DNA

Clay DNA Projects

There are currently three DNA projects related to the Clay family.

There is the American based  Clay family  Society,  familytree DNA Project which trys to locate the links between English Clays and early American Clays.

The Clay Society of England, research project which is hoped will provide targetted  genealogical descendants of both English and American Clays to link into the Clay family tree DNA project.

The third DNA project which has yet to be launched is the  Society of Anglo-French Clays DNA Research Project. This will trying to establish links betweeen the Clays of England and the Clays of France and if successful will establish England as the middle position between America and France. However DNA testing for genealogical purposes is not legal in France and this may pose a significant future problem.

MY OWN DNA

MyHeritage DNA

I had always considered myself to be a descendant of Anglo Saxon heritage or possibly Scandinavian, due to my locality and appearance, a Norwegian friend had once joked that I obviously lived close to the border of the Danelaw.

I have traced my own ancestors back to c1530 in England and  I quite anticipated that the above was what would come back having taken a DNA test.

I was somewhat surprised then by the result.

I am by no means an expert on this, or anything else actually, so the information below is purely speculation, tinged with a hope of having French roots.

If I am reading this information correctly, it would appear my ancestors were from Northern europe and they migrated at some point to England and also to the French territory of Acadia and what is now Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. In 1710 the English gained control over the territory, many French would not swear loyalty to their new masters and this ended with settlers being forcefully ejected from the settlement, many  moving south into  America.

The settlers whose descendants became Acadians primarily came from the southwestern and southern regions of France, historically known as Occitania. This area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France,  however all areas of France contributed to this migration.

Familytree DNA

Familytree DNA testing confirms the above and has has revealed that the journey of  my Clay ancestors, started in North Africa, crossed over into  Spain, from there to France and thence on into England. 

The tests with familytreeDNA  confirmed a French connection and a probable migration date to England between 900-1200.

Information from Wikipedia

Y-DNA RESEARCH

Y-DNA is passed from father to son and can be an excellent resource for researching male ancestry. Only males inherit Y-DNA, so the tester must descend from the ancestor of interest through a male-only descendant line. 

Researchers  recommend  testing at FamilyTreeDNA beginning at the 37-marker level to see if you have enough matches to further your research. For a deeper dive into Y-DNA research, FamilyTreeDNA offers group projects focused on shared surnames, geographical locations, or haplogroups. Upgrading to the Big–Y testing level will help you to get the most out of participation in a group project.

AUTOSOMAL DNA RESEARCH

Autosomal DNA is inherited from both parents and is helpful for genealogical research for approximately six generations on all ancestral lines. Because each generation only inherits half of their parent’s DNA, its recommended testing your eldest living generation of relatives. Autosomal DNA tests are available at Ancestry DNA, My Heritage DNA and Family Tree DNA. Autosomal group DNA projects are also offered at FamilyTreeDNA.