How a Y-DNA test threw my paternal line into question.

by Peter Clarkson, Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom

I started my family research about 10 years ago.

I was mainly interested in my maternal grandfather’s side of the family and it’s fair to say that over the ten years of research that side of my family has provided a rich seam of family history gems including secret children, multiple marriages, possible bigamy, name changes… the list goes on! While this was keeping me entertained, I wasn’t paying too much attention to my direct paternal line. I had mapped it out very early on in my research and it initially went like this:

• Myself born in Blackpool, Lancashire
  • My father born 1923 in Preston, Lancashire
    • Alfred Clarkson born 1890 in Preston, Lancashire
      • James Clarkson born 1864 in Preston, Lancashire
        • James Clarkson born 1828 in Kirkham, Lancashire
          • Thomas Clarkson born 1794 in Kirkham, Lancashire

All very straightforward. However, after a couple of years feeling this lineage was cast in stone, I was able to take a closer look at the Kirkham parish records and it became clear that Thomas Clarkson had died in 1826. He therefore could not be the father of James born in 1828. This meant my paternal line was certain back as far as 1828 rather than 1794. I know this is as good as it gets for some people, but I still felt a little frustrated that there seemed to be little chance of finding out who was the father of James.

In the meantime around 2018 I took an Ancestry DNA test. This revealed yet more mysteries on my maternal side, which kept me busy over the next four years or so. In the back of my mind, however, was a constant niggle that I wasn’t seeing any DNA matches to any Clarkson descendants.

In the middle of 2021 I decided that I should spend a little more time on the paternal line and see if I could find out who was James’s biological father. James’s mother, Jane, had married a Henry Wood about a year after James’s birth. So it seemed to me to be possible that Henry Wood could be the father. I looked into doing a Y-DNA test, and finally took a Y-111 test, thinking that I wouldn’t be surprised if it gave me a connection to a long line of Woods.
When the results came in it was a surprise. So much so that immediately ordered an upgrade to BigY-700. My results pointed me to three names – Barlow, Barlar and Goff, all with histories going back to Virginia and the Carolinas. This has started me on a whole new line of investigation, which quickly led me to the GGFA where I soon learned the story of the Goff orphans and a family legend carried through various strands of Goffs that they had originally been called Barlow.

In the meantime I have identified a few descendants of my paper paternal line who have taken DNA tests but do not show up as matches. The working hypothesis at the moment is that I along with various Goff, Barlow and Barlar families descend from a common ancestor, probably from England, called Barlow. Presumably one son went to settle in Virginia around 1600 and another son remained in England.

Further exciting research lies ahead with a view to finding:

• Where and when some Barlow children became Goffs.
• Who is the common the common ancestor that we Goff, Barlows, Barlars and Clarksons share?
• My true paternal line.

One clear take-away from this is that no matter how solid your genealogy may appear on paper, DNA can open up new mysteries – sometimes where you least expect them.

Editor’s Note: GGFA members can explore more about the Barlow branch of the GGFA families or other branches in our GGFA DNA Surname Study pages. Do you have a discovery to share? Send your story to info@goff-gough.com.