(For information on the lineage of participants in each family group described on this page, see the "Results" tab.)

 

The test results from the Stokesbury Y-DNA surname project have proven the genetic relationship of all of the descendants in this family. We know this because one or more descendants of each of those surnames has matched very closely on their Y-DNA test results.

PLEASE NOTE: The connection between the U.S. families and the English ancestor or ancestors described in the next paragraph has not been identified or proven. We know we are connected because of the Y-DNA test results. While we have ideas and have proposed several different men who could be the connection, we have not been able to identify and prove the specific individual who is the ancestor to all of the U.S. families and to the Australian Stutchbury family as well.

Only one related Stutchbury has tested, and this is a gentleman in Australia. He can trace his line back to James Stuchbery, baptized 9 May 1641 in Buckinghamshire, St. Peter & St. Paul Church; James married Margery Wiseman, 26 November 1666. His name then and later was recorded as James Stutchbury, and he was identified as a butcher in the 1691 & 1701 Buckingham directories. This led to the line being referred to as the Buckingham Butchers in the book, Stotesburie: These are Our People, by the late Hugh Stuchbery. Subsequent research indicates this line may even go back three more generations to Robert Stutsbury, born ca1553, married to Margaret Plant, born ca1555. All descendants of this line have been connected via Y-DNA test results: one from Australia and the rest from the U.S. No descendants of this English line, who currently reside in England, have been located or tested to date, but we are actively searching for additional descendants. WE RESTATE: The connection between the U.S. families and this English ancestor has not been identified or proven at this point. We continue to work on this, since we know we are connected because of the Y-DNA results.

None of the American Stutchbury branches retained the original spelling of the surname. Most lines of the descendants in American are presumed to trace back to Robert Stutchbury Sr. Robert is first mentioned in the History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania (J. H. Battle), and is noted as having arrived in Bucks County in 1695. (Bucks County, Pennsylvania was named after Buckinghamshire, England.) Further advanced Y-DNA testing is ongoing in an effort to prove or disprove this theory. All descendants in the U.S. who trace back to either Robert Stutchbury Sr. (bca1674 — d1750) or William Stutchbury Sr. (bca1720 — d1797) are included in this family group, and DNA test results prove they are all related. But how?

• In past family histories, William is often wrongly referred to as “Sir” William Stokesberry (or some variant of the surname), whom we will refer to as William, Sr. William, Sr. is found in the Bucks county records as early as 1745 (name spelled Stewksbury), and some descendant of this line spell the name Stookesberry/bury. William's line is the only branch not yet proven to have descended from Robert Sr. The Y-DNA test results have proven that NONE of the other branches (Variations of Stokesbury/berry/bary, Stooksbury, Stretchberry & Stotttsbury) descend from this man
  

• The Stooksberry/bury family of Tennessee is the only branch that is proven back to Robert Sr. of Bucks Co., PA and later of Loudoun Co., VA. The proven connection is through Robert Sr.'s son, Robert Jr., and then through his son, Jacob (b1753).
  

• The U.S. lines that descend through John Stutchbury of Shenandoah County, Virginia (in historical records, the surname is spelled in many different ways, among them Streachbay, Strichberry, Stretchberry, etc.) are still trying to solve the mystery of whether Shenandoah County John is the same man as John Stutchbury who is found earlier in Loudoun County, VA, whether they are father and son, and what their specific relationship is to Robert Stutchbury Sr. This is the family from which this project's administrator descends.

NOTE: Family 1 is not related to any of the other family groups through Y-DNA, but may be related to Family 3 through a female line.

Family 2. STOTESBURY:

Family 2 descendants today mostly use the surnames Stotesbury, but some branches adopted the name Stokesbury, Stokesberry and Stotesbery. The only way to know for sure is through Y-DNA testing.

Most Stotesburys now residing in England, trace their ancestry back to Dudley Stotesbury (bca1726). He married Anne Harmon on 15 November 1747 in St. George Mayfair, Westminster. Residing in Greenwich, Kent, they had two sons, Robert & John. The first-born male descendants of Dudley’s sons were always named Robert or John, a naming pattern common in other Stotesbury families living around Evenley and Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, near Stuchbury. Some descendants now live in Canada, Finland and the U.S., and came through Ireland from England. The exact link tying these families to the English line has not been proven, but a strong possibility is George Stuttesburie of Evenley, Northamptonshire, who married Elizabeth; Elizabeth’s will, in 1609, bequeathed money for her three sons to buy land in Ireland as part of the Protestant “Plantation” (organized colonization) of Ireland. NOTE: NOT related to any of the other family groups.

NOTE: Family 1 is not related to any of the other family groups.

Family 3. STUCHBURY, HILLESDEN:

Family 3 includes descendants with the surnames Stuchbury, Stuchbery and Stutchbury.

The first known ancestor in this line is Thomas Stuchbury (d1760); he married Hannah Philps or Phillips  (d1712). This line descends through a non-paternity event involving their daughter Mary Stuchbury (b1715 - d aft1740); then through her son William Stouchbury (b1740-d1832) — the father’s name is unknown. Descendants currently reside in England, Canada and Australia. Thomas (d1760) may have been from Buckinghamshire but this is not confirmed. Thomas and Hannah had six known children, but only one son: Thomas (b1733). Finding descendants of this son could provide critical links.

Family 4. STUCHBERY, BUCKINGHAM BREWERS:

This family is related to the Hillesden line by marriage, through the Turvey family. At present, there is one participant from this family in the project, and he resides in Australia. Other families with variations of the surnames are known, but have NOT been DNA tested. They include:

D. London families: As Greater London grew in the 1600s-1800s, many Stutchbury and Stotesbury families migrated there to serve apprenticeships, marry, and make new lives. Descendants of London families may be related to any of the families already identified.

Family 4 is not related to any other family group through Y-DNA, but may be related through female lines to families 1 and/or 3.