About us
The project was started in December 2005 with the aim of finding links between people of different surnames who have ancestors from the same part of rural England.
The project is being relaunched in March 2022 with a new administrator and clearer membership criteria.
The Wessex DNA Project is a geographical project for everyone with an ancestral line originating in the heartlands of the ancient English kingdom of Wessex. For the purposes of this project this is defined as the historic (pre 1974) counties of Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Berkshire.To join you MUST have a documented paper trail to an ancestor who was born or resident in these counties in or around the early to mid 1800s.Please note that the project scope does not include lines which emigrated to North America before 1775.Male members should have a YDNA test (ideally at least Y37) and may also have mtDNA or Family Finder test results.Female members should have mtDNA or Family Finder test results.
If you have tested at AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA or 23andMe you can transfer your data to FTDNA so that you can participate in the Family Finder database and join the Wessex DNA Project.
The project is being relaunched in March 2022 with a new administrator and clearer membership criteria.
The Wessex DNA Project is a geographical project for everyone with an ancestral line originating in the heartlands of the ancient English kingdom of Wessex. For the purposes of this project this is defined as the historic (pre 1974) counties of Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Berkshire.To join you MUST have a documented paper trail to an ancestor who was born or resident in these counties in or around the early to mid 1800s.Please note that the project scope does not include lines which emigrated to North America before 1775.Male members should have a YDNA test (ideally at least Y37) and may also have mtDNA or Family Finder test results.Female members should have mtDNA or Family Finder test results.
If you have tested at AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA or 23andMe you can transfer your data to FTDNA so that you can participate in the Family Finder database and join the Wessex DNA Project.