About us
Albro surname project begins November 8, 2006.
FINDINGS SO FAR
First a little background: Your "haplotype" is, to put it most simply, the results you got from your DNA analysis. It is a pattern, consisting of the number of repeated sequences at each of the 12, 25 or more locations on your Y-chromosome that you had measured. For example "DYS394 = 14" would mean that at the location on your Y-chromosome designated DYS394 you had a small sequence of code repeated 14 times. The "Y-chromosome" is that strand of genetic information you received unchanged from your father, and his father before him, and so on back. Women do not have Y-chromosomes. A "marker" is a location along the strand of your DNA that can be measured in a laboratory. Your "haplogroup" depends upon which of a series of known mutations you are found to have. It identifies your ancestors as having been in particular places at particular times in history.
Family Tree DNA originally classified the Albro Y-chromosome as having haplogroup I. Since we had marker DYS19 = 14, DYS392 = 11, and especially DYS455 = 8, we are most probably haplogroup sub-clade I1a (ref. Prof. Ken Nordtvedt, http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GENEALOGY-DNA/2004-06/1087663113), and FTDNA has now also come to that conclusion. But since we did not have DYS390 = 22, Albros are apparently not Saxon in origin. A 23 at DYS390 suggests a Norse origin (ibid.) Another possibility is that our variety of I1a originated quite recently in association with the Low Normans (who, of course, had previously been Norse.) Ancestors of I (P19/M170 mutations) arrived in Europe from the Middle East 20 - 25 thousand years ago, associated with the Gravettian culture (second subdivision of Upper Paleolithic.) The highest frequency of the I Haplogroup can be found in Scandinavian populations as well as populations in the Adriatic region. One hypothesis is that after the last glacial maximum there was a migration by the people whose offspring today form a significant portion of the Scandinavian populations.
I is a branch of haplogroup F* (M89 mutation), which first appeared in Africa some 45,000 years before the present. F* is believed to represent the "second-wave" of expansion out of Africa between 45 and 40 thousand years ago, that went directly to the Middle East. Later migration to the Bosnia region supposedly resulted in the I mutation (M170). The glacial maximum (ice age) saw the I1a sub-group in Iberia (Spain and Portugal) until the ice began melting a few thousands of years later.
Turning to the 9 markers used by Brian Sykes in the Oxford survey of the British Isles, comparison of our Y-haplotype with several thousand individuals, considering only those having 6/9 or 7/9 matches (none had 8/9 or 9/9), the largest number of "hits" by far (18) was in Northern England, mainly Yorkshire. Second highest (9) were the northern islands of the Orkneys and Shetland, tending to support the Viking (Norse) theory. These are the only localities showing 7/9 matches. The highest ratio of 6/9 matches to people tested (0.069) occurred on the Isle of Man. Given an Albro ancestor from the British Isles, then, places that were Viking settlements are much more likely than Celt-settled areas. Wales and Scotland can be ruled out. However, having 389i = 12 is only common in Ireland and Scandinavia. Having 388 = 15 is not associated with the British Isles at all (and is not a modal element in Scandinavia either.) See Bryan Sykes' book “Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland”, W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 2006, and the associated database at www.bloodoftheisles.net. As an aside, a Norman origin should exhibit a more even distribution around England. Our haplotype doesn't rule Norman out,but it reduces its probability.
Note that there was no evidence for Amerindian in the Albro line. This indicates that all family legends suggesting that there may have been Canadian Indian on the male Albro side are indeed legends and incorrect. However, these studies of the Y-chromosome tell us nothing about whether or not any of our female ancestors were Amerindian.
Considering the database maintained by FTDNA (Ysearch), the Sorenson Project, the YHRD database, and Ybase, none showed haplotypes either matching the Albro one exactly or differing by one marker, even for the 12-marker test let alone the 25! This greatly increases the significance of the fact that all persons having an Albro surname who have been tested have identical haplotypes through twenty five markers. Some of the participants have no common ancestor in the Albro line until you get back to John Albro of Portsmouth (1619-1712). Statistically, if you multiply the average mutation rate for the Y chromosome of 0.0023 per marker per generation, by the number of markers (e.g. 25), and multiply that product by the number of reproductive events in the two lines (e.g.18), there is expected to be one mutation differentiating them. We see none, not even in those markers known to mutate faster than the average. It seems the Albro haplotype is more stable than would be predicted by simple statistics. If this observation holds up through a few more project participants, it will mean we need more than 25 markers to distinguish particular Albro lines. It also means we are looking at the 25-marker haplotype of John Albro of Portsmouth!
Phil Albro, June 2, 2007; updated Jan 8, 2008, Oct 26, 2008.
