Singletary Surname Project- Background

Background

This Y-DNA surname project is intended to determine the true origins of Richard Singletary (b.1585 England?; d.1687 Massachusetts, USA) and the Singletary surname. There may have been only one family with the name Singletary anywhere else in the world at that time - that of Francis Singletary (d.1617) of Lincolnshire, England.

The Singletary surname in America, according to a family tradition, was invented for Richard Singletary to conceal his true identity - the kidnapped heir to England's House of Dunham. That would make Richard a previously unknown son of Sir George Booth (b.1566; d.1652). Richard's eldest son, Jonathan, changed his name to Dunham perhaps thinking it was the true family surname. However, records tell us that the House of Dunham was then (and is now) in the possession of the Booth family. So the correct surname would have been Booth.

Discover more at alias Singletary.

Therefore, this Y-DNA project is for any male named Singletary and it's various spellings. The project would particularly like to know their most distant paternal ancestor. It is also for any male named Dunham, Donham, and like spellings that believe they may descend from Richard's son, Jonathan Dunham alias Singletary. Lastly, it would be critical to have Booth participants that can trace their paternal ancestry directly to Sir George Booth of Dunham-Massey (b1656 - d1652).