Big Y DNA Results

Curious about my Harrison line I recently went for the Big Y DNA testing.  According to Family Tree DNA:

"The Big Y product is a Y-chromosome direct paternal lineage test. We have designed it to explore deep ancestral links on our common paternal tree. Big Y tests thousands of known branch markers as well as millions of places where there may be new branch markers."

It took several months but my results were posted recently and provide some additional insight deep into my paternal line.

My original Y DNA test determined that my Y haplogroup is I-M223.   The Big Y test determined what my terminal SNP is.  The terminal SNP is the most defined branch that my ancestors belong to on the I-M223 tree and in my case it is I-Y56413.  

In the Big Y testing database I match two other people.  One with paternal ancestors near Bremen, Germany in the late 1600s and another with paternal ancestors in the area of Kiikka, Finland also in the late 1600s.  

The test also determined that my branch (I-Y56413) formed around 2,900 to 2,100 years ago and that the time to the most recent common ancestor between my matches and I is estimated at 1,900 to 750 years ago.  This is a rather long time frame.  I would be nice if it could be refined in the future.

Update

I recently upgraded my English cousin's (direct descendant of Henry Harrison 1734-1812 brother of my ancestor Joseph Harrison c1737-1816) Y DNA to the Big 700 and the results provided on October 11, 2022 are interesting and provide some refinement to the information when I did my own test.  The terminal SNP of my Harrison line is now I-BY70347.

The result is that the common ancestor between the both of us and our other match in Finland is estimated to be a man who lived about year 150 (so 1,892 years ago).

The match in Finland is on the parent branch of the Y DNA that my English cousin and I belong to.  So our branch diverged from the parent branch through one of the sons of the man who lived about 150.

Looking at the comparison to ancient DNA provided, both my English cousin and I match the following finds (top 3):

• Lakenheath 15 was an old adult man who lived between 400 and 600 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, England.  You and Lakenheath 15 share a common paternal line ancestor who lived around 800 CE.  He was associated with the Medieval Britain cultural group.

• Sedgeford 17 was a man who lived between 700 and 850 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Sedgeford, Norfolk, England.  You and Sedgeford 17 share a common paternal line ancestor who lived around 800 CE.  He was associated with the Medieval Britain cultural group.

• Öland 1016 was a 60+ year old man who lived between 800 and 1100 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Hulterstad, Öland, Sweden.    You and Öland 1016 share a common paternal line ancestor who lived around 1450 BCE.  He was associated with the Viking Sweden cultural group.

Harrison Y DNA Haplogroups in the Egton/Glaisdale/Lyth area of North Yorkshire

So far three distinct Y DNA haplogroups have been discovered in the Catholic Harrison lines of the Egton/Glaisdale/Lyth area of North Yorkshire.

The William Harrison (d. 1778) and Ann line of Glaisdaleside in Egton is haplogroup R-M269.  This is the most common haplogroup in Europe and has more than 100 million people in it. 

The Joseph Harrison (d. 1780) and Jane Hodgson line of Whinns is haplogroup I-M223 (I2b).  Haplogroup I is found almost exclusively in Europe, where about 20% of men have Y-chromosomes belonging to the haplogroup. It began spreading about 30,000 to 45,000 years ago among some of the first Homo sapiens to inhabit Europe.

The haplogroup's two main branches, I1 and I2, divided about 28,000 years ago. My Harrisons are I2b.  Archaeological evidence indicates it was a time of rapid change in Europe, as a new culture known as the Gravettian moved westward across the continent. The Grevettian people introduced new stone tool technology, as well as novel art forms typified by the distinctive fertility symbols known as "Venus" figurines.

Not long after haplogroup I arrived in Europe, the advancing Ice Age limited most of the continent's inhabitants to its southern fringes. Only Iberia, the Italian peninsula and the Balkans were mild enough to support substantial numbers of humans. As a result, the distribution of the haplogroup's branches today reflects the migrations that took place as the glaciers began retreating about 12,000 to 15,000 years ago.

Having two distinct Y DNA haplogroups in this area raises the question of which line is truly descended from Henry Harrison (d. 1727) and Dorothy Rudd?  

