Projects – Strathclyde Genealogy

Declaration of Arbroath Family History Project The University of Strathclyde Genealogical Studies Postgraduate Programme is launching the Declaration of Arbroath Family History Project in association with the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy just as the new Netflix film on King Robert the Bruce Outlaw King is released (9 November). King Robert’s mission, to gain recognition for Scotland as an independent nation, particularly from England, following the Scottish War of Independence, led to the creation of a letter to the Pope in 1320, which has become known as the Declaration of Arbroath. The letter was sent on behalf of the nobles and barons of Scotland, many of whom were named in and attached their seals to the document. The new Project will see both students and staff carry out research into these individuals and their families, culminating in an exhibition which it is hoped will tour several venues. It will also involve a genetic genealogy strand, to discover previously unknown descents from these individuals through DNA testing.

Progress report 11, 3 September 2020

Project webpage https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/declarationofarbroathresearch/

Since the main work of the Project is now drawing to a close, this is just a very brief report providing details of recent articles and how the work of the Project will be further reported on and presented.
For further details, please consult earlier Progress reports and the Project webpage.

The following two articles relating to the Project by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald have appeared recently –

The Declaration of Arbroath: new research on stories of the signatories. History Scotland, September/October 2020.

DNA and the Declaration of Arbroath. Who Do You Think You Are? magazine, September 2020.

The talk on the work of the Project for the Victoria University of Wellington NZ Scottish Interest Group was supplied for the planned meeting of the Group on 28 August, but unfortunately, due to the introduction of stricter Covid-19 lockdown measures in New Zealand only a few days before, the meeting had to be cancelled. The Group hope to be able to reschedule the meeting for a date in 2021.

Work has begun on the compilation of a Project report which it is hoped will be completed around early October.

Plans for holding the Project exhibition at Arbroath Abbey, Dumfries Museum and possibly other venues at some point in 2021 are still on hold.

Progress report 10, 2 July 2020

Project webpage https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/declarationofarbroathresearch/

Documentary strand

As reported previously, at least one set of research findings on all 48 individuals associated with the Declaration have been submitted by Diploma students – 40 as part of this Project, in addition to findings on another 8 who had previously been researched as part of the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project. The findings consist of brief biographies, four generation genealogies showing descendants of the grandparents of the focus individual and details of coats of arms. The list of their names can be found on the Strathclyde genealogy website at https://www.strathgenealogy.org.uk/declaration-of-arbroath/

Genetic genealogy strand

Student work detailing male line descendants for up to 10 generations of 16 of the individuals will help to inform further staff work in the genetic genealogy strand of the Project. The first phase of this strand involved the gathering of DNA test results from well documented male line descendants of some of those who were associated with the Declaration. This strand has now entered the second phase, focusing on analysis of test results and identifying matches with individuals who do not have documentary evidence of their medieval descents. A number of these have now been identified as descendants of ‘signatories’ of the Declaration and research is proceeding to expand this number and explore further the branching of the focus families. Conclusions have been reached on a number of these families, particularly the Boyd, Dunbar, Seton and Stewart families.

50 relevant DNA test results are now included in the Project and the major focus is on the following families –

Boyd (including descent from Hay)

Dunbar
Lindsay
Maxwell
Seton
Sinclair
Stewart

Sutherland

Contact has been made with a number of DNA projects and we have been working with these as the research progresses.

Exhibition

A list of the 16 individuals to be featured in the Project exhibition has been compiled. The exhibition will display biographies, genealogical charts and coats of arms of these individuals, as well as presenting documentation on all 48 of the individuals associated with the Declaration and details on the genetic genealogy research carried out.

The preparation of materials for the Exhibition is almost complete.

The Project Exhibition will be rescheduled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but if possible will be held initially at Arbroath Abbey at some point in 2021, with subsequent presentation at Dumfries Museum and possibly other venues.

