Kelsall DNA Project

Peter Kelsall has maintained the Kelsall One-Name Study for many years, and is now co- ordinating the Kelsall DNA Project. You can also contact Peter via the Forum.

The Kelsall DNA Project

The Kelsall DNA Project has been established at Family Tree DNA, and it is ready for participants to join and order a test kit. Full details about testing methods and the scientific basis are at the Family Tree DNA website. The Kelsall Group Project website will include results as they become available.

The test we are using is the Y DNA which tells you about your direct male line, which would be your father, his father, and back in time. You must be male to take this test, and you should have the Kelsall surname or one of the variants such as Kelsell. If you believe there is another Kelsall variant in your direct male line, although you have a different surname, you are also welcome to participate. If you are female, you can perhaps find a direct line male to participate, to represent your tree.

We encourage males to order a Y DNA test for 37 markers. The current price for the Y-DNA 37 is $149 plus postage (149 US dollars). This is discounted price for someone who joins a surname group. A test kit can be ordered from anywhere in the world. The test is a harmless genealogy test of locations on the Y chromosome, called markers, which are passed from father to son, typically unchanged. The test result is a string of numbers, and contains no personal information. You will be an exact or close match to those men to whom you are related. By also testing a distant direct line male in your family tree, if possible, you will validate the family tree research to the common ancestor shared by both men who test. In addition, the test result will tell you about your distant origins. You can read more at Family Tree DNA.

The objective of the study is to try to establish if various Kelsall family trees are related. We may determine that most Kelsall lines trace to a common origin in Cheshire or we may establish there are multiple distinct lines. Testing may establish a connection between trees that is now only suspected. I am attaching a chart that shows some of the main trees that I have been looking at. This is a work in progress and I welcome any revisions or additions regardless of whether you join the DNA group.