Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Isn't DNA wonderful!

One of the latest set of results just in have finally added considerable weight to something I've been trying to find proof of for years. Ever since Ed, a descendant of John FAIRBAIRN of Delaware Co, NY, contacted me way back in Jan 1999, we have been trying to prove that his John, son of a "Walter of Roxburghshire" was a previously unknown son of my 3greats, Walter and Agnes (ROBERTSON/ROBISON) FAIRBAIRN.
With the increasing acceptance and availability of dna testing it looked like we might finally be able to (dis) prove our theory - if only we could find suitable candidates.
The FAIRBAIRN Surname DNA Project was set up in Oct 2007 primarily out of this curiousity with the first candidate Martin (F-1), a descendant of Archibald (marr. to Janet SCOTT), assumed to be the brother of the above Walter, other candidates still proving elusive. It was only a few short weeks ago, a year and a half later, that a willing participant, Michael (F-16), was finally found to test the original hypothesis.
Although it is only a 12/12 match to date, it does look extremely likely that John is Walter's son, and this also adds weight to the supposition that Archibald is indeed Walter's brother (theory #2 that was waiting for proof).
In the meantime, all sorts of other FAIRBAIRNs originating from the Scottish Borders have been shown to be related, and a lot of fun had tracking down suitable dna participants.

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