All branches of the Girdlestone family around today appear to link back to North Norfolk. There are many theories on the origins of the family, and this group aims to test whether the different branches are related, and if so roughly when they diverged, using Y-Chromosome DNA testing. Many researchers have built up detailed trees covering most of the UK based Girdlestones and many of the branches overseas. Our aim is to test as many men as possible from as many branches as possible to explore how the different branches connect in the 18th Century and earlier.