Winter-Winters Family DNA Project
Group Administrator: Matt Winters mwinters@chinookobserver.com



Project Surnames:
De WinterDe WintersWinterWinters
WintourWynterWynters


Project Background:
This project is dedicated to deciphering the complex origins of families named Winter and Winters by uncovering clues concealed in our DNA.

As more Winter/Winters people are tested, it will become possible to establish genealogical connections between us and better estimate the path of our migrations out of Africa and then across Europe and the world. It is an addictive field of study, one that greatly adds to our understanding of ourselves and our ancestors.

OUR TANGLED ROOTS
DNA has already confirmed that the Winter/Winters surname encompasses several distinct families. This can be explained by our name being a word with a truly ancient origin in the Germanic tribal region of Northwest Europe. (See etymological note below.)

Surnames became commonly used in England in the period immediately after the Norman invasion of 1066, and somewhat later in Germany. It appears that a number of unrelated families adopted Winter as their surname, mostly between about 1100 and 1500 AD.

WHY WINTER?
It is speculated that some of our family founders were engaged in an occupation with a particularly strong link to the winter season, the specifics of which have been lost in the mists of time. Another occupation-related theory is that some Winter names are associated with vintners and vineyards, winemaking having become a major occupation in England during a warm period in the 1100 and 1200s and then dying out when the climate cooled in the 1300s. (The distinction between "W" and "V" used to be fuzzier in the past.)

There is an entirely different theory about our surname’s origin in a Welsh context, in which one of our family founders was named Walter or William de Lacy. He may have descended from one of the Normans associated with William the Conqueror. He married the daughter of the lord of Castle Gwynn in northwest Wales and is said to have adopted the surname Gwyntour, which evolved into Wyntour and then Winter. (Gwynn -- literally translated as "white" -- was ancient Celtic king of the faeries and the underworld; tour is French for tower.)

Some believe our forefathers may have been so named because they were born in winter, though in Celtic times this comprised fully half the year -- they did not formally recognize spring or fall as seasons. Even more fancifully, it has been suggested some of our ancestors may have earned their surname thanks to an icy demeanor.

Like people today, there have undoubtedly always been some who adopt an Anglo word as a surname simply because they like the sound of it and want to fit in. Some Winter families definitely stem from this naming pattern. (See below for a famous actress who did this in modern times.)

Whether our names now have a concluding “s” appears to be entirely arbitrary, with families settling into Winter or Winters in the 19th century when governments began routinely keeping vital records.

OUR EUROPEAN HOMELANDS
In the late 19th century and early 20th century when the United States began systematically tracking the geographical origins of immigrants arriving at New York harbor, most Winter/Winters people came from Germany (1,304), distantly followed by England (488), Ireland (322), Prussia (299), Bavaria (71) and Austria (62). Scotland and Holland were also mentioned.

Germany: Some American project members know they are German on account of U.S. Census records for their first-generation ancestors, but haven't been able to determine from which state or region. The boundaries between Germany's component parts have shifted many times, making it more difficult to pinpoint exact family origins when all we have is a broad term like Germany or Prussia. Eventually, the addition of more Winter DNA and genealogical reports should help us determine where individual families originated.

Prussia, forerunner to much of the modern German nation, included part of the hereditary homeland of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and related tribes. Some members of these Germanic tribes stayed on the continent, while others emigrated to Britain.

Bavaria and neighboring Austria may represent a different or earlier genetic stock, being a prehistoric Celtic homeland. It is said that the Rhineland, especially the provinces of Westphalia and the Palatinate, was an hereditary homeland of a primary German Winter family group. At one time, some of this region was considered to be part of Bavaria.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Winter families from Germany settled in significant numbers in Pennsylvania, New York and associated areas -- part of America's misnamed Pennsylvania "Dutch" colony.

England: An old published genealogy states "Winter: The name is Saxon and is found in England as early as 858. Seven branches of the family have had coats of arms."

Based on recent genetic surveys, however, many Winter/Winters people in Britain and Ireland are likely to have indigenous roots on the islands dating from the time of resettlement following the last ice age, approximately 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. (These first Europeans to resettle Britain are often, though perhaps erroneously, called "Celtic.") Genetically, these early English settlers are nearly indistinguishable from the tribes that ended up on the continent across the North Sea. High-resolution DNA testing can sometimes tell a uniquely English pattern from a continental one.

Members of England-based Winter families first came to America in the 1630s -- settling in what are now Maine and Massachusetts -- with much known additional migration from Britain in the centuries before anyone kept official track of where migrants came from.

There are distinct “hot spots” for our surname in England, best identified in the 1841 census. East Anglian counties and the northeast coast -- Norfolk and Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland -- are the zone where the greatest number of Winters were counted. Perhaps this is because of their close proximity to Anglo-Saxon homelands just across the North Sea.

