Chisholm Project Website Title - Family Project Website

Chisholm Project Website Title

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Group Administrator: Robert Chisholm nikaudesign@clear.net.nz
Group Co-Administrator: Alice Fairhurst and Bob Chisholm afairhurst@earthlink.net,sarc@dsl.pipex.com

Project Surnames:

Cheezem	Cheezum	Chisam	Chisham
Chisholm	Chisholme	Chism	Chisolm
Chissom	Chissum	Chisum

Group General Fund:

Y-DNA37 2007 Gift Certificate $30* - Kit 108291
Y-DNA37 2007 Gift Certificate $30* - Kit 108563
Y-DNA37 2007 Gift Certificate $30* - Kit 109189
Y-DNA37 2007 Gift Certificate $30* - Kit 109218
Y-DNA37 2007 Gift Certificate $30* - Kit 109703
Y-DNA37 2007 Gift Certificate $30* - Kit 109808
Y-DNA37 2007 Gift Certificate $30* - Kit 109809
Y-DNA37 2007 Gift Certificate $30* - Kit 110632
Y-DNA67 2007 Gift Certificate $30* - Kit 111048
Y-DNA67 2007 Gift Certificate $30* - Kit 111091

10/08/07 - Alice fairhurst donation....$30
10/08/07 - Total available....$30
10/09/07 - Eve Lutz donation....$25
10/09/07 - Total available....$55
10/09/07 - Robert Chisholm donation....$30
10/09/07 - Total available....$85
10/10/07 - Muriel Chisholm donation....$30
10/10/07 - Total available....$115
10/15/07 - Audrey Barney donation....$30
10/15/07 - Total available....$145
10/15/07 - John Chisholm donation....$50
10/15/07 - Total available....$195
10/15/07 - Kit 104126....($195)
10/15/07 - Total available....$0
10/29/07 - Murray Chisholm donation....$50
10/29/07 - Total available....$50
11/06/07 - Stephen Chisholm donation....$30
11/06/07 - Total available....$80
07/29/08 - John Chisholm donation....$200
07/29/08 - Total available....$280
09/19/08 - Kit 133513....($125)
09/19/08 - Total available....$155
10/28/08 - Robert Chisholm donation....$4.50
10/28/08 - Total available....$159.50

Project Background:

Clan Chisholm DNA Project

The Chisholm surname DNA project was begun in December 2005. On 4 October 2007, the Clan Council approved official status for the DNA project with Robert Chisholm of New Zealand named as Clan Chisholm DNA Project Coordinator.

The first testers were women with Chisholm background. When men began to test, the New Zealand branch of the clan lent its support. Now testers come from many parts of the world to learn more about their heritage. This testing may be able to prove or disprove some of the traditional genealogies of the clan. Not all surnames in the project have had traditional genealogies preserved so DNA may help participants to find related people so they can compare their knowledge and add to the clan’s lore.

Many Scottish clans are doing DNA testing to increase their knowledge about their roots and are finding quite a mixture of genetic strands which make up each clan. We are finding multiple strands in the Chisholm clan as well. The name Chisholm is derived from the barony of Chisholme in the parish of Roberton, Roxburghshire. Hence , “de Chisholme” or “of Chisholm.

Understanding DNA Testing:
Family Tree DNA provides information to help you understand DNA testing. Most people start by looking at projects which fit their surname. Across the top of every page are the words TESTIMONIALS, PRIVACY and FAQ. There are also excellent explanations of Y-DNA (male DNA) testing and mtDNA (female DNA) testing accessed from the left column. On the lower right column are articles which give you a deeper understanding of DNA. An excellent tutorial on DNA is found on the Blair Surname site http:// blairgenealogy.com/dna/ called DNA 101.

Recommended books on DNA in general are:
Colleen Fitzpatrick & Andrew Yeiser, DNA & Genealogy
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and Ann Turner, Trace Your Roots with DNA.

Books featuring DNA in the British Isles and Ireland are:
Stephen Oppenheimer, The Origins of the British
Bryan Sykes, Saxons, Vikings and Celts (published in Great Britain as Blood of the Isles).

If you still have questions, contact:
Robert Chisholm – nikaudesign@clear.net.nz or
Bob Chisholm – sarc@dsl.pipex.com or
Alice Fairhurst – afairhurst@earthlink.net

Please note that the FTDNA Surname Group Administrators are not FTDNA employees. They do not receive any form of financial payment or any other incentive or reimbursement. The administrators of the project are members of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy.

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Project Background, Goals, Results and News are copyright of the specific Surname Project

Project Goals:

The purpose of the Clan Chisholm DNA Project is:
• To identify others who are related and to bring together related people who may have scattered to many countries of the world.
• To assist Chisholms of various spellings and other historically related groups to find cousins, determine family location and movement, and determine clan branch or cadet line.
• To help people prove or disprove theories regarding their family history or ancestry with an additional resource.
• To give participants another tool to help with breaking brick walls in genealogical search.
• To investigate through DNA the deeper ancestral roots of the Chisholm clan.
• To share with other project managers information on Scottish and Highland genealogy.

