Cruwys/Cruse/Crewes DNA project - Family Project Website

Cruwys/Cruse/Crewes DNA project

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Group Administrator: Debbie Kennett debbiekennett@aol.com

Project Surnames:

Creuse	Crew	Crewce	Crewe
Crewes	Crewis	Crewiss	Crews
Crewse	Crewys	Cruce	Crues
Cruice	Cruis	Cruise	Crus
Cruse	Crusse	Cruwes	Cruwys
Cruys	Cruyse	Cruze	Crwys
Crywse	Crywys	Curse	Cuss
Scruce	Scruse	Scuce	Scuse

Project Background:

Welcome to the Cruwys/Cruse/Crewes worldwide DNA project. Cruwys is a very ancient surname which can be traced back to the small parish of Cruwys Morchard in Devon, England, in the 12th century. However, the Cruwys spelling only began to be used from the seventeenth century onwards, and in some families was only introduced in the early 1800s. A large number of variant spellings appear in the early records such as Cruse, Cruis, Cruwes, Crues, Crews and Crewes. The Crewes spelling predominated in Cornwall in a line which is directly descended from the Cruwys Morchard family. The name Cruse is more widely spread in the early parish registers and appears mainly in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, London, Sussex and Lancashire. The aim of the project is to discover how many of the different names are related.

Anyone with any of the many variations of the surname is invited to participate and to contribute to our knowledge of the origins of the surname. We have project members living in six different countries (England, France, America, Australia, Canada and Cambodia), and a substantial number of major lines are now represented, thus increasing the likelihood of a match (see the news page for a full list). We have already had a number of exciting and unexpected matches linking families from different continents and with different variant spellings and no doubt there will be many more to come.

The DNA project is run in conjunction with the Cruwys one-name study, which is registered with the Guild of One-Name Studies in London. Further information about the study can be found on the Cruwys profile page. The results of ongoing research are published on the project's blog, Cruwys news. DNA project results and news (including a breakdown of the tested lines) can be seen by clicking on the tabs at the top of this page (News, Results and Y Results).

For a simple introduction to DNA testing you might like to read my article which was published in the September 2008 issue of the Berkshire Family Historian and which is now available online.

For the purposes of the DNA project we are using the Y-DNA test, which tells you about your direct male line, that is, your father, your father's father, your father's father's father, and so on back in time. To participate in the test you should therefore be a male with one of the surnames shown. If you believe there is a CRUWYS, CRUSE, CREWES or variant in your direct male line, although you have a different surname, you are also welcome to participate. If you are female, you will need to ask your brother, father, uncle or cousin to take part and represent your tree.

We encourage males who order a Y-DNA test to order 37 markers, if possible. The cheaper 12-marker test can be taken as a preliminary measure, and will indicate if two participants have a potential match, but an upgrade is usually required to confirm the results as the lower-resolution tests can produce false positives and false negatives.

Whether male or female, you may also be interested in learning about your direct female line, that is, your mother, your mother's mother, your mother's mother's mother, and so on. Both men and women inherit mtDNA, although only women pass it on. For this purpose, you should order an mtDNA test, preferably the mtDNA Plus test which can indicate matches in more recent generations. All mtDNA tests ordered through this project are at the discounted group rates.

Both the Y-DNA and the mtDNA test results contain no personal information, and the tests are quite different from those used by forensic scientists in criminal investigations and by doctors to identify paternity. Furthermore, the test itself cannot identify a unique individual as close male members of the same family (brothers, uncles, cousins) will in all probability have identical results.

To see the full range of tests available see the the project page here. You will need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and look at the "Type of tests" menu.

TO ORDER A KIT click on the "Request to join this group" link on the left. Tests ordered through this project are charged at the special group rate which provides a substantial saving on the standard FTDNA price.

For further information read the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) and tutorials on the Family Tree DNA website. There is also a useful Wikipedia article on the genealogical DNA test.

If you have already had your DNA tested with Family Tree DNA as part of a geographical project or another surname project (eg, CREWS or CRUISE) you are welcome to join this project too. There is no extra charge for joining multiple projects. Simply click on the "Request to join this project" button at the top left, enter your kit number and password and your results will automatically be included in this project as well.

A General Fund has been established in conjunction with Family Tree DNA to provide a central repository for donations to assist with the cost of DNA testing of key descendants and to split the cost of testing between all interested parties. The fund is maintained independently by the testing company. Contributors can either make a general contribution to the fund or specify that their donation should be used to test a specific participant. Contributions can also be made "in memory" of a family member. Donations can be accepted in any currency via credit card. To make a donation, click on 'Contribute to the Project General Fund' on the left.

© 2008 Cruwys/Cruse/Crewes DNA Project. All Rights Reserved.

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

Project News:

This project was only set up on 26th September 2007 but there has been considerable interest and we already have 38 participants. Twenty-seven Y-DNA results are now through and can be seen on the Y-results page. Five project members have taken the mtDNA test and their results can be seen on the mtDNA results page.

Nine new participants have recently joined the project: a tester from the Witheridge Cruwys tree, a representative of the Mariansleigh Cruwys tree, a descendant of a Crews line from Plymouth, Devon, England, a Cruise in Australia from an Irish line, a Scruse in England from the Wiltshire Scruse tree, a Cruse in England from the Liverpool line, a Cruwys in England from the Brushford, Somerset tree, a Cruse from the line originating in Ogbourne St George, Wiltshire, England, and a Crews in America who is descended from Jesse Crews (c1775-1820, Halifax County, Virginia) and Elizabeth Thompson.

We have project members from Australia, Canada, England, France, Cambodia and America. The distribution of surnames is as follows:

Crewes (Australia) - 1
Crews (America) - 10
Crews (England) - 1
Cruise (America) - 1
Cruise (Australia) - 1
Cruise (Canada) - 2
Cruse (America) - 2
Cruse (England) - 6
Cruse (France) - 1
Cruse (Australia) - 1
Cruwys (Australia) - 2
Cruwys (Cambodia) - 1
Cruwys (Canada) - 1
Cruwys (England) - 5 (includes one female mtDNA tester)
Cruwys (America) - 1
Scruse (England) - 1

The following lines are now represented:

Crewes of Gerrans/Liskeard, Cornwall, England

Crews of Plymouth, Devon, England

Crews/Cruse of Virginia, Georgia and Kentucky, USA

Cruise of Ireland

Cruise of Mississippi, USA

Cruse of Berkshire, England
Cruse of Bethnal Green, London, England
Cruse of Liverpool, England
Cruse of London (John Cruse and Mary Rook line)
Cruse of Ogbourne St George, Wiltshire, England
Cruse of Rode, Somerset, England
Cruse of Sampford Arundell, Somerset, England
Cruse of South Africa (of English origin)

Cruwys of Australia (of English origin)
Cruwys of Prince Edward Island, Canada (of English origin)
Cruwys of Mariansleigh, Devon, England
Cruwys of Winkleigh, Devon, England
Cruwys of Witheridge, Devon, England
Cruwys of Wiveliscombe, Somerset, England

Scruse of Urchfont, Wiltshire, England

Mary Ann BUTLER, born c. 1815 in Purton, Wiltshire, England, the daughter of James BUTLER, a labourer (mtDNA test). Mary Ann married Moses BALL in 1842 in Bath, Somerset. The other surnames in this maternal line are SAUNDERS, TIDBURY, RATTEY and CRUWYS. For further information on this line click here.

Project Results:

As expected, we now have a number of distinct genetic groups within the project, though the diversity of Cruse lines is greater than anticipated.

Three testers with the surname Cruwys and one tester with the surname Crewes now have matching results. Their results have validated the existing paper research into the Cruwys Morchard line. The four testers are direct descendants of John Cruwys of Cruwys Morchard who was born in 1449. Three testers are descended from John's first marriage to Elizabeth Whitley via his great-grandson Thomas Cruwys, who was buried in 1596 in Winkleigh, Devon. The other tester is descended from John's second marriage to Mary Fraunceys. His ancestor, Anthony Crewes, moved to Liskeard in Cornwall and is the progenitor of the Cornish Crewes line. The Cornish family have their own coat of arms and have always used the distinctive Crewes spelling. These testers all belong to haplogroup R1b1. A haplogroup is an indication of your deep ancestry, the genetic family from many thousands of years ago from which you originate. Haplogroup R1b1 is the most common haplogroup in Europe and some 70% of men in England belong to this haplogroup.

There is a second matching Cruwys group which surprisingly belongs to haplogroup G2. One of these lines can be traced back to John Cruwys and Jone Lee who married in 1708 in Oakford, Devon. The other line can be traced back to John Cruwys and Margaret Prichard who married in 1817 in Westminster, London. Virtually all the Cruwyses in Australia descend from this couple. The paper link between the Australian and Devon tree has not yet been found.

The other large matching group is that of the various Crews/Cruse lines which originated in Virginia in America. These testers all belong to haplogroup I1. Haplogroup I1 is one of the less common haplogroups and is an indication of Viking ancestry, although the haplogroup is also found in Northern Europe, particularly in north Germany, Denmark, the British Isles and the old Norman regions of France. All the testers in this group have very close matches. However, the American research is proving very difficult and it has not yet been possible to draw any firm conclusions about the origins of this group.

We have two matching Cruse results. The Berkshire Cruse line and the South African Cruse line have a 36/37 match which indicates that they have a 99.35% probability of being related within 16 generations. Research is now going on in the Berkshire/Wiltshire records to establish where the lines are connected.

None of the other non-American Cruse lines tested so far has any matches, which has been somewhat of a surprise.

We have one tester who belongs to haplogroup A, the oldest of all the haplogroups, which has its origins in Africa. This tester is a descendant of James Cruise who was born in 1834 in Georgia, USA, and was a former slave. He later settled in Paulding in Jasper County, Mississippi.

DNA Test Results (mtDNA) for Project Members