or a close variant can be tested. Females may take part by persuading a male relative to be tested, and we have several females in our project. The test itself is painless and consists of two swabs which are mailed by the testing company, in our case Family Tree DNA. The swabs are simply rubbed on the inside of the cheek which connects enough DNA for testing purposes. The DNA is taken from a segment of the Y- chromosome which is considered a 'garbage' area by many scientists, but not genetics people. There is nothing to suggest family traits or pre disposal to diseases etc. All it does is show whether or not two or more males are related and have a common ancestor in the last several centuries. When the test is complete it is simply mailed back to FTDNA. You can find more information at <file:///www.barnarddna.dranrab.com>www.barnarddna.dranrab.com If you are interested I would be happy to any questions regarding our Barnard_Bernard project, and I can be reached at <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] Thank you for reading this message. Alan Barnard (Volunteer administrator of the Barnard_Bernard Y-DNA Surname Project)