The Blackwell name is made up of two Angle-Saxon (i.e. Old English) words, blæc meaning black with the “æ” pronounced like the modern “a” in “cat” giving a pronunciation very much like “blake”, and wiell(-a)meaning a fountain or spring, with the “ie” pronounced as in the modern word“sit”.  So the name as pronounced at thattime would sound similar to “Blake-wil”. The name was given to or used by someone who was living near a stream orsmall body of water that was somewhat dark in color.

Two locations are given in the Domesday Book, one in the north of England in Derbyshire near Tideswell, and the second in Warwickshire in western England. This second location seems to be the oldest with mention being first made of this site in A.D. 964.

The three largest groups of Blackwells in England by the 1500’s were first those from the Peak District of Derbyshire, then secondly in western England in the area of Gloucester and finally the Middlesex/Hertfordshire area to the north of London. Smaller groups would have been found mainly in eastern and southern England with other groups spread throughout the British Isles. Blackwells began arriving in the American colonies in the 1600’s. Among these early families was that of Michael Blackwell of Massachusetts with branches in Maine and the family of Robert Blackwell from the New York/ New Jersey area. In Virginia two major families are found, that of Joseph Blackwell who settled in the Northumberland area and who’s family are later found in Fauquier County, and Robert Blackwell who came to York County. Besides these other smaller families can be found in other locations in the colonies.

Another group of Blackwells is the Afro-American family whose family history was traced by Mrs. Thelma S. Doswell.  Information on this family can be found at blackwellfamilyreunion.com/Our_Family_History.html.

We welcome everyone who shares our surname around the world regardless of origin.  This will require the participation of a large number of people, in America and in England.  We encourage you to join our research for our roots.  BUT PLEASE NOTE - the YDNA test is for males ONLY.  If you are a man with the Blackwell surname you may test, or if you have a male relative who is a Blackwell, they can take the test for you.  A test can also be taken if you are adopted and have a Blackwell as your biological father, and in some cases other Non-Paternal Events will be considered on an individual basis.  



PLEASE NOTE: In order to join this project, you MUST HAVE ALREADY JOINED FAMILY TREE DNA AND HAVE A KIT NUMBER!

DISCLAIMER

The goal of this project is to use DNA as an aid to regular research to better understand the origins of the Blackwell family and it’s various lines.  This will be done bycomparing the DNA test results with other project members.  All participants will be included in theongoing studies and by joining the project, you are giving consent for yourinformation to be anonymously included in ongoing genetic genealogy research.Your personal identity will not be revealed, but your results will be used to betterunderstand our origin.

The results do provide a partial means of personalidentification and, for this reason, our haplotype tables list only the FTDNAkit number and the most distant known male line ancestor. Within the project,however, the administrator feels free to disclose identities, particularly whena close match occurs.