Project News:

In October 2006 the committee of the New Zealand branch of Clan Chisholm Society passed a motion of support for the DNA project. In October 2007 the project was given International Clan Council approval. A pdf file is available for download at the Clan Chisholm Society website http://www.clanchisholmsociety.org/. This is entitled "Blood of the Clan" and gives more detail and analysis of the results. The report is updated as and when required, so check this file regularly. A notice has been placed on the Ancestry.com and rootsweb discussion boards to invite participation in the project.

Our greatest need at this time is to have males test who have good paper trails to ancestry in Scotland or the Border so we can help those who have emigrated find genetic cousins. The project has gained critical mass, with a membership exceeding 60. Be part of this, enrol on line now.
Vikings and Gaels, Angles and Picts, Britons and Spaniards, Highlanders and Lowlanders, we have them all, plus several more. What are yo? Mark out your Chisholm bloodline!

Project Results:

Clan Chisholm DNA Project Results Report as of September 30, 2007

Y-DNA results:
We can now see that the Chisholm clan is composed of multiple patriarchs who migrated from different parts of the world to create the clan in Scotland. We have identified several lines that show relationship between two or more testers plus many others who do not yet have a Chisholm match.

Haplogroups are DNA signatures that are used to look at migrations of man. A resource on this topic is Spencer Wells, Deep Ancestry. To see research and graphics of the Y-DNA tree, go to http://www.isogg.org/tree/index.html

The Haplogroups in Clan Chisholm as of 31 October 2007 are:

• Y-DNA Haplogroup I overwintered in the Balkans during the last Ice Age and some members of this group also overwintered in Iberia. The subgroup I1a today is found mainly in northwestern Europe; some I1a’s are Norse Vikings, and others are Anglo-Saxons. The subgroup I1b expanded from the Balkans both northward and eastward. One of the oldest inhabitants of great Britain is the group called Isles which was formerly designated as I1c and is now seen as part of the I1b grouping.

The first grouping shown on the Y-Results page and in the diagram below on the right hand side are in Haplogroup I.
Kits 96910 (NZ), 85268 (UK), 81707 (UK), and 97700 (USA) all show common Norse Viking ancestry. 97245 (USA) and 96039 (USA) are also Norse Viking and may or may not have a common ancestor with the other four men. Of the Norse Vikings, most with paper trails to the 1700’s or early 1800’s trace to the Borders and one traces to the Highlands. 99204 (USA) came from Eastern Europe.

The group labeled as I1b1a on Y-Results are as Sardinian on the diagram below are Kits 72464 (NZ) and 82064 (USA) who share a common unknown ancestor. This DNA signature is found commonly in Sardinia.

• Haplogroup J, particularly J2 came out of the Near East, moved west along the Mediterranean to Italy and southern Spain. No J2’s got to Ireland, but they did get to Wales, England and Scotland in small numbers.

The two USA men 96189 and 97371 are related, but only 97371 is shown on the diagram below because only he has results with at least 37 markers.

• Y-DNA Haplogroup R1b is the most prolific haplogroup in Europe and its frequency changes in a cline from west (where it reaches a saturation point of almost 100% in areas of Western Ireland) to east (where it becomes uncommon in parts of Eastern Europe and virtually disappears beyond the Middle East. This group is thought to have spent the last Ice Age in the refuge found in Spain and southern France.

This is a mixed group of Celtic men, most of whom are unrelated. 80500 and 88015, Celtic Picts from the Strathglass area, have an unknown common ancestor. The unrelated men may find matches when more Chisholm men test. Also many different genetic lines moved into territories controlled by Chisholms and took on the name as was a common Scottish custom.

mtDNA Results:

Four females with Chisholm ancestry have tested. None of them have a common female ancestor. mtDNA is traced along the straight female line which changes surnames with every generation. It is extremely unusual to find mtDNA matches even if the person has tested both HVR1 and HVR2 since with both tested the match can range back 700 years. All of the mtDNA haplogroups reported in these tests are found in the British Isles and are discussed in Bryan Sykes, The Seven Daughters of Eve. All of these haplogroups are also discussed in Spencer Wells, Deep Ancestry.

Two are in mtDNA haplogroup H (also known as Helena). This haplogroup comprises 40 to 60 % of the mtDNA gene pool in Western Europe and as such is considered the most successful of the mtDNA haplogroups in reproducing itself. It also comprises about 20 % of southwest Asian lineages, 15 % of central Asian lineages and 5 % of northern Asian lineages.

One is in mtDNA haplogroup J* (also known as Jasmine) which has a very wide distribution, being common in eastern and northern Europe, and is present as far east as the Indus Valley bordering Indian and Pakistan and as far south as the Arabian peninsula. mtDNA haplogroup J is largely considered one of the main genetic signatures of the Neolithic expansion and is associated with the spread of agriculture.

One is in mtDNA Haplogroup T (also known as Tara) which is common in eastern and northern Europe and found as far east as the Indus Valley and the Arabian Peninsula. It is considered one of the main genetic signatures of the Neolithic expansion.

One is in mtDNA Haplogroup U (also known as Ursula) which has a wide distribution. Most in mtDNA haplogroup U come from a group that moved northwest out of the Near East. Today they are found in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean at frequencies of almost 7% of the population.

DNA Test Results (mtDNA) for Project Members