Further testing of other lines might give some indication. However the naming of the children of Henry's children may provide some clue.   It has not gone unnoticed that there are no children named Henry or Dorothy in the William Harrison line of Glaisdaleside in Egton while the names repeat through the generations of the Joseph Harrison and Jane Hodgson line of Tranmire and in the proper order (The eldest daughter is named Dorothy after the paternal grandmother Dorothy Rudd; and the eldest son is named Henry after the paternal grandfather Henry Harrison).  Testing the Y DNA of direct male descendants of Henry Harrison's other three sons - Francis of Shorefoot, John of Greenhouses and Henry of Shorefoot would certainly provide added weight to one line versus the other.  Now, if I could only find a living direct male descendant of these lines to test.  They are proving elusive.

[Update - see post from August 13, 2019 on the Y DNA results from a direct male descendant of John Harrison - son of Henry Harrison]

Finally, there is the line of Catholic Henry Harrison and his wife Frances Cornforth who show up in the 1780 recusant list from Skelton a bit to the north.  His line is haplogroup J-M172.  Descendants of this Henry Harrison later moved to Greenhouses in Glaisdale which of course led to confusion between the family lines.

William Harrison Found ! - Or how DNA confirmed my ancestral line

At long last, after many years of research, I have finally discovered the ancestry of my great great great grandfather William Harrison (1780-1836).  

The journey to finding where my ancestor William Harrison (1780-1836) fits into the various Catholic Harrison families of North Yorkshire started over 20 years ago.   Based on research from the Harrison brothers Oswald, Basil and Hilary; and that of Leslie O'Connor is his manuscript Hearts of Oak, I came to the conclusion early on that my ancestor William Harrison 1780-1836 was the son of William Harrison 1742-1825 and Elizabeth Allen of Glaisdaleside in Egton township.  In 2012 evidence surfaced that the son of William Harrison 1742-1825 and Elizabeth Allen had actually died in Egton in 1848 and so I undertook further research. Weighing all the evidence I then settled on my William Harrison 1780-1836 as the son of Joseph Harrison (1753-1806) and Mary Readman.  In order to confirm this research I had my Y DNA tested and then tested three direct male Harrisons in the William Harrison (1715-1778) line in what I thought would confirm my place in this Harrison line.  But there was no match which effectively proved that my William Harrison (1780-1836) was not from this line of Harrisons.    


So it was back to the drawing board.  I began by trying to determine exactly where my William Harrison (1780-1836) lived in Egton township.  He was married there to Mary Hutchinson in 1804 and at the time the Egton parish record indicated that he lived in the parish. Fortunately tax assessment records from 1824 are available.  Examining the 1824 lists of "rateable returns" for Egton determined that there were three William Harrisons in Egton township.  The assessor helpfully indicated where each one lived so there would not be any confusion between them.  One was in Glaisdale(side) which is William Harrison married to Elizabeth Allen. He died in 1825 but his family continued to live on in Glaisdaleside.  One was living in Struntry Carr.  This was the William Harrison who married Mary Consit, and when she died Christiana Dale.  He was still living on this farm in the 1841 census (he was actually the son of Joseph Harrison and Mary Readman born in 1774 based on this age in the 1841 and 1851 census, as well as the death register for Lythe).  He retired from farming after 1841 and moved to East Row on the North Sea coast with his second wife Christiana.  That left the William Harrison at Murkside. 

As luck would have it, some of the Easter Communion Lists for the Roman Catholic Chapel at Egton Bridge have survived.  A review of the 1826 Easter Communion Lists showed that all three William Harrisons of Egton township and their families were Catholic.  For the William Harrison at Murkside it shows a wife Mary Harrison and children including George, William, John, Joseph, Mary and importantly an Alice.  Only children of age would be listed on the Easter Communion Lists.  In the early 19th century children generally did not have their first communion until approximately the age of 10 or 11 years (even sometimes later) so only the older children were listed.

Checking the next available Easter Communion list in 1836 the only ones missing are William Harrison and his family from Murkside.  My William Harrison and his family immigrated to Canada in 1831.

Looking in the Harrison Saga in Hearts of Oak as well as the 1780 recusant list for Lythe there is only one family with a child named Alice and that is the family of Joseph Harrison and Mary Dale.  The 1780 recusant list for Lythe lists the family as follows:  Joseph and Mary Harrison with sons John, George, Joseph and Wm; and daughters Mary, Alice, Dorothy and Jane.  If these children were listed in order of birth as expected then William Harrison was the youngest son.

