Kendrick_DNA_Project- Background

Background

Sometime in the 16th century a Welshman named "Kendrick (Cynwrig in Welsh), son of David, son of Edward, etc." took his son, Hugh, to be baptised. When Hugh grew up he changed his name from "Hugh, son of Kendrick, son of David, etc." to "Hugh Kendrick", in the English manner. This change is recorded in a pedigree roll held at the Glamorgan Record Office in Cardiff, Wales (CL/Ped 17). Hugh's son, John Kendrick, became Lord Mayor of London in 1651.

This adoption of a surname occurred relatively recently in many Welsh families, with the result that families with Welsh origins will often have adopted the same surname (a popular personal name perhaps) without having a recent common male ancestor. Conversely, first cousins who adopted surnames based on their fathers' names would end up with different surnames.

Y-DNA analysis offers a means of establishing which Kendrick families do have recent common ancestors, and which other families may be close relatives.