The list of the 16 individuals to be featured in the Exhibition is as follows –

King Robert I (the Bruce)

Campbell, Donald

Douglas, James, Lord of

Graham, David

Hay, Gilbert, Constable of Scotland

Lindsay, David

Maxwell, Eustace

Menteith, Sir John

Mowbray, Roger

Randolph, Thomas, Earl of Moray

Seton, Alexander

Sinclair, Henry

Soules, William, Butler of Scotland

Stewart, Walter, High Steward of Scotland

Sutherland, William, Earl of

Umfraville, Ingram

Contacts with the following DNA projects

Boyd DNA Project
Campbell DNA Project
Dunbar DNA Project
Lennox, MacFarlane, Leckie DNA Project
Lindsay DNA Project
R-U198 DNA Project
Seaton/Seton DNA Project
Sinclair DNA Project
Stewart DNA Project
Sutherland DNA Project

Contacts with other organisations

Arbroath 2020

Historic Environment Scotland

consultative role on some interpretative materials for Arbroath Abbey
provision of input to educational materials used in Arbroath Academy and to be made available online for other schools from August

HMP Low Moss, Bishopbriggs

Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust

National Trust for Scotland

Victoria University of Wellington NZ Scottish Interest Group

Other outputs

Articles by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald:

History Scotland, November/December 2019 issue

History Scotland, July/August 2020 issue

Who Do You Think You Are? magazine – provisionally August 2020.

A number of other articles are planned.

Presentations by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald:

Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust symposium on the Declaration of Arbroath, 28 March 2020, Dumfries
The Declaration of Arbroath Family History Project: 14^th century men and 21^st century descendants
CANCELLED
Declaration of Arbroath 700^th Anniversary Conference, 23-25 April 2020, Newbattle Abbey College – 24 April, 4 pm.
The men of the Declaration – their significance, then and now
CANCELLED
Rescheduled for 22-24 April 2021
House of Dun, Montrose (National Trust for Scotland), 2 July, 6.30 pm
The Declaration of Arbroath Family History Project: local surnames 1320 to 2020
CANCELLED
Victoria University of Wellington NZ Scottish Interest Group, 28 August 2020
Recording of general talk on the Project to be supplied
Dumfries Museum, 10 September 2020, 6.30 pm
Pre-exhibition presentation
CANCELLED
HMP Low Moss, Bishopbriggs. To be confirmed
Talk on DNA testing as it relates to the Declaration and its relevance today

Impact of Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic

Events have already been cancelled as a result of the pandemic, but it is hoped that the Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust will be able to reschedule their symposium at some future date.
The Declaration of Arbroath 700^th Anniversary Conference will be held on 22-24 April 2021.

It is now clear that no physical events will take place until 2021, so the current ongoing plan for the Project is to produce, and if feasible publish, a Project report around early October. In the meantime, discussions will take place with the relevant organisations to agree appropriate dates for the Project exhibition to be held at Arbroath Abbey, Dumfries Museum and possibly other venues at some point in 2021. Preparation of an online version of the Exhibition will also commence with the aim of making this available at a later date.

Progress report 9, 24 April 2020

Project webpage https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/declarationofarbroathresearch/

Documentary strand

As reported previously, at least one set of research findings on all 48 individuals associated with the Declaration have now been submitted by Diploma students – 40 as part of this Project, in addition to findings on another 8 who had previously been researched as part of the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project. All research findings from Diploma students which will form the basis for the Project exhibition have now been submitted. The findings consist of brief biographies, four generation genealogies showing descendants of the grandparents of the focus individual and details of coats of arms. The list of their names can be found on the Strathclyde genealogy website at https://www.strathgenealogy.org.uk/declaration-of-arbroath/