FINDINGS SO FAR
First a little background: Your "haplotype" is, to put it most simply, the results you got from your DNA analysis. It is a pattern, consisting of the number of repeated sequences at each of the 12, 25 or more locations on your Y-chromosome that you had measured. For example "DYS394 = 14" would mean that at the location on your Y-chromosome designated DYS394 you had a small sequence of code repeated 14 times. The "Y-chromosome" is that strand of genetic information you received unchanged from your father, and his father before him, and so on back. Women do not have Y-chromosomes. A "marker" is a location along the strand of your DNA that can be measured in a laboratory. Your "haplogroup" depends upon which of a series of known mutations you are found to have. It identifies your ancestors as having been in particular places at particular times in history.
Family Tree DNA originally classified the Albro Y-chromosome as having haplogroup I. Since we had marker DYS19 = 14, DYS392 = 11, and especially DYS455 = 8, we are most probably haplogroup sub-clade I1a (ref. Prof. Ken Nordtvedt, http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GENEALOGY-DNA/2004-06/1087663113), and FTDNA has now also come to that conclusion. But since we did not have DYS390 = 22, Albros are apparently not Saxon in origin. A 23 at DYS390 suggests a Norse origin (ibid.) Another possibility is that our variety of I1a originated quite recently in association with the Low Normans (who, of course, had previously been Norse.) Ancestors of I (P19/M170 mutations) arrived in Europe from the Middle East 20 - 25 thousand years ago, associated with the Gravettian culture (second subdivision of Upper Paleolithic.) The highest frequency of the I Haplogroup can be found in Scandinavian populations as well as populations in the Adriatic region. One hypothesis is that after the last glacial maximum there was a migration by the people whose offspring today form a significant portion of the Scandinavian populations.
I is a branch of haplogroup F* (M89 mutation), which first appeared in Africa some 45,000 years before the present. F* is believed to represent the "second-wave" of expansion out of Africa between 45 and 40 thousand years ago, that went directly to the Middle East. Later migration to the Bosnia region supposedly resulted in the I mutation (M170). The glacial maximum (ice age) saw the I1a sub-group in Iberia (Spain and Portugal) until the ice began melting a few thousands of years later.
Turning to the 9 markers used by Brian Sykes in the Oxford survey of the British Isles, comparison of our Y-haplotype with several thousand individuals, considering only those having 6/9 or 7/9 matches (none had 8/9 or 9/9), the largest number of "hits" by far (18) was in Northern England, mainly Yorkshire. Second highest (9) were the northern islands of the Orkneys and Shetland, tending to support the Viking (Norse) theory. These are the only localities showing 7/9 matches. The highest ratio of 6/9 matches to people tested (0.069) occurred on the Isle of Man. Given an Albro ancestor from the British Isles, then, places that were Viking settlements are much more likely than Celt-settled areas. Wales and Scotland can be ruled out. However, having 389i = 12 is only common in Ireland and Scandinavia. Having 388 = 15 is not associated with the British Isles at all (and is not a modal element in Scandinavia either.) See Bryan Sykes' book “Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland”, W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 2006, and the associated database at www.bloodoftheisles.net. As an aside, a Norman origin should exhibit a more even distribution around England. Our haplotype doesn't rule Norman out,but it reduces its probability.
Note that there was no evidence for Amerindian in the Albro line. This indicates that all family legends suggesting that there may have been Canadian Indian on the male Albro side are indeed legends and incorrect. However, these studies of the Y-chromosome tell us nothing about whether or not any of our female ancestors were Amerindian.
Considering the database maintained by FTDNA (Ysearch), the Sorenson Project, the YHRD database, and Ybase, none showed haplotypes either matching the Albro one exactly or differing by one marker, even for the 12-marker test let alone the 25! This greatly increases the significance of the fact that all persons having an Albro surname who have been tested have identical haplotypes through twenty five markers. Some of the participants have no common ancestor in the Albro line until you get back to John Albro of Portsmouth (1619-1712). Statistically, if you multiply the average mutation rate for the Y chromosome of 0.0023 per marker per generation, by the number of markers (e.g. 25), and multiply that product by the number of reproductive events in the two lines (e.g.18), there is expected to be one mutation differentiating them. We see none, not even in those markers known to mutate faster than the average. It seems the Albro haplotype is more stable than would be predicted by simple statistics. If this observation holds up through a few more project participants, it will mean we need more than 25 markers to distinguish particular Albro lines. It also means we are looking at the 25-marker haplotype of John Albro of Portsmouth!
Phil Albro, June 2, 2007; updated Jan 8, 2008, Oct 26, 2008.