Looking at my own family's seven known lines in Canada the name Alice repeats in four of them.
  
My William Harrison (1780-1836) was from Lythe as confirmed in the book A History of the Ancient Parish of Lythe including Sandsend, East Row, Mulgrave Castle, Mulgrave Woods and grounds, The Hermitage, Foss Mill, published in 1888 by John Crowther.  In that book Crowther references the following entry in the Lythe parish registers and churchwarden's accounts: "1831 ...In this year many families from Lythe emigrated to America. Among them may be mentioned, Thomas Ward, W. Terry, John Ingledew, Thomas Coverdale, Wm. Harrison, John Bailey, Rt. English, Lennard Watson, John Readman and Thos. Taylor." 

Information on the family of Joseph Harrison and Mary Dale is difficult to obtain as there are gaps in the Catholic records for Ugthorpe and Egton Bridge and when Joseph Harrison died in Barnby in the Parish of Lythe in 1815 he did not leave a will.

Without any documentation to prove this connection I needed something else to tip the balance in favour of this family as my ancestors and Y DNA proved to be that evidence.  If I could find a direct male descendant of this family and test their Y DNA and compare it against mine I could determine if I had the right family or not.

After many months of searching I did find a direct male Harrison descendant of this family from Joseph Harrison's brother Henry Harrison 1734-1812 who generously agreed to be tested.  The line of his ancestor Henry Harrison's is well documented (including the fact he also had a son William who remained in England) and Henry left a will when he died in 1812.

Testing of this Harrison male confirmed that we are a match, and so confirms my connection to this family.

While not a 100% guarantee of an exact pedigree for my ancestor William Harrison 1780-1836, taking into consideration the small pool of Catholic Harrisons in this area of North Yorkshire, including the even smaller pool of William Harrisons born around 1780; plus all the evidence as laid out above, I have concluded that my William Harrison 1780-1836 is the son of Joseph Harrison 1738-1815 and Mary Dale.

The Y DNA results also confirm that this line of Catholic Harrisons is different than the William Harrison (1715-1778) line of Glaisdaleside in Egton township.

The Search for William Harrison (again) or how DNA Blew Up My Family Tree

Researching my family over the past 20 years or so I had long believed that my Harrison Catholic ancestors were descended from Henry Harrison and Dorothy Rudd of Green Houses in North Yorkshire.  It had appeared that Henry Harrison was the patriarch of all the Catholic Harrisons of this area of North Yorkshire but that does not appear to be the case.

My family research has gone through two phases already.  In the first go around it appeared that my William Harrison was the son of William Harrison and Elizabeth Allen of Glaisdaleside in Egton township.  But then the prayer book of Elizabeth Underwood, daughter of William Harrison and Elizabeth Allen, came to light clearly showing that her brother William died in Egton in 1848.  We now have determined that that William Harrison was actually married to Mary Webster.

That caused me to reexamine the place of my ancestors in the larger Harrison family tree and after considerable research and weighing all the alternatives it appeared that my William Harrison was the son of Joseph Harrison (brother of William Harrison who married Elizabeth Allen) and Mary Readman.  

In 2015 I had my Y DNA tested and in 2016 tested a direct male descendant of William Harrison and Elizabeth Allen in what I thought would confirm my place in the family tree.  However there was no match (and testing of two further UK Harrisons has confirmed this).  So barring any undisclosed adoption or other anomaly it looks like there is more than one Catholic Harrison family from this part of Yorkshire and not one as originally thought.  (William the son of Joseph Harrison and Mary Readman actually married Mary Consit and later Christiana Dale and lived at Struntry Carr Farm, later moving to East Row on the North Sea coast.)

So the search continues.   More research in the communion and confirmation lists of the Roman Catholic churches of Egton Bridge, Ugthorpe and Whitby await, as does the search for direct male descendants of other Catholic Harrison lines to test and compare Y DNA with.  If you are descended from a Catholic Harrison family with roots in the Egton/Glaisdale/Lythe area of North Yorkshire I would love to hear from you.