Genetic genealogy strand

Student work detailing male line descendants for up to 10 generations of 16 of the individuals will help to inform further staff work in the genetic genealogy strand of the Project. The first phase of this strand involved the gathering of DNA test results from well documented male line descendants of some of those who were associated with the Declaration. This strand has now entered the second phase, focusing on analysis of test results and identifying matches with individuals who do not have documentary evidence of their medieval descents. A number of these have now been identified as descendants of ‘signatories’ of the Declaration and research is proceeding to expand this number and explore further the branching of the focus families. One important conclusion has been the identification of genetic markers carried by the noble family of Boyd. This means that Boyds taking a Y-DNA test will be able to discover whether they are descended from this family of Boyds, first recorded in the 13^th century. Conclusions have also been reached on the Dunbar, Seton and Stewart families.

49 relevant DNA test results are now included in the Project and the major focus is on the following families –

Boyd (including descent from Hay)
Dunbar
Lindsay
Maxwell
Seton
Sinclair
Stewart
Sutherland

If feasible, further research on other families may be carried out, such as the families of Campbell, Ross and Umfraville.

Contact has been made with a number of DNA projects and we have been working with these as the research progresses.

Exhibition

The preparation of materials for the documentary strand of the Exhibition is nearing completion, while work on refining conclusions in the genetic genealogy strand is progressing.

The Project Exhibition will be held initially at Arbroath Abbey from 3 July to 14 August 2020 and also presented at Dumfries Museum from 12 September to 31 October.

The list of the 16 individuals to be featured in the Exhibition is as follows –

King Robert I (the Bruce)

Campbell, Donald

Douglas, James, Lord of

Graham, David

Hay, Gilbert, Constable of Scotland

Lindsay, David

Maxwell, Eustace

Menteith, Sir John

Mowbray, Roger

Randolph, Thomas, Earl of Moray

Seton, Alexander

Sinclair, Henry

Soules, William, Butler of Scotland

Stewart, Walter, High Steward of Scotland

Sutherland, William, Earl of

Umfraville, Ingram

Contacts with the following DNA projects

Contacts with other organisations

Arbroath 2020

Historic Environment Scotland

consultative role on some interpretative materials for Arbroath Abbey
provision of input to educational materials for use initially in Arbroath Academy and provisionally to be made available online for other schools

HMP Low Moss, Bishopbriggs

Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust

National Trust for Scotland

Victoria University of Wellington NZ Scottish Interest Group

Other outputs

Articles by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald:

History Scotland, November/December 2019 issue

History Scotland, July/August 2020 issue (forthcoming)

A number of other articles are planned.

Presentations by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald:

Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust symposium on the Declaration of Arbroath, 28 March 2020, Dumfries
The Declaration of Arbroath Family History Project: 14^th century men and 21^st century descendants
CANCELLED
Declaration of Arbroath 700^th Anniversary Conference, 23-25 April 2020, Newbattle Abbey College – 24 April, 4 pm.
The men of the Declaration – their significance, then and now
CANCELLED
Rescheduled for 22-24 April 2021
House of Dun, Montrose (National Trust for Scotland), 2 July, 6.30 pm
The Declaration of Arbroath Family History Project: local surnames 1320 to 2020
Victoria University of Wellington NZ Scottish Interest Group, 28 August 2020
Recording of general talk on the Project to be supplied
Dumfries Museum, 10 September 2020, 6.30 pm
Pre-exhibition presentation
HMP Low Moss, Bishopbriggs. To be confirmed
Talk on DNA testing as it relates to the Declaration and its relevance today

Impact of Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic

Due to the uncertainties surrounding the ongoing measures to meet the challenge of Covid-19, the other planned physical events are subject to change.

