Project Goals
The project is seeking to identify and match the Y-DNA patterns of males having the SANSOM surname and to reconstruct the history and deep ancestry of the SANSOM family.
First set of objectives:
All studies must start somewhere. This study began studying ancestors who originated in southern England, in the areas of Devon and Dorset. In the nineteenth century there were many hundreds of Sansoms in this area. Unravelling the different lineages requires a combination of traditional genealogical methods and genetic genealogy. We are seeking participants who can trace their Sansom ancestry back to Devon or Dorset.
At the same time, we want to help those who are fairly new to tracing their family roots. We have made available an online searchable index containing information about births, marriages and deaths for roughly 250 Sansoms from the 19th century Devon-Dorset area. We hope by sharing this information, you will find another link in your ancestral history.
Please visit our companion Web site:
http://www.sansomgenealogy.net
If you find one of your ancestors, please join the Sansom Origins Y-DNA Study.
Second set of objectives:
Census data from the nineteenth century reveals a high concentration of Sansoms in Nottinghamshire and the surrounding area. We intend to expand both the database of traditional genealogical information and the Y-DNA surname study to re-construct the Sansom lineages in Nottinghamshire. If you can trace your roots to this area, please consider joining the project and sharing your family history with us.
We will be studying the Y-DNA STR (Short Tandem Repeat) markers to detect commonalities among the lineages and to determine how our common ancestors are linked.
Are the Sansom lineages of southern England linked to the Sansom lineages of Nottinghamshire and if so, who is the common ancestor?
How do the different lineages trace back to this common ancestor?
Third set of objectives:
We know that the SANSOM surname has now spread across the world but does the history of the SANSOM surname begin in the British Isles?
This may be a difficult question to answer and we will continue to refine it. One way to begin to answer this question is to encourage bearers of the surname or its variants from around the world to join us and test their Y-DNA. Perhaps we can find the migratory paths our ancestors followed.
Fourth set of objectives:
The SANSOM surname study will also offer its participants the opportunity to explore and potentially bridge the gap between their genealogical surname history and their deep ancestry. This is one way to begin to design methodologies to answer the third set of objectives.
Among our initial research questions is:
Do all SANSOMs belong to the J2 haplogroup?
More specifically, can we identify other Sansom lines that belong to the cluster known as J2b1 (also called J2e1 in the older terminology)?
If so, when and where was our most recent common ancestor?
If the deep ancestry of some Sansom lineages can be traced back to Asia Minor, when did the movement westward begin and what path did it take? A number of recent genetic studies offer fascinating evidence on this question.
See for example, Fulvio Cruciani et al. "Tracing Past Human Male Movements in Northern/Eastern Africa and Western Eurasia: New Clues from Y-chromosomal Haplogroups E-M78 and J-M12". Molecular Biology and Evolution. (2007)