My own interest in discovering more about my DNA was borne out of a desire to establish if my own paternal line was “authentic".

From my test I was fortunate enough to discover that my actual ancestral surname was most probably WRIGHT. This was determined by the fact that I had a close STR (DNA) match to two, at that time, apparently separate families. Though they are a little more distantly related to each other, my own DNA appears to show that I am more or less equally related to each. These lines are from Wickhambrook and Little Welnetham/Felsham, Suffolk. As my paternal family is in part known to be from north-west Suffolk, that made a lot of sense.

Currently, estimates suggest that though both these lines are known as far back as to the c1720s, the common ancestor between the branches is probably no later than the 1650s.

A corollary to this is that I have also discovered that rather than having the haplogroup generally attributed to the Anglo-Saxons (commonly termed ‘Germanic’) which one might expect in East Anglia, our grouping is defined as Italo-Celtic. This group is thought to have originated with the La Tenne Celtic culture in Halstadt, Austria before fanning out across much of western, and parts of Eastern Europe. You’ll be able to read more about this by following some of the links on this site.

When these people came to Britain is not known. Indeed, they may have come over before the Romans and others of the same haplogroup followed later from mainland Europe. It may also reflect Roman mercenary troops or, perhaps later still Norman blood. It is interesting to note that, though present all over Britain, the descendants who share this group (known as U152), are a most frequently found in the south-east and are at their most prevalent, it seems, in East Anglia where it is estimated they comprise about 15% of the population. Could they have been the remnants of the Iceni? It’s not known at present, but it is not beyond the bounds of possibility, as of course, even this subclade U152 is further divided.

Martin

April 2016

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