Progress report 8, 21 February 2020

Project webpage https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/declarationofarbroathresearch/

Documentary strand

As reported previously, at least one set of research findings on all 48 individuals associated with the Declaration have now been submitted by Diploma students – 40 as part of this Project, in addition to findings on another 8 who had previously been researched as part of the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project. These findings will be supplemented by submissions from Diploma students which will be available at the end of February. The findings consist of brief biographies, four generation genealogies showing descendants of the grandparents of the focus individual and details of coats of arms. The list of their names can be found on the Strathclyde genealogy website at https://www.strathgenealogy.org.uk/declaration-of-arbroath/

Genetic genealogy strand

Student work detailing male line descendants for up to 10 generations of 16 of the individuals will help to inform further staff work in the genetic genealogy strand of the Project. The first phase of this strand involved the gathering of DNA test results from well documented male line descendants of some of those who were associated with the Declaration. This strand has now entered the second phase, focusing on analysis of test results and identifying matches with individuals who do not have documentary evidence of their medieval descents. A number of these have now been identified as descendants of ‘signatories’ of the Declaration and research is proceeding to expand this number and explore further the branching of the focus families. One important conclusion has been the identification of genetic markers carried by the noble family of Boyd. This means that Boyds taking a Y-DNA test will be able to discover whether they are descended from this family of Boyds, first recorded in the 13^th century.

47 relevant DNA test results are now included in the Project and the major focus is on the following families –

Boyd (including descent from Hay)
Dunbar
Lindsay
Seton
Sinclair
Stewart
Sutherland

If feasible, further research on other families may be carried out, such as the families of Campbell, Maxwell, Ross, and Umfraville.

Contact has been made with a number of DNA projects and we have been working with these as the research progresses.

Exhibition

A projected list of the 16 individuals to be featured in the Project exhibition has now been compiled. The exhibition will display biographies, genealogical charts and coats of arms of these individuals, as well as presenting documentation on all 48 of the individuals associated with the Declaration and details on the genetic genealogy research carried out.

Work is progressing on the preparation of materials for the Exhibition, with the genealogical charts and coats of arms in draft form.

The Project Exhibition will be held initially at Arbroath Abbey from 3 July to 14 August 2020 and also presented at Dumfries Museum from 12 September to 31 October.

The projected list of the 16 individuals to be featured in the Exhibition is as follows –

King Robert I (the Bruce)

Campbell, Donald

Douglas, James, Lord of

Graham, David

Hay, Gilbert, Constable of Scotland

Lindsay, David

Maxwell, Eustace

Menteith, Sir John

Mowbray, Roger

Randolph, Thomas, Earl of Moray

Seton, Alexander

Sinclair, Henry

Soules, William, Butler of Scotland

Stewart, Walter, High Steward of Scotland

Sutherland, William, Earl of

Umfraville, Ingram

Contacts with the following DNA projects

Contacts with other organisations

Arbroath 2020

Historic Environment Scotland

consultative role on some interpretative materials for Arbroath Abbey
provision of input to educational materials for use in Arbroath Academy

HMP Low Moss, Bishopbriggs

Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust

National Trust for Scotland

Victoria University of Wellington NZ Scottish Interest Group

Other outputs

Article in History Scotland, November/December 2019 issue, by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald

Presentations by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald

Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust symposium on the Declaration of Arbroath, 28 March 2020, Dumfries
The Declaration of Arbroath Family History Project: 14^th century men and 21^st century descendants
Declaration of Arbroath 700^th Anniversary Conference, 23-25 April 2020, Newbattle Abbey College – 24 April, 4 pm.
The men of the Declaration – their significance, then and now
House of Dun, Montrose (National Trust for Scotland), 2 July, 6.30 pm
The Declaration of Arbroath Family History Project: local surnames 1320 to 2020
Victoria University of Wellington NZ Scottish Interest Group, 28 August 2020
Recording of general talk on the Project to be supplied
Dumfries Museum, 10 September 2020, 6.30 pm
Pre-exhibition presentation
HMP Low Moss, Bishopbriggs. To be confirmed
Talk on DNA testing as it relates to the Declaration and its relevance today

Progress report 7, 20 December 2019

Project webpage https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/declarationofarbroathresearch/

