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Nearly all Frecknalls are believed to descend from one David Frignall (also spelled Fricknall) of Caunton, Nottinghamshire. However, not all of David’s descendants share the same Y-DNA due to an illegitimate birth in the early nineteenth century. In this case, the Frecknall surname passed for one generation through the female line, and this branch therefore carries a different Y-DNA signature.
The origins of the Fretwell family are somewhat more complex. Research has uncovered a direct link between the Fretwell and Frecknall names, demonstrating that some — though not all — Fretwells share a common ancestor with the Frecknalls in England during the seventeenth century.
Branch 1 (indicated in red on the diagram below)
All descendants of this branch trace back to Henry Frecknall, born in 1824 at Upton, near Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. Henry was the illegitimate son of Frances Frecknall (born Fricknall). His father is unknown. There is some evidence that his father may have been Charles Johnson, alias Charles Steward, as Frances was described in her father’s 1841 will as the widow of this man. However, Frances never married Charles, and no confirmed record of him has been found. In any case, no Johnson or Steward DNA matches have been identified among descendants of this branch.
Big Y testing has assigned this branch to haplogroup R-S27212, which likely originated in England during the mid-1400s. By far the closest matches to this branch of Frecknalls are members of the Venter (or Vinter) family, whose origins have been traced to Lincolnshire in the sixteenth century. Whether Henry Frecknall’s father was a Vinter, or belonged to another family entirely, remains unknown.
Branch 2 (indicated in green)
The larger branch of the Frecknall family can be traced back to David Frignall (Fricknall), the great-great-grandfather of Frances Frecknall. He is estimated to have been born around 1680, probably in or near Caunton, Nottinghamshire, although no birth or baptism record has yet been identified. David is suspected to have been a son of George Fricknell, born around 1630 in Old Brampton, Derbyshire, and DNA evidence supports this connection.
Three Frecknall men from different branches descending in the first half of the eighteenth century have undergone Y-DNA testing to date. All have been assigned to haplogroup R-FTE62213. Only a relatively small number of private variant SNPs have been identified between them, making any further subdivision of this haplogroup unlikely at present.
One of the most surprising findings within this branch was the discovery of close matches to two men bearing the surname Fretwell. Genealogical research traced their lines back to Isaac Fretwell, an army pensioner living in London. It was only through the DNA evidence that it became possible to confirm that Isaac Fretwell was actually born Isaac Frickney in Eckington, Derbyshire (and whose line can be traced back several generations to the Fricknell family of Old Brampton, Derbyshire.
One of these Fretwell matches also undertook Big Y testing, which confirmed the same haplogroup (R-FTE62213) and revealed only a very small number of private variants. This suggests that the Fretwell line branched from the Frecknall line within only a few generations. Combined with evidence from parish and court records, this strongly suggests that David Frignall, born around 1680, was likely a brother of James Fricknell, from whom the Fretwell branch descends.
Looking further back into the origins of this line, the next closest matches are members of the Kirk family, traced to Nottinghamshire in the seventeenth century, and the Bagshaw family, later of London but probably originating in the Midlands. These three branches appear to share a common ancestor around the year 1400, during the period when hereditary surnames were becoming widely established in England. The surname lines likely formed within two or three generations of this common ancestor.
The origins of the Fretwell family are somewhat more complex. Research has uncovered a direct link between the Fretwell and Frecknall names, demonstrating that some — though not all — Fretwells share a common ancestor with the Frecknalls in England during the seventeenth century.
Branch 1 (indicated in red on the diagram below)
All descendants of this branch trace back to Henry Frecknall, born in 1824 at Upton, near Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. Henry was the illegitimate son of Frances Frecknall (born Fricknall). His father is unknown. There is some evidence that his father may have been Charles Johnson, alias Charles Steward, as Frances was described in her father’s 1841 will as the widow of this man. However, Frances never married Charles, and no confirmed record of him has been found. In any case, no Johnson or Steward DNA matches have been identified among descendants of this branch.
Big Y testing has assigned this branch to haplogroup R-S27212, which likely originated in England during the mid-1400s. By far the closest matches to this branch of Frecknalls are members of the Venter (or Vinter) family, whose origins have been traced to Lincolnshire in the sixteenth century. Whether Henry Frecknall’s father was a Vinter, or belonged to another family entirely, remains unknown.
There are an estimated seventeen living male Frecknalls descended from this branch.
Branch 2 (indicated in green)
The larger branch of the Frecknall family can be traced back to David Frignall (Fricknall), the great-great-grandfather of Frances Frecknall. He is estimated to have been born around 1680, probably in or near Caunton, Nottinghamshire, although no birth or baptism record has yet been identified. David is suspected to have been a son of George Fricknell, born around 1630 in Old Brampton, Derbyshire, and DNA evidence supports this connection.
Three Frecknall men from different branches descending in the first half of the eighteenth century have undergone Y-DNA testing to date. All have been assigned to haplogroup R-FTE62213. Only a relatively small number of private variant SNPs have been identified between them, making any further subdivision of this haplogroup unlikely at present.
One of the most surprising findings within this branch was the discovery of close matches to two men bearing the surname Fretwell. Genealogical research traced their lines back to Isaac Fretwell, an army pensioner living in London. It was only through the DNA evidence that it became possible to confirm that Isaac Fretwell was actually born Isaac Frickney in Eckington, Derbyshire (and whose line can be traced back several generations to the Fricknell family of Old Brampton, Derbyshire.
One of these Fretwell matches also undertook Big Y testing, which confirmed the same haplogroup (R-FTE62213) and revealed only a very small number of private variants. This suggests that the Fretwell line branched from the Frecknall line within only a few generations. Combined with evidence from parish and court records, this strongly suggests that David Frignall, born around 1680, was likely a brother of James Fricknell, from whom the Fretwell branch descends.
Looking further back into the origins of this line, the next closest matches are members of the Kirk family, traced to Nottinghamshire in the seventeenth century, and the Bagshaw family, later of London but probably originating in the Midlands. These three branches appear to share a common ancestor around the year 1400, during the period when hereditary surnames were becoming widely established in England. The surname lines likely formed within two or three generations of this common ancestor.