By Patrick Payne, Domesday to America Project

This communication seeks to advance the genealogical clarity of the Payne Y-DNA Project by presenting evidence—documented, genetic, and historical—showing that the various branches of Payne families across early colonial America were part of a unified dynastic network rather than unrelated households. These findings challenge the current placement of certain key figures within the project's classification and propose a revised framework grounded in both primary sources and comparative Y-DNA analysis.

Among project participants, only one cluster—claiming descent from William Paine of Boston (arrived 1635 on the Increase)—is classified under haplogroup R1a. This is noteworthy because R1a occurs in fewer than 5% of lineages across England, and is largely absent from areas like Suffolk, Huntingdonshire, and Jersey where the Paynes demonstrably resided.
By contrast, over 90% of English and Norman surname lineages—especially those from the eastern counties—fall under R1b, including all other colonial Payne lines thus far tested. These include descendants of Thomas Payne (d. 1673) of St. Mary’s, Maryland; Florentine Payne of Lower Norfolk County, Virginia; John Payne of Red House; and Robert Payne of Bread Street, London (d. 1622).

William Paine of Boston is often regarded as genealogically distinct from these R1b-aligned families. However, multiple records demonstrate his interaction with their exact social and kinship circles, suggesting a shared lineage.

1. In 1622, William Paine wrote to Edward, Lord Conway, from Newfoundland—evidence of his engagement in state-sanctioned colonial projects and early Crown networks. Conway’s patronage overlapped with known sponsors of ironworking and colonization, including the Throckmortons and Tracys.[1]

2. In the same period, Robert Payne alias Davies, wrote to Conway to present a set of inventions from his apprenticeship under John Rolfe of Virginia, suggesting direct family linkage between Boston and Virginia Paynes.[2]

3. In the 1650s, William Paine engaged in debt litigation against Col. Edmund Scarburgh of Virginia to recover funds related to his earlier shipbuilding work at Kicoughtan (present-day Hampton). Paine’s work constructing the Long Tayle and Firefly for Claiborne’s Kent Island fleet connects him to the earliest infrastructure of Chesapeake colonization.[3]

4. William Paine appointed Col. William Kendall of Northampton County as his legal agent in Virginia. Kendall’s wife was Susannah Baker—'Baker' being a known alias used by members of the Payne family during this period.[4]

5. Genealogically, Florentine Payne of Norfolk, John Payne (shipmaster), Robert Payne of Bread Street, and Thomas Payne (d. 1673) of Maryland all trace back to Huntingdonshire and the line of Sir Thomas Payne of Market Bosworth, whose younger son Edmund founded branches in Norfolk, Suffolk, and London.[5]

6. Thomas Payne (d. 1673) and Jane Smalpece of Maryland settled among the Drury, Spinke, Playters, and Jermyn families—all of which intermarried with the Paynes of Suffolk and Norfolk. The orphans of this family were cared for by Thomas Spinke of Flixton, who shares a surname and location with Jane’s family.[6]

7. The ship Golden Fortune, which brought the Payne-Smalpece family to Maryland in 1664, was partly owned by John Jermyn of Rushbrooke, another Suffolk family intertwined with the Spinkes and Drurys.[7]

1. The property known as Paynskey in London, mentioned in the 1573 will of John Payne of St. Clement Danes, remained in the family for generations and was located beside the Custom House where Geoffrey Chaucer served. This connects the family to port activities, wine trade, and literary circles including ownership of the Ellesmere Chaucer manuscript by Henry Payne of Nowton.[8]

2. Graffiti in the Ellesmere manuscript contains names such as St. John, Calthorpe, Drury, and Payne—attesting to the familial circle who likely read and preserved the book. The Drurys are sometimes misattributed as owners, but only Henry Payne is named in a proven chain of custody, having bequeathed it to Sir Giles Alington.[9]

3. Henry Payne of the Sea Venture expedition in 1609 was executed for mutiny in Bermuda. He was a retainer of the Earl of Southampton, as was Robert Payne of the Blackfriars Theatre. This court connection links the Payne family directly to the patronage of early colonial ventures and the Shakespearean world.[10]

4. The Gookin and Thoroughgood families of Virginia, themselves married into Lawson and Offley lines, are tied by multiple documented marriages to the Payne family—including through the Red House and Fulham–Petworth branches. One Payne was married into the Scudamore family of Herefordshire, linking Gloucestershire and Suffolk lines.[11]

We therefore ask the Y-DNA administrators and fellow researchers to reevaluate the placement of William Paine of Boston and separate him from the anomalous R1a cluster unless primary documentation or a direct-tested line can reconcile the discrepancy. At the same time, we propose stronger attention to the interlinked genealogical threads across Suffolk, Norfolk, Huntingdonshire, and colonial America that reinforce the cohesion of the R1b-tested dynastic network.

Respectfully,
Patrick Payne
Domesday to America Project

[1] William Paine letter to Lord Conway (1622), National Archives UK, Colonial Correspondence.

[2] Robert Payne alias Davies correspondence, Conway Papers, British Library.

[3] Northampton County Order Books (1652–1654); William Payne v. Scarburgh, Colonial Virginia litigation.

[4] Marriage of William Kendall and Susannah Baker; Alias records from Payne Family of Fulham and Hammersmith.

[5] Visitation of Huntingdonshire, Harleian Society; Will of Sir Thomas Payne of Market Bosworth.

[6] Maryland probate records (1673–1675); Thomas Spinke of Flixton; Jane Smalpece Payne estate guardianship.

[7] Ship Golden Fortune ownership records; Suffolk Jermyn Family MSS.

[8] Will of John Payne (1573), Prerogative Court of Canterbury; Paynskey property deeds; Chaucer port records.

[9] Graffiti in Ellesmere Manuscript; Henry Payne’s will (1568); Alington family acquisition notes.

[10] Sea Venture expedition records; Southampton patronage; Robert Payne at Blackfriars Theatre.

[11] Lawson, Gookin, Offley, and Thoroughgood pedigrees; Marriage settlements of Robert Payne (alias Davies) and Elizabeth Lawson.