Documentary strand

As reported previously, at least one set of research findings on all 48 individuals associated with the Declaration have now been submitted by Diploma students – 40 as part of this Project, in addition to findings on another 8 who had previously been researched as part of the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project. These findings will be supplemented by submissions from Diploma students which should be available at the end of February. The findings consist of brief biographies, four generation genealogies showing descendants of the grandparents of the focus individual and details of coats of arms. The list of their names can be found on the Strathclyde genealogy website at https://www.strathgenealogy.org.uk/declaration-of-arbroath/

Genetic genealogy strand

28 relevant DNA test results are now included in the Project and the major focus will be on the following families –

Boyd (including descent from Hay)
Lindsay
Sinclair
Stewart

Sutherland

If feasible, further research on other families may be carried out, such as the families of Campbell, Dunbar, Maxwell, Ross, Seton and Umfreville.

Contact has been made with a number of DNA surname projects and we are working with these as the research progresses.

Exhibition

The Project Exhibition will be held initially at Arbroath Abbey from 3 July to 14 August 2020 and also presented at Dumfries Museum from 12 September to 31 October.

The projected list of the 16 individuals to be featured in the Exhibition is as follows –

King Robert I (the Bruce)

Campbell, Donald

Douglas, James, Lord of

Graham, David

Hay, Gilbert, Constable of Scotland

Lindsay, David

Maxwell, Eustace

Menteith, Sir John

Mowbray, Roger

Randolph, Thomas, Earl of Moray

Seton, Alexander

Sinclair, Henry

Soules, William, Butler of Scotland

Stewart, Walter, High Steward of Scotland

Sutherland, William, Earl of

Umfraville, Ingram

Links with other organisations

Contacts with the following organisations – Arbroath 2020, Boyd DNA Project, Campbell DNA Project, Dunbar DNA Project, Lindsay DNA Project, Sinclair DNA Project, Stewart DNA Project, Sutherland DNA Project, R-U198 DNA Project.

Liaison with Visit Scotland to explore ways of working together.

Initial discussion with Historic Environment Scotland on input to educational materials for use in secondary schools.

Other outputs

Article in History Scotland, November/December 2019 issue, by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald

Presentations by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald

Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust symposium on the Declaration of Arbroath, 28 March 2020, Dumfries
Declaration of Arbroath 700^th Anniversary Conference, 23-25 April 2020, Newbattle Abbey College – 24 April, 4 pm. The men of the Declaration – their significance, then and now.

Pre-exhibition presentation, 11 September 2020, Dumfries Museum (provisional)

Progress report 6, 17 October 2019

A new webpage devoted to the Project is now live at https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/declarationofarbroathresearch/

Documentary strand

As reported previously, at least one set of research findings on all 48 individuals associated with the Declaration have now been submitted by Diploma students – 40 as part of this Project, in addition to findings on another 8 who had previously been researched as part of the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project. These findings will be supplemented by submissions from Diploma students in the current academic session. The findings consist of brief biographies, four generation genealogies showing descendants of the grandparents of the focus individual and details of coats of arms. The list of their names can be found on the Strathclyde genealogy website at https://www.strathgenealogy.org.uk/declaration-of-arbroath/

Genetic genealogy strand

25 relevant DNA test results are now included in the Project and the major focus will be on the following families –

Boyd (including descent from Hay)
Lindsay
Sinclair
Stewart

Sutherland

If feasible, further research on other families may be carried out, such as the families of Campbell, Maxwell and Umfreville.

Contact has been made with a number of DNA surname projects and we are working with these as the research progresses.
Exhibition

A provisional list of the 16 individuals to be featured in the Project exhibition has now been compiled. The exhibition will display biographies, genealogical charts and coats of arms of these individuals as well as details on the genetic genealogy research carried out.

As mentioned in previous Progress reports, the Project Exhibition will be held initially at Arbroath Abbey from 3 July to 14 August 2020.

