GENEALOGY-DNA-L Archives

From: John Crowley <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] A Good Lead after Thirty Years
Date: Mon, 02 Aug 2004 08:51:14 -0400
References: <073020042333.11071.410ADAE4000C66B900002B3F2200751150050B989A0E00@comcast.net>

My results came in more than a week early, just in time for a family
reunion.
John Crowley
----- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 7:33 PM
Subject: [DNA] A Good Lead after Thirty Years


> Congratulations John! All of the pieces have now fallen into place. No
matter which brother it is you have your genealogy in the male line back to
1647. Persistence pays off.
> While you were making you impressive find, I also switched "circumstantial
information" to "solid evidence" with a single DNA result.
> For 30 years I had searched for the ancestry of my gg grandfather Robert
Williamson who was a mariner, residing in Monkwearmouth Shore, Durham County
England. Family tradition said he was from the Shetland Islands. All
branches of the family agreed on this - and that we were Norwegian, not
Scottish. About 15 years later I obtained his seaman's ticket and it gave
his exact date of birth (as well as a detailed description) and his place of
birth was Mid Yell, Shetland. Unfortunately he left Shetland in 1838 so was
not in the census records, nor was his baptism registered at least in Mid
Yell Parish. Very frustrating as I located every Robert Williamson born
Shetland 1818 to 1820, and ruled out each whose baptism was on record. I
was left with one candidate, but he was not baptised anywhere near Mid Yell.
> Clues abounded in, for example the name Gilbert, the name of my
grandfather and his uncle, and my cousins down to the present day - and
there was no other Gilbert Williamson in the IGI for Durham County. Clearly
it was a name from Shetland, not from his Robert's English wife's family.
> During the 1841 census of Mid Yell there was only one Williamson family,
that of Gilbert Basil Williamson and wife Elizabeth Arthur. Records of the
late 19th Century listed a son Robert for this couple, but no more (other
than Gilbert Basil's ancestry in the male line back to the 1500s,
patronymics and all!).
> A couple of months ago I asked my contact in Mid Yell (since I am group
admin for the Shetland Islands Project) to locate a descendant of the
brother of Gilbert Basil Williamson, David William Williamson. It so
happened that she knew such a man, and he agreed to the testing. My uncle's
R1a Norse signature has no matches anywhere due to DYS389ii = 33.
> FTDNA must have sensed my anxiety as the results came in two weeks before
the due date - and, an exact match. Although I had predicted this, without
DNA testing I never would have been sure of my ancestry. In addition I have
another cousin to invite to my MyFamily.co website - his gg grandfather
Robert and my gg grandfather Robert were first cousins. Perseverence plus
DNA - a winning combination.
> David.
>
>
> ==============================
> Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration
> Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more.
> http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237
>
>

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• Re: [DNA] A Good Lead after Thirty Years by John Crowley <>