Overview:

           The Wombwell Surname Project pertains to direct male-to-male genetic paternal lines with the surnames Wombwell, Womble, Wamble, or similar. The project will also accept males with different surnames who have genealogy evidence suggesting that they have a direct male-to-male descent from a male with one of the above surnames. Females may not be members of the project, because they do not have the required male Y Chromosome, but they may act as the go-between for correspondence for a male who is an appropriate candidate, e.g. a father, brother, uncle, or cousin. Anyone may act as the go-between for correspondence if the member permits. See the further guidance below.

           Membership requires a Y-DNA test, basic information about the member's earliest proven direct male Wombwell/Womble/Wamble (or variant) forebear, and approval by the project administrator. Y-DNA test results from another company can usually be transferred to Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) for a fee. Other types of dna tests, e.g. autosomal dna and mitochondrial dna, will not work for surname projects.

           A request for membership should be submitted using the form on the FTDNA website. The project administrator will reply to the request and provide further guidance. If an applicant has not already ordered a Y-DNA test, it is recommended that the project administrator be consulted first in order to assure that an appropriate test is ordered. The request form has a space that is labelled "Your Name". Enter the name of the member to be tested, not the name of a go-between. If possible, provide a middle name or middle initial to distinguish the member from others who might have a similar name. Please do not use all capital letters. Capitalize only the first letter of each name. Do not include a title, e.g. "Mr.". Titles are unnecessary because only males can be members. The email address should be the address of the person who will be the primary correspondent for the member. If the member is representing himself, the email address will be his. If someone is acting as his go-between, the email address will be that of the go-between. For example, suppose that a female is the family genealogist and that she has permission from her brother to act as his go-between in the project. The request will use his name and her email address. Other email addresses can be added after the member is accepted, but the primary email address will be that of the primary correspondent. In the information section, provide basic information about the earliest proven male Wombwell/Womble/Wamble (or variant) forebear of your line to include:  name; pertinent dates, e.g. birth, death, immigration, etc.; and the country of origin, if known. If you are a go-between, tell us your name and relationship to the member. When ordering a test kit, the mailing address will be the address to which the test kit is to be sent.

Background:

           The Wombwell Surname Project was begun in 2008 by genealogists who had been comparing research for years. Surnames included Wamble, Womble, and Wombwell, but it appeared that all descended in some way from one immigrant named Thomas Wombwell, Sr. (born ca 1610) who came from England to America by May 1638.  Most of the lineages had not been proven by genealogy research, and it was hoped that the project would help to prove them.

            It appears that the original name in England was Wombwell.  Exactly how the name was pronounced in early times can not be known.  Some families kept that spelling.  However, the English sometimes do not pronounce the second "w" in a name. For example, the town Warwick is often pronounced "Warick".  That is probably why many descendants use a phonetic variation, such as Wamble, Womble, Wombel, Wombles, etc.  Regional accents undoubtedly contributed to phonetic variations.  Adding to that confusion was the custom that younger sons sometimes changed the surname spelling to distinguish their lines from that of their eldest brother who had the customary right to use the spelling of their father.  Thus, descendants of the same man might use several different spellings.  The dna project has helped to clarify some of those situations.