Liddell-Liddle- Background

Background

Welcome to the Liddell/Liddle Y-DNA project
If you are a male and have the Liddell or Liddle surname (or a variant spelling), or if you know any man who does, we hope you will consider participating in this Y-DNA testing project and/or telling others about this website.  The more participants we have, the greater success we'll have in advancing our knowledge and understanding of the many Liddell/Liddle lineages worldwide.

Who are we and why are we doing this?
We are Liddells/Liddles or descendants of men who bore these names (or a variant thereof) who are using genetic testing to obtain information about our ancestors that we can't get any other way. Genetic testing for some surname DNA projects has broken down long-standing "brick walls," proved relationships between lines that were previously thought to be unrelated, and shown that some lines previously thought to be related were not related after all.  Such projects have brought researchers together who were able to fill gaps in each other's genealogical knowledge and documentation.  

Building a database of Y-DNA results
One set of test results by itself tells us nothing. It is only in comparing sets of results with others that patterns begin to emerge.  And the more participants there are, the clearer the patterns become, so we hope that all our members will actively recruit new participants. Our aim is to build a large database of test results to help all Liddell/Liddle researchers advance their genealogical research.

Who can contribute DNA?
Since a surname genetic study involves testing the Y chromosome of persons with the same surname, and since the Y chromosome is transmitted from father to son, only males with the Liddell or Liddle surname (or a variant thereof) are appropriate for testing in this project.  If any male Liddell/Liddle were aware, however, of a non-paternal event (such as an adoption, infidelity or where a male took the surname of his mother) which would have broken the biological Liddell/Liddle patriline, that person would not be an appropriate participant.

Contribute to our testing fund
There may be some men who are good candidates for testing who care nothing about genealogy, but whose DNA we very much want; or candidates for testing  who care about genealogy, but who are unable to afford the cost of purchasing a Y-DNA test.  The general fund is a feature that Family Tree DNA offers, that allows members to donate money for other potential members' tests.  Contributions can be made in someone's honour, if you wish.  If you would like to contribute to the fund to help pay for the test of a new participant please go to the FTDNA Group General Fund Contribution page.  Donated funds will be used to fund new tests at the discretion of the project administrator, in accordance with the donor's wishes and in consultation with project members, as appropriate.

Privacy
Family Tree DNA and the project administrator are committed to protecting youir privacy.  Please visit the FTDNA website for information on their strict privacy policies.  On this web site we will not reveal participants' names; kit numbers are used instead.  The amount of information you give to the administrator is up to you, and will be treated in confidence, but since the test results alone with no information on the the line of descent to tie them to doesn't tell us much, we really need a pedigree for each participant.  

Recording your most distant known Liddell/Liddle ancestor
All members are requested to list their earliest known Liddell/Liddle ancestor on their myFTDNA user preferences page (under My Account).

Questions
Your project administrator is here to help you.  He will do his best to provide answers to your queries and offer suggestions when you are unsure about what to do next. But please remember that he is a volunteer who, like you, is also learning more about genetic genealogy every day.  If he is unable to help you with your problem he will refer you to the Family Tree DNA helpline.