DNA Project Update - March 2008

Well, the results are in!

The Saddington DNA Project now consists of a 12 marker Y-DNA result for the Appleby Magna Saddingtons and a 37 marker Y-DNA result for the Foxton/Great Bowden Saddingtons.

Of course, at the moment, it is only possible to compare the first 12 markers for these two tests, and these are as follows:

Appleby Magna 13 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 30
Foxton/Great Bowden 13 24 14 12 11 15 12 12 12 13 13 30

Taking the Appleby Magna results as the base, you can see that two of the Foxton/Great Bowden markers are one number different from their Appleby Magna equivalents. This is technically known as having a genetic distance of 2 between the two people tested.

A genetic distance of 2 generally means that the probability of those two people being related is not high. The fact that research into the paper records shows that the two Saddingtons that have been tested so far are definitely not related in the male line at any point during the last 9 generations makes the probability even lower. In fact, based on these 12 markers, the probability that these two men share a common ancestor in the last 33 generations is only 52.79%.

However, all is not lost, my friends.

Increasing the number of markers tested could also increase the probability of a common ancestor. Testing other members of these two branches of the Saddington family could also increase the probability. This is because different DNA markers mutate at different rates, and so mutations in different markers change the probabilities of sharing a common ancestor.

What must also be taken into account is that Saddington is what is known as a locative surname, i.e. it is a surname adopted from a placename, in this case, the village of Saddington in Leicestershire. Locative surnames only tend to occur when the original person moves away from the place whose name they later adopt. For example, if a man named John moved away from Saddington to a nearby village, where there was already at least one other man named John, it would be likely that his new neighbours would refer to him as John from Saddington. In time, this could become John Saddington, and the new surname might then be passed on to his children and to their children.

So, with a locative surname like Saddington, DNA testing can show one or both of two options. Either that all branches of the family come from a single common ancestor, or that each branch comes from a different ancestor, or that some branches share a common ancestor and others don't.

This means that all is still to play for - we just need more male Saddingtons willing to be tested! Ladies, although this is not something that we can do ourselves, we can encourage the Saddington men in our lives to have a test done!

As usual, any comments or queries gratefully received.