- Details
- Written by: Eric Burgess
Project Statistics
Total membership in the project is 459 of which 105 are matched in 35 distinct Y-DNA lines (Grouped) and 54 Burgess results remain (UnGrouped). Of the remaining 300 members 73 do not have a Burgess surname and 227 have not taken a Y-DNA test.
Introduction
The last 2 years have been very exciting for the project, FTDNA introduced the Big Y-700 which is the successor to the Big Y-500. The new test offers 20% more coverage and loads of additional markers. With these tests we have been able to identify two major and very old genetic signatures for Burgess families that date back centuries to the origin of the surname. One is found in Cheshire and the other has a connection to Sussex. The Sussex line is currently the older of the two. Details are below under the Ancestral Y-DNA Line groupings of James of Sussex and Ralph of Cheshire. Additionally we have obtained detailed information from 3 Big Y tests for the Colonel William of Anne Arundel line and 2 tests from the Thomas Burgess of Barnstable line. What we have learned is that we need 2 Big Y tests from a given line to bring out the resolving power of the testing. An example is the Edward of Pittsylvania line that has only one Big Y test and where the terminal marker is too old to be of any use on its own. As more tests come in, existing tests are refined as the matching process discovers markers unique to that family. The success of the Sussex line demonstrates this clearly. The Pittsylvania line would benefit greatly from another person in that group testing Big Y.
- Details
- Written by: Eric Burgess
William Burgess of Virginia
Burgess Haplotype Age: prior to 1650
This is a huge family, currently the largest in the Project. The first linked group is that of William Burgess of Richmond (later King George) Co., Virginia, for which we have test results from all five branches.
Their numbers also exactly match those of the male descendants of another major Burgess group, the line of William Burgess of Bedford Co., Virginia, for which we have test results from all four branches. Together, these two family groups have a common Burgess ancestor, name unknown, who predates the known research in both lines, putting the Most Common Recent Ancestor back at least to 1650. Curiously, the genome of the Bedford family seems much more stable than that of the King George line.
- Details
- Written by: Eric Burgess
William Burgess of Virginia
This is a huge family, currently the largest in the Project. The first linked group is that of William Burgess of Richmond (later King George) Co., Virginia, for which we have test results from all five branches.
- Details
- Written by: Eric Burgess
Project News
This edition of the project newsletter is the first since the passing or our former project coordinator and founder Michael Burgess. The project direction remains the same, to shed light on the relationships that exist between the Burgess families and to localize their roots in Europe. The project has already come a long way, several large American Burgess genealogies are tested along multiple lines and a few back to near colonial times. Matches between these older genealogies suggest that we have found some root DNA signatures for the Burgess surname. One particular example is the line of Ralph Burgess of Cheshire that matches with the John Burgess line of New Zealand and William Burgess of Middlesex Massachusetts. The genealogies suggest that the common ancestor to these lines is over 300 years old and likely older.
- Details
- Written by: Eric Burgess
Dear members,
The founder of this project Michael Burgess is no longer with us. I met Michael back in 2004 when I joined the project. We got to know each other more when I re-designed and took over administration of this website. I always appreciated Michael's careful precision and the importance he gave to getting the facts right. Michael was a prolific writer and publisher and the DNA project was only one facet of this very talented man. I will endeavour to carry on the project and welcome input from all of our members. Over time I will re-work the website to increase its accessibility to newcomers and hopefully broaden the scope of our project.
I will miss you Michael. Below is a text sent to me by his family.
-Eric