The exhibition will also be presented at Dumfries Museum from 12 September to 31 October.

Other outputs

Article in History Scotland, November/December 2019 issue, by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald

Presentations by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald

Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust symposium on the Declaration of Arbroath, 28 March 2020, Dumfries
Declaration of Arbroath 700^th Anniversary Conference, 23-25 April 2020, Newbattle Abbey College
Pre-exhibition presentation, 11 September 2020, Dumfries Museum (provisional)

Progress report 5, 16 August 2019

Documentary strand

As reported previously, at least one set of research findings on all 48 individuals associated with the Declaration have now been submitted by Diploma students – 40 as part of this Project, in addition to findings on another 8 who had previously been researched as part of the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project. These findings will be supplemented by submissions from Diploma students in the next academic session. The findings consist of brief biographies, four generation genealogies showing descendants of the grandparents of the focus individual and details of coats of arms. The list of their names can be found on the Strathclyde genealogy website at https://www.strathgenealogy.org.uk/declaration-of-arbroath/

Genetic genealogy strand

The first phase of this strand involved the gathering of DNA test results from well documented male line descendants of some of those who were associated with the Declaration. This strand of the Project is now entering the second phase, which will focus on analysis of test results and identifying matches with individuals who do not have documentary evidence of their medieval descents.

18 relevant DNA test results are now included in the Project and the major focus will be on the following families –

Boyd (including descent from Hay)
Lindsay
Sinclair
Stewart
Sutherland

If feasible, further research on other families may be carried out, such as the families of Campbell, Maxwell and Umfreville.

Contact has been made with a number of DNA surname projects and we are beginning to work with these as the research progresses.

Exhibition

As mentioned in previous Progress reports, the Project Exhibition will be held initially at Arbroath Abbey from 3 July to 14 August 2020.

The exhibition will also be presented at Dumfries Museum from 12 September to 31 October.

Other outputs

Article in History Scotland, either November/December 2019, or January/February 2020 issue, by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald

Presentations by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald

Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust symposium on the Declaration of Arbroath, March 2020, Dumfries
Declaration of Arbroath 700^th Anniversary Conference, 23-25 April 2020, Newbattle Abbey College
Pre-exhibition presentation, 11 September 2020, Dumfries Museum (provisional)

Coverage in the press

The Courier 10 August 2019 – https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/angus-mearns/953759/boffins-begin-search-for-declaration-of-arbroath-descendants-ahead-of-700th-anniversary/

The Scotsman 13 August 2019 – https://www.scotsman.com/heritage/dna-search-to-identify-descendants-of-declaration-of-arbroath-nobles-1-4983072

Progress report 4, 27 June 2019

Documentary strand

As reported in the previous Progress report, at least one set of research findings on all 48 individuals associated with the Declaration have now been submitted by Diploma students – 40 as part of this Project, in addition to findings on another 8 who had previously been researched as part of the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project. These findings will be supplemented by submissions from Diploma students in the next academic session. The findings consist of brief biographies, four generation genealogies showing descendants of the grandparents of the focus individual and details of coats of arms. The list of their names can be found on the Strathclyde genealogy website at https://www.strathgenealogy.org.uk/declaration-of-arbroath/

Genetic genealogy strand

The first phase of this strand involves the gathering of DNA test results from well documented male line descendants of some of those who were associated with the Declaration. Following on from this, the second phase will focus on analysis of test results and identifying matches with individuals who do not have documentary evidence of their medieval descents.

Preparatory work is currently being undertaken on 12 families.
The current status of the work is as follows –

Sent out invitations to documented male line descendants to take a DNA test – 5, with 2 positive responses so far
Issued invitations to documented male line descendants who have already taken a DNA test to join the Project – 3, all have agreed to take part. There are also a number of other DNA test results available within the Project to allow further analysis
Research needed to identify documented male line descendants (in progress) – 4

The families concerned are –
Campbell, Arthur
Campbell, Donald
Graham
Hay
Lindsay
Maxwell
Menteith (Stewart)
Ramsay
Ross
Sinclair
Sutherland
Wemyss

It is also planned to undertake further work on the Stewart descendants of Walter Stewart, 6^th High Steward of Scotland, following on from the research for the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project.

