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Y-DNA Surname Study
Thus far the study has confirmed at least three distinct Lusk lines here in the US. One line, the Philadelphia line, goes back to Joseph Lusk born ca 1655 in Belfast, Antrim, Ireland. This line spreads from Chester County, PA after arriving in Philadelphia sometime around 1710-1715 from Ireland, into Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and generally points south.
A second line, the Connecticut line, begins with Stephen Lusk here in the States about 1710. This line tends to move across the northern tier of the country but not exclusively. DNA has confirmed that Lusk families in New Zealand are closely related to this line. The New Zealand families emigrated there from Ayrshire, Scotland in 1849. Work is on-going to try and identify the links between the Lusk's in this line.
The third line is still being developed but has been temporarily called the R-1a line based on its haplogroup. While the R-1b lines are more associated with Friesian and Iberian ancestors, the R-1a line comes out of Southern Russia and is linked to the Vikings.
There are undoubtedly other lines that will be defined as we go forward as evidenced by the lone Lusk in the yet to be defined group. We are seeking test subjects from Ireland, Scotland, England and the United States as we continue to work on our family. Interestingly a number of Lusk test subjects are finding out that they are also closely related to other surnamed families which is leading to some interesting discoveries.
The following information is quoted from the http://www.clan-leask.us/active/index.asp website as it pertains to the Lusk Family as well as others. It is important that we have additional Lusk Family members join the Lusk DNA Project so that we are able to continue refining and understanding our early beginnings. Lusk project members are encouraged to also join the Leask family project as you will see from the following.
"State of the Study - Your Help is Needed for the Leask Y-DNA Study to Succeed!
(29 October 2006)
Though there has been progress, unfortunately there have been no new Leasks of any spelling who have joined the Leask Y-DNA study since the last newsletter. We still only have nine participants. For the Y-DNA study to succeed more Leasks are needed to participate by taking the 25 or 37 marker Y-DNA test.
As I reported in the last newsletter, the results so far, combined with published Clan Leask history indicate five of the Leasks ("Group 1") studied are of likely of Danish Viking or North German (Anglo-Saxon) origin. Additional tests were performed on some of the existing participants in this group during 2006.
Further, a second, distinctly different strain of Y-DNA ("Group 2") has emerged among those who spell their name Leask, Lisk or Lusk. The three participants in the study who fall in this group have been classified R1b by Dr. Faulk. On his Shetland Y-DNA Study website Dr. Faulk states the Y-DNA of Leask Group 2 is an extremely rare R1b haplotype. Whereas there are many people with Y-DNA similar to the Leask Group 1, Dr David Faulk states Leask Group 2 has:
"An extremely rare haplotype.....No Exact matches anywhere.....Few and very scattered 11/12 matches in Recent Ethnic Origins Database; It appears that there are two entirely unrelated Leask lineages, found both on the Scottish Mainland and in Shetland."
There are many spellings of the name Leask (Leisk, Liesk, Lisk, Lesh, Laesk, Lask, Leysk, Laysk, and possibly even Lusk). So far we only have participants in the study who spell their name Leask, Leisk (a Shetland spelling), Lisk and Lusk (Irish). Because so few Leasks of any spelling have participated in the study the results can not be considered conclusive. There are no participants from those Leasks closely related to the Leask Clan Chief's family. More participants are certainly needed before we can come to any definitive conclusions. With more participants we may even find a third Leask Group. This would by no means be unusual. Certainly we need more participants from different branches of the Leasks and of those with any of the many spellings of the name Leask. To be successful we especially need the participation of Leasks related to the Clan-Chief's family to determine which group is the main Leask line."
For additional information on the R1b haplogroup go to the following site http://www.davidkfaux.org/shetlandhaplogroupR1b.html
Thus far the study has confirmed at least three distinct Lusk lines here in the US. One line, the Philadelphia line, goes back to Joseph Lusk born ca 1655 in Belfast, Antrim, Ireland. This line spreads from Chester County, PA after arriving in Philadelphia sometime around 1710-1715 from Ireland, into Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and generally points south.
A second line, the Connecticut line, begins with Stephen Lusk here in the States about 1710. This line tends to move across the northern tier of the country but not exclusively. DNA has confirmed that Lusk families in New Zealand are closely related to this line. The New Zealand families emigrated there from Ayrshire, Scotland in 1849. Work is on-going to try and identify the links between the Lusk's in this line.
The third line is still being developed but has been temporarily called the R-1a line based on its haplogroup. While the R-1b lines are more associated with Friesian and Iberian ancestors, the R-1a line comes out of Southern Russia and is linked to the Vikings.
There are undoubtedly other lines that will be defined as we go forward as evidenced by the lone Lusk in the yet to be defined group. We are seeking test subjects from Ireland, Scotland, England and the United States as we continue to work on our family. Interestingly a number of Lusk test subjects are finding out that they are also closely related to other surnamed families which is leading to some interesting discoveries.
The following information is quoted from the http://www.clan-leask.us/active/index.asp website as it pertains to the Lusk Family as well as others. It is important that we have additional Lusk Family members join the Lusk DNA Project so that we are able to continue refining and understanding our early beginnings. Lusk project members are encouraged to also join the Leask family project as you will see from the following.
"State of the Study - Your Help is Needed for the Leask Y-DNA Study to Succeed!
(29 October 2006)
Though there has been progress, unfortunately there have been no new Leasks of any spelling who have joined the Leask Y-DNA study since the last newsletter. We still only have nine participants. For the Y-DNA study to succeed more Leasks are needed to participate by taking the 25 or 37 marker Y-DNA test.
As I reported in the last newsletter, the results so far, combined with published Clan Leask history indicate five of the Leasks ("Group 1") studied are of likely of Danish Viking or North German (Anglo-Saxon) origin. Additional tests were performed on some of the existing participants in this group during 2006.
Further, a second, distinctly different strain of Y-DNA ("Group 2") has emerged among those who spell their name Leask, Lisk or Lusk. The three participants in the study who fall in this group have been classified R1b by Dr. Faulk. On his Shetland Y-DNA Study website Dr. Faulk states the Y-DNA of Leask Group 2 is an extremely rare R1b haplotype. Whereas there are many people with Y-DNA similar to the Leask Group 1, Dr David Faulk states Leask Group 2 has:
"An extremely rare haplotype.....No Exact matches anywhere.....Few and very scattered 11/12 matches in Recent Ethnic Origins Database; It appears that there are two entirely unrelated Leask lineages, found both on the Scottish Mainland and in Shetland."
There are many spellings of the name Leask (Leisk, Liesk, Lisk, Lesh, Laesk, Lask, Leysk, Laysk, and possibly even Lusk). So far we only have participants in the study who spell their name Leask, Leisk (a Shetland spelling), Lisk and Lusk (Irish). Because so few Leasks of any spelling have participated in the study the results can not be considered conclusive. There are no participants from those Leasks closely related to the Leask Clan Chief's family. More participants are certainly needed before we can come to any definitive conclusions. With more participants we may even find a third Leask Group. This would by no means be unusual. Certainly we need more participants from different branches of the Leasks and of those with any of the many spellings of the name Leask. To be successful we especially need the participation of Leasks related to the Clan-Chief's family to determine which group is the main Leask line."
For additional information on the R1b haplogroup go to the following site http://www.davidkfaux.org/shetlandhaplogroupR1b.html