About us
The role of administrating the Upton surname DNA project was assumed on 19th July 2010 by a project administrator with Upton ancestry (Gearoid Kingston). Before this time a preliminary project had been established by Terry Barton of www.worldfamilies.net, who had no Upton ancestry but who wished to ensure that a project existed to facilitate membership and testing for various surnames (including Upton) until such time as a suitable administrator (in our case one with Upton ancestry) assumed the role. There were three sets of Y-DNA results for Upton families at the time the project commenced (kit 164820, kit N15261, and kit N75484). Since then it has grown steadily. Analysis of Y-DNA results from Upton males who have been tested (often prompted to do so by their female or non-Upton male relatives - for Upton males are the custodians of the Upton Y chromosome but certainly not the only people with an interest in its analysis) has enabled discoveries to be made that could never have been achieved through traditional genealogical research alone. It has been possible to robustly divide Uptons into different related groups (see results table on this website), and in some cases discover where those families originated. The latter has proven particularly significant for descendants of the many Upton families who have emigrated through the centuries, giving them a location to focus upon (and visit) in England where their Upton ancestors originated.