Contact has been made with a number of DNA surname projects and we are beginning to work with these as the research progresses.

Exhibition

As mentioned in previous Progress reports, the Project Exhibition will be held initially at Arbroath Abbey from 3 July to 14 August 2020.

Other outputs

Article in History Scotland, either November/December 2019, or January/February 2020 issue, by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald

Presentations by Graham Holton and Alasdair Macdonald

Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust symposium on the Declaration of Arbroath, March 2020
Declaration of Arbroath 700^th Anniversary Conference, 23-25 April 2020

Progress report 3, 23 April 2019

Documentary strand

At least one set of research findings on 40 individuals associated with the Declaration have now been submitted by Diploma students, in addition to findings on another 8 who had previously been researched as part of the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project. This completes the initial coverage of all the relevant individuals and these findings will be supplemented by submissions from Diploma students in the next academic session. The findings consist of brief biographies, four generation genealogies showing descendants of the grandparents of the focus individual and details of coats of arms. The list of their names can be found on the Strathclyde genealogy website at https://www.strathgenealogy.org.uk/declaration-of-arbroath/

Genetic genealogy strand

Preparatory work is being undertaken on 13 families.
The current status of the work is as follows –

Sent out invitations to documented male line descendants to take a DNA test – 3, with 1 positive response so far
Issued invitations to documented male line descendants who have already taken a DNA test to join the Project – 3, all have agreed to take part
Research needed to identify documented male line descendants – 4
Investigate feasibility of including family in genetic genealogy strand of Project – 2

The families concerned are –
Campbell, Arthur
Campbell, Donald
Graham
Hay
Lindsay
Maxwell
Menteith (Stewart)
Oliphant
Ramsay
Ross
Sinclair
Sutherland
Umfreville

Contact has been made with a number of DNA surname projects and it is hoped that we will be cooperating with some of these as the research progresses.

Exhibition

As mentioned in previous Progress reports, the Project Exhibition will be held initially at Arbroath Abbey from 3 July to 14 August 2020.
Quotations for the hire of display boards and printing have been obtained.

Progress report 2, 5 February 2019

Documentary strand

Research findings on 32 individuals associated with the Declaration have now been submitted, in addition to findings on another 8 who had previously been researched as part of the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project. The findings consist of brief biographies, four generation genealogies showing descendants of the grandparents of the focus individual and details of coats of arms. The list of their names can be found on the Strathclyde genealogy website at https://www.strathgenealogy.org.uk/declaration-of-arbroath/

Research is still to be carried out on another 8 individuals.

Genetic genealogy strand

Preparatory work is being undertaken on 13 families.
The current status of the work is as follows –

Waiting to send out invitations to documented male line descendants to take a DNA test – 2
Current address for documented male line descendant to be traced – 1
Issue invitations to documented male line descendants who have already taken a DNA test to join the Project – 4
Research needed to identify documented male line descendants – 4
Investigate feasibility of including family in genetic genealogy strand of Project – 2

The families concerned are –
Campbell, Arthur
Campbell, Donald
Graham
Hay
Lindsay
Maxwell
Menteith (Stewart)
Oliphant
Ramsay
Ross
Sinclair
Sutherland
Umfreville

Contact has been made with a number of DNA surname projects and it is hoped that we will be cooperating with some of these as the research progresses.

Exhibition

As mentioned in Progress report 1, the Project Exhibition will be held initially at Arbroath Abbey from 3 July to 14 August 2020.
Some quotations for the hire of display boards and printing have been obtained.

Progress report 1, 3 December 2018

Documentary strand

The first batch of student