This DNA project is open to any descendants of the Eure, Ewer & Ure families. Hopefully DNA can reveal the ancient sources of these surnames. Eure, as a family of the nobility is of venerable ancestry, dating back into Tudor times. William Eure, the first Lord Eure, was a military hero in the Border wars. The following was written about him: As ever stood in his degree; The king has sent him a broad letter All for his courage and loyalty. Lord Eurie is of nobill blood, A knight's son sooth to say; He is heir to the Nevill and to the Percy, And is married upon a Willoughby." ---"Testamenta Eboracensia" Vol. III, 224n [after Sir Walter Scott] Henry VIII made him Lord Eure of Witton in the 35 year of his reign. The family had lived at Witton Castle for several generations prior. The names William and Ralph repeat alternately as one follows their pedigree back in time. From William Lord Eure, we go to Ralph Eure, then another William Eure, then another Ralph Eure, then another William Eure, to yet another Ralph Eure. He was the Sheriff of Northumberland in 1388-1389, followed by served as Sheriff of Yorkshire during the next two years. He died in 1422. The following was written about his castle at Witton: It seems he fortified his own castle of Witton-on-the-Wear, near Bishop Auckland, ... [which] he began to do ... without asking leave. ... The Bishop ... [pardoned] the omission, and [gave] licence in due form "Sep. 23, in the fifth year of the Pontificate" (11th Henry IV., 1410). ... Witton Castle (an oblong building with its towers and turrets) existed, after passing into other ownership, till a comparatively late period, when it was accidently burnt down, and is now a complete ruin. --"The Family of Eure" London c) 1880, pp. 11-12 Many generation of Lord Eures continued their time honored pattern of naming sons after paternal grandfathers. Hence the Lord Eures from William, the first Lord Eure, goes in the following manner: William (1st Lord Eure), Ralph (predeceased his father), William (2nd Lord Eure), Ralph (3rd Lord Eure), William (4th Lord Eure), Ralph (predeceased his father), to William, the fifth Lord Eure. William, the fifth Lord Eure, dying unmarried, the Barony descended to his cousin George, sixth Baron Eure, son of Horatio Eure of Gray's Inn, Chipping Norton and Easby, and owner of a moiety of Atton. --"The Family of Eure" London c) 1880, p. 17 For brevity I abbreviate this synopsis on this noble family at this juncture, which is at the beginning of the 1600s.