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Check the Y-DNA results (colorized) page to see how individual project participants (men whose Y-DNA has been tested and who have joined the project) genetically relate to each other. If you are unsure which (if any) participant is most closely related to your line, ask the administrator.
Below are profiles of "Y-DNA patriarchs". For the purposes of this project, a Y-DNA patriarch is the male-line ancestor of a family group who helps genetically identify or characterize the group. Patriarchs would include men who are believed to be the genetic patriarch of a branch of the male-line of descent--usually (but not always) family lines that follow the surname. For brevity, the patriarch's profiles here are limited to genetic information, brief notes, and links to more detailed sources (published genealogies, FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, etc.). The family groupings should match those in the Sanford - Y-DNA Colorized Chart; if they do not, please notify the administrator so the discrepancy can be reviewed and discussed.
Sandfords of Sandford, Westmorland, Eng. (not Westmoreland Co., Virginia!); Gamel de Sandford, 1175
Members belong to Haplogroup I-M170. See website of study member, Michael Sandford, sandfordfamily.org.uk. In addition to other items, this website describes Michael's early efforts to distinguish his line from other Sandford/Sanford lines utilizing Y-DNA. The website also contains brief descriptions of other Sanford families, lists of Sandford and Sampford place names and maps depicting the distribution of the Sandford, Sandiford, Sanford and Samford names across England in both 1881 and 1998.
Robert Sandford of Westmoreland Co., Virginia; John Sanford of Rhode Island and Thomas Sandford of Colchester, England
TBP
Sandfords of New Jersey: Descendants of Thomas Sandford b abt 1600 of England and later Hamburg
Earliest Known Ancestors:
Thomas Sandford (c. 1600- ) of England and later Hamburg. He had four sons who migrated (with their mother, but not necessarily with him) to the Caribbean about 1645: Robert (b. 1632), who was last recorded in South Carolina (known to have had children (one of whom, an adult son, died in New York in 1678); William, who settled in New Jersey and had many descendants; John (no known record after baptism); and Thomas (last recorded in Barbados in 1651).
Reference: Sharon Olson and Chris Schopfer, “The Early Sandford Family in New Jersey, Revisited.” The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, 85-94 (2016-2019).
Other Patriarchs:William Sandford (c. 1670-1733) of New Jersey. His father, also William (1637-1691), immigrated to New Jersey. The younger William had seven sons and is the patriarch of all lines of the colonial New Jersey family. Two of his grandsons, Peter (1738-1830 of New Jersey, son of Michael) and Thomas (c. 1739-c. 1830 of Vermont, son of Robert) are the patriarchs of major branches of the surname and are represented in this project. Two sons, John (c. 1700- ) and Peregrine (c. 1702- ), are likely to have living male-line descendants, and one son, Peter (c. 1708- ), conceivably could have living male-line descendants.
Reference: Sharon Olson and Chris Schopfer, “The Early Sandford Family in New Jersey, Revisited.” The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, 92 (2017), p. 155-162.
Sandfords of Sandford Hall, near Whitchurch, Shropshire, England
The armigerous family of "Sandford of Sandford" is detailed in Burke's "Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland for 1852", Vol. II, pp 1184-1187.
Thomas Hugh Sandford (1820-1886), was the last of the line. Only one Sanford Y-DNA Project is known to descend from that family, via a collateral line.
Sanfords of Nynehead Court and Somerset, England
The Sanfords of Nynehead, as related to study member Henry Ayshford Sanford, who has proven lineage to Martin Sanford (1571-1643). A short history of the Sanford family of Nynehead, c 1180 - 2006, can be found at https://somerset-cat.swheritage.or.uk/records/DD/SF