G'day Tim and other listers who have contributed to this thread.
From a very limited knowledge of genetics and DNA analysis I would like to
add my comments to the discussion.
Apart from rare isolated occasions the y chromosome is passed down from
father to male children unchanged except for rare mutations. Therefore
analyses of its DNA sequences provides a good tool for establishing genetic
linkages of male individuals. The extent of linkages is generally expressed
in terms of probabilities. However these are refined to such a high degree
of confidence that in most cases for genealogical studies, linkages are
generally accepted as matters of fact.
In the case of my Catley line, DNA analyses of my y chromosome and of those
Catley males descended from a common male ancestor several generations
removed would not establish links to my earliest
Hertfordshire/?Cambridgeshire male antecedents. This is because the direct
male line was broken several generations ago when an unmarried Catley
daughter gave birth to a son who adopted the Catley name and was raised by
her father as the father's son. I and many other Australian born Catley
males would have the y chromosome of the father of the male ex-nuptial
child, not that of the earlier Hertfordshire Catleys. If I knew the name
of the father of the child I would pursue his family tree as avidly as I
do the Catley line.
I would be surprised if similar events such as formal and informal
adoptions did not occur in other Cat(t)ley lines that would break the
continuity of the inheritance of the y chromosome through successive
generations of males. There is also the possibility that some male children
were brought into a Cat(t)ley marriage by a wife or even to have had
children from a male, other than her husband during her marriage. This
reminds me of a quote from William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice: "It is
a wise father that knows his own child "
My attitude to the possible lack of continuity of a y chromosome is that it
does not detract from the family links except perhaps for the purists who
demand a genetic connection through a male or female line. Adopted and
ex-nuptial children are very much family members and I believe they form
part of the genealogical history of all families.
In relation to dna analysis of either the y chromosome or other chromosomes
or mitochondria to establish linkages of the several Cat(t)ley branches in
England, I would expect it would be useful in opening the way to search for
the origins of our earliest recorded Cat(t)leys in the various regions. In
the case of my earliest Hertfordshire record, which is a christening at
Barley in 1710 there is a strong likelihood that the father (James Catley)
came from neighbouring Essex where there is a number of earlier Catley
records. Unfortunately I cannot link him to any of the Essex records that I
have. The point I am trying to make is that irrespective of any broad
regional linkages that are established by DNA analyses we still need to
establish the links between individuals if we are to extend our
genealogical history.
At 09:20 AM 17/06/2005, you wrote:
Hello everybody,
Just to let you know that my original email on the subject has been
intercepted by the founder of the GENEALOGY-DNA mailing list and she has
corrected me in that the Lab that did the DNA test on my family were
incorrect in suggesting to me that the DNA
Regards,
Mick Catley
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