Results

This status summary report will focus on a current review of the Y-DNA Group results. Our data summary table can be found by clicking here. A summary of the goals and objectives of the mtDNA Group will be provided in future updates to this report. If you have any questions or comments on the content of this report, feel free to contact the FTDNA Pugh Project Group Administrator or simply post your query or comment at Tracing Pugh Origins. A brief overview of genetic genealogy can be found at Charles Kirchner's site "Genetics & Genealogy."

The majority of the participants in the Y-DNA Group of the Pugh Project belong to the R1b haplogroup or one of its variants. Several others are part of the I or I1a haplogroups, and currently we have two men who belong to E3b1 haplogroup. According to current accepted scientific theory, the R1b and I1a haplogroups connect back in a timeframe of 35,000 to 40,000 years. This means that these two distinct haplogroups in the Pugh Project do not share a common ancestry in Wales. They likely diverged somewhere in the Middle East before Western Europe was even inhabited by Homo sapiens. According to Family Tree DNA E3b1 haplotype was found in 77.2 % of the male Somali population with smaller frequency in Iraq and Turkey. This might reflect the historical findings of foreign trade posts at the Somali Gulf of Aden from the 7th century. The E3b haplogroup has a frequency ranging from 1 to 5% at various locations in Britain, with lower frequencies in Ireland. The haplogroup is much more common in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Genographic Project site states that "roughly 70 percent of the men in southern England belong to haplogroup R1b." The R1b haplogroup is believed to have descended from the first modern humans to enter Europe, approximately 35,000 years ago. These humans, known as Cro-Magnons, were responsible for the sophisticated cave paintings discovered in France, Spain and Portugal. The Cro-Magnons initially lived among the European Neandertals, who soon disappeared.

The I1a haplogroup is a subset of the I haplogroup which is most predominant in Scandinavia. Up until very recently, it was believed the I1a haplogroup, which is dispersed throughout Western Europe, derived from Viking explorers. It is now believed that the I1a haplogroup dispersed within the last 1000 years from the Norman population in northern France. The I1a haplogroup is believed to have originated with the early Anglo-Saxon populations in Europe, located south and east of modern day Great Britain.

Based on a current review of the data it is apparent that a number of Pugh lines are represented in this study. As should be expected, the majority of our participants are of the R1b haplogroup. A substantial degree of recruiting has occurred with the Lewis Pugh (ca.1670-1741) line and that has helped Pugh Lineage I grow in participants. Two other potential lineages exist in the study but has fewer participants. More data is required to define representative modal haplotypes for these two potential lineages and to determine if either will ultimately be classified as distinct Pugh lineages. There are similarities among these participants but, again, not enough data to define representative modal haplotypes.

The data is summarized on the Y RESULTS page.

R1b haplogroup

Robert Hughes, the Welsh Project administrator, has developed a “Welsh Surname Cluster” modal haplotype for the first 37 markers. This modal haplotype can be envisioned as the theoretical haplotype of the common ancestor of one group of Welsh males. A cluster of surnames is associated with the haplotype defined by Mr. Hughes. It is interesting that Mr. Hughes’ “Welsh Surname Cluster” modal haplotype actually matches the apparent modal haplotype for Lewis Pugh (ca.1670-1741) very well.

The “Welsh Surname Cluster” modal haplotype is shown under Pugh Lineage I and above the Pugh Lineage I modal haplotype. Since we have many participants in the Pugh Lineage I group, it is possible to develop a representative modal haplotype. The modal haplotype for Pugh Lineage I is nearly identical to the “Welsh Surname Cluster" haplotype developed by Mr. Hughes. It is off by a genetic distance (GD) of only one in 37 markers. The difference occurs at marker CDYa. The GD of each participant under the Pugh Lineage I group is calculated from the modal haplotype. The GD column reports the distance over the number of markers compared.

The first lineage group, Pugh Lineage Ia represented by Kit No. 36039, is at a GD of 4 in 67 markers from the modal haplotype for Lineage I. There is a probability of 50% that the connection is within eight generations and 95% that the connection is within 16 generations. This participant is facing a seemingly insurmountable brickwall. His ancestor, John Gough was born in 1805 in County Down, Ireland. With the great loss of Irish records, this DNA project could be instrumental in furthering his ancestral line.

The Pugh lineage Ib-If participants are descendants of Lewis Pugh (ca.1670-1741). Pugh men in Lineage Ib are known descendants of Lewis Pugh's first son John (1704-after 1731). Kit No. 16717 was the first to match all 67 markers of the Lewis Pugh modal haplotype exactly. In fact all members of lineage Ib match the modal haplotype perfectly. This theoretically defines them as the trunk of our Pugh Lineage I tree.

Using the FTDNATiP time predictor, the results on the 67-marker test indicate the probability is 95% that the participant at a GD of 1 from the modal haplotype connects to the tree trunk within the last eight generations. The individuals at a GD of 2 and 3 have probabilities of 83% and 67% respectively of connecting in the past eight generations. In other words, it is more likely than not that they have branched off of the main tree in a recent time frame. The probability percentages generated by the time predictor need to be considered in context. They are no more than “probabilities” and do not necessarily “prove” that one individual is closer in relationship to a distant ancestor than another. This information needs to be used in conjunction with the “paper trail” of documents that tie the families together and trace kinship. As our database expands, the probabilities may become more relevant and useful to us.

Lineage Ic are descendants of Lewis’s son Henry (1710-1766). One man matches the modal haplotype and the others are at a GD of one to two of the modal haplotype. Lineage Id are descendants of Lewis's son Willoughby (1711-1790). Two of these men are at a GD of 1 at 67 markers. One man is at a GD of 2 in 37 markers from the Pugh Lineage I modal haplotype.

Lineage group Ie are represented by kits No. 69205, N28945, N28915, and 75406. They are known descendants of Lewis Pugh’s grandson Willoughby (known as Willoughby 2) who was believed to be a son of John Pugh but this research is still in progress. These men are off by one repeat at marker 458 (GD = 1 from the Pugh Lineage I modal haplotype) when all 37 markers are compared. The probabilities that they connect to the tree trunk within four generations is 57% and within eight generations, 97%.

Kits No. 63282, 91116, and 93537 make up Lineage group If and are descendants of Paul West (ca. 1848-1936), a former African American slave in Kentucky. These men descend from Lewis Pugh at yet an undetermined point, perhaps with Robert Pugh, Sr. (1795-1865) or one of his descendants as the 570 marker occurs in the Robert Pugh line and the Paul West line.

It should be noted that nearly all of the mutations observed in Pugh Lineage I are at the “fast moving” markers. The “fast moving” markers are indicated in red in the column labels. This means that the reported GD may be higher than it should be in some instances. It also means that the “matching” mutations could be coincidental. We will need more data to determine if certain mutations might be indicative of a particular branch in the Lewis Pugh line.