London, a cosmopolitan gathering place for immigrants for thousands of years, is another center of our surname, as are the band of counties immediately south of the city. Somerset and neighboring Gloucestershire in the far west are another. Other English counties all had some Winter/Winters families, though at a much lesser frequency. (See 1841 England census details below.)

In this case, also, high-resolution DNA tests and a growing database will help us determine if, for example, one of us is a "Yorkshire Winter" or a "Gloucestershire Winter."

In the UK as a whole in 1841, there were about 60 people named Wynter, the archaic Elizabethan-age spelling. Only a few people were still named Wintour in 1841, but that variation of our name may have been stigmatized by the family's participation the 1605 Gunpowder Plot. (See below for famous Winters.)

Ireland: Winter families plainly lived in Ireland, though the limitations of early Irish vital records make it difficult to estimate exactly how many there were or from where they originated on the island.

An indication of the extent of our Irish origins can be gleaned from New York Port Arrival Records, 1846-1851. About 70 immigrants named Winter or Winters disembarked claiming Ireland as their native country and another 50 said they were from Great Britain, which included all of Ireland at that time.

Some Irish Winter families are likely to originally descend from families who relocated to Ireland during England's colonial expansion that formally began in Norman times. Early English settlers in Ireland were Catholic and eventually merged, to some extent, with the native Irish population. Later English and Scot colonists, especially those who arrived following Oliver Cromwell's invasion in 1649-50, were Protestant and remained more genetically separate.

There were about 50 people named Winter born in Ireland in the 1841 census of England. Many more Irish people moved to England later in that decade in the wake of the Potato Famine, resulting in additional stirring of the genetic stew.

Scotland and Wales: In 1841 about 330 people named Winter/Winters reported being born in Scotland and about 60 in Wales. In both cases, Winter families may have arrived in the course of English incursions, or Germanic tribal movements in the case of Scotland. English was widely spoken in both Scotland and Wales, and so some native families may simply have selected Winter as a surname. As indicated above, Welsh Winters may have started out as Gwyntours; the castellans or governors of Gwynn tower.

Holland: Holland (now the Netherlands) is another part of the Germanic tribal homeland, and especially to the Frisians. Frisia extends from the northwestern Netherlands across northwestern Germany to the border of Denmark. The Frisians are among the peoples commonly grouped under the umbrella-name Anglo-Saxon, and settled in substantial numbers in Britain following the Roman withdrawal in 407-411 AD.

SORTING IT OUT WITH DNA
By testing our Y-chromosomes, we can begin to assign more and more Winter/Winters people to each family’s place of origin in England, Germany, or elsewhere.

Ultimately, this will tell us whether our distant forefathers were indigenous Briton, Anglo-Saxon, Norse-Danish Viking, Austro-Bavarian Celt or something else entirely.

• • • •

ETYMOLOGY
Winter denoted both the cold, damp season of the year and the annual unit of time among the Germanic tribes. A child was said to be 10 winters old, for example, not 10 years old. The spelling is “winter” in Old English and Dutch, “wintar” in Old High German and Old Saxon, "wintrus" in Gothic and “vetr” in Old Norse and Old Icelandic. Because related forms of winter are present in all these early languages, its origin is in the even older Proto-Germanic language that dates from about 2500 BC.

However, “wint” without the concluding “er” translates as “wind” in Old High German, or can mean something that “winds around itself.” In this context, the Old High German word “winton” means to winnow or fan, as in separating the chaff from grain by means of scattering it in the wind. There seems to be a connection between the Germanic “wint” and the Welsh “gwynt,” although there is no obvious link between “winter” and the Welsh word for that season, “gaeaf.” Other Celtic languages also have words for the cold season that have no discernible relationship with the Germanic "winter."

DETAILS FROM THE 1841 ENGLAND CENSUS
The following is a rough count of the number of people named Winter or Winters in each of the English counties in the 1841 census:
Yorkshire: 605 Winter/7 Winters
Somerset: 545 Winter/5 Winters
Middlesex/London: 434 Winter/14 Winters
Lincolnshire: 373 Winter/46 Winters
Norfolk: 265 Winter/13 Winters
Gloucestershire: 233 Winter/26 Winters
Surrey: 222 Winter/19 Winters
Hampshire: 214 Winter/4 Winters
Durham: 186 Winter/2 Winters
Kent: 182 Winter/19 Winters
Sussex: 165 Winter/6 Winters
Northumberland: 155 Winter/ 0 Winters
Suffolk: 152 Winter/1 Winters
Berkshire: 124 Winter/1 Winters
Devon: 121 Winter/2 Winters
Dorset: 118 Winter/0 Winters
Warwickshire: 79 Winter/46 Winters
Westmorland: 72 Winter
Lancashire: 62 Winter/20 Winters
Cambridgeshire: 57 Winter/19 Winters
Buckinghamshire: 62 Winter/1 Winters
Herefordshire: 56 Winter/0 Winters
Hertfordshire: 30 Winter/59 Winters
Leicestershire: 30 Winter/37 Winters
Essex: 45 Winter/2 Winters
Nottinghamshire: 47 Winter/2 Winters
Oxfordshire: 42 Winter/0 Winters
Wiltshire: 34 Winter/0 Winters
Staffordshire: 26 Winter/3 Winters
Cornwall: 23 Winter/0 Winters
Cumberland: 16 Winter/0 Winters
Worcestershire: 9 Winter/13 Winters
Bedfordshire: 6 Winter/30 Winters
Northamptonshire: 7 Winter/13 Winters
Huntingdonshire: 0 Winter/8 Winters
Rutland: 4 Winter/0 Winters
Cheshire: 2 Winter/0 Winters
Northamptonshire: 7 Winter/13 Winters
Derbyshire: 4 Winter/1 Winters
Shropshire: 0?

Looking at the 1841 census in terms of densities rather than simple totals shows that London and Surrey — London’s southern neighbor — had far and away the greatest concentration of Winter and Winters families. Together, they averaged about 33 members of our families per 100 square kilometers. Several other southeastern English counties in the vicinity of London, including Kent, Berkshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire and East and West Sussex, also had comparatively high densities of our surname — an average of about 6 in each 100 square kilometers.

The western English counties of Somerset, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire appear to constitute a second cluster, with a combined concentration of about 10 members of our families per 100 square kilometers.

Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk — north and south of the Wash — may be a third cluster, with a density of about 5 per 100 square kilometers.

County Durham, Yorkshire and possibly Northumberland may comprise a fourth cluster, with about 4 in 100 square kilometers (this number is skewed downward by Yorkshire’s large area of sparsely populated countryside).

SOME FAMOUS MEMBERS OF OUR FAMILIES
Historical figures:
• Thomas and Robert Wintour or Winter: Leading conspirators in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to assassinate King James I of England, remembered on Guy Fawkes Night, Nov. 5. According to the Gunpowder Plot Society, “A family descent is traced from Wintor, castellan of Caernarfon, the name originally being spelt Gwyntour. The family seat moved from Wych to Huddington in the reign of Henry VI.” Their father was the son of Robert Winter of Cavewell, Gloucestershire.
• Admiral Sir William Wynter: Born in Brecon, an historic market town in southern Powys, mid-Wales. Principal investor in Sir Francis Drake’s 1577 voyage. In 1588, the year of the Spanish Armada, Winter joined the main fleet off Calais and proposed the successful fire-ship plan to drive the Spaniards from their anchorage.

Entertainers:
• Jonathan Winters: Well-known 20th century American comedian, born in Ohio.
• Shelley Winters: Academy Award-winning American actress. (Changed her name from Schrift.)
• Dean Winters: New York City-born actor; starred in HBO's "Oz"; currently Sarah Connor's ex in "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" and Liz Lemon's occasional boyfriend on "30 Rock."
• Alexander Ross Winter: English-born American actor and stage director. Starred (as Bill) in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” with Keanu Reeves.
• Johnny and Edgar Winter: Texas-born American rock musicians of the 1970s and 1980s.
• Paul Winter: Five-time Grammy Award winning jazz sax player born in Altoona, PA.
• Eric Winter: California-born TV actor who played Rex Brady on "Days of Our Lives."

Media:
• Anna Wintour, London-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue magazine; inspiration for the book and movie "The Devil Wears Prada."

Politicians and leaders:
• William Forrest Winter: Democratic governor of Mississippi 1980-84.
• Donald Charles Winter: U.S. Navy Secretary appointed in 2006
• Sir James Spearman Winter: Premier of Newfoundland 1897-1900
• Colin O'Brien Winter: Was an Anglican bishop of Damaraland, part of the territory of Namibia during the apartheid era, which he played a role in ending. Born in England in Stoke-on-Trent.

Warriors:
• Sir John Wynter: Royalist leader during the English Civil War. From Lydney, Gloucestershire.
• James Washington Winters Jr.: Tennessee-born American soldier who served in the battle of San Jacinto in 1836; Confederate officer from Texas during the U.S. Civil War.
• Major Dick Winters: Real-life captain of Company E ("Easy Company") of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, U.S. 101st Airborne Division. Subject of the acclaimed 10-part 2001 mini-series "Band of Brothers." Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Fictional characters:
• Milady de Winter: Villainess of “The Three Musketeers.”
• Rebecca De Winter: Title character in Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 movie, for which he won his only best picture Oscar.


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