The Wales and Southwest England Modal Haplotype group (or WSEM for short) was created on June 23, 2009 in its initial state and will evolve as needed to meet goals and discovery for the focus below. WSEM is not a typical Y-DNA research group. Its purpose is to locate the common ancestry and geographical origin of the progenitor of the following Modal Haplotype (click to see the PDF file of the Modal) WSEM Modal Haplotype PDF WSEM is also looking for non-American participants who have markers that are close matches to our Modal Haplotype. It is the mission of WSEM to assist as much as possible new participants and we welcome questions. WSEM follows Family Tree DNA's Terms of Service and reserves copyrights to WSEM's findings and conclusions. It appears that those who possess this Modal Haplotype also test positive for the L21 mutation which defines Haplogroup R1b1b2a1b5. There is an excellent L21+ group that is available for men who have had their Deep Clade test done and have tested positive for the L21 mutation: R-L21 Group If your Y-DNA results are a near match to this Modal, please feel free to request membership in WSEM. This Modal Haplotype has shown up in several Vaughan, Stephens, Hooper and other families that seem to not be related to each other in any genealogical way. It is WSEM's focus to determine if these different families descend from a common male ancestor as the Modal Haplotype seems to contend that they do. Some of the families have traditions of connections to the Brecknockshire region of Wales as well as the Bristol Channel area of England. WSEM theorizes that the matching genetic code shows a common male ancestor. If your Y-DNA results are a near match (they don't have to be a perfect match, but should be within a few markers of the Modal Haplotype), please feel free to request membership. Recently, comparisons have been made between the Modal and the results of two British Y-DNA studies, one by Stephen Oppenheimer and the other by Bryan Sykes. Both men used a reduced number of DYS markers to determine the ethnic origins of British men. These markers are very common among R1b men in Wales: 393: 13 390:24 19:14 391:11 388:12 389-1:13 392: 13 389-2:29 The Modal for the Wales/SW England group differs at 392 and 389-2 from the above markers, but it is felt this represents a Welsh Modal, which is uncommon in Wales. Here, for comparison, is the marker values for our Modal: 393: 13 390:24 19:14 391:11 388:12 389-1:13 392: 15 389-2:30 These 8 markers are NOT by themselves an indication of a close relationship to our Wales/SW England Modal, this is determined by a comparison of at least 37 DYS markers to our Modal. (click on the following link to see the PDF file of the full Modal) WSEM Modal Haplotype PDF If you feel your surname might put you close in match to WSEM's Modal Haplotype or if you would like to increase your markers to the needed 37 markers, click on the link at the bottom of this page for special group pricing through FTDNA, our sponsor. For more information contact us at: Ed Martin Ed@OurBestTeam.com Eddie Davis Eddie@OurBestTeam.com Rusty Vaughan Rusty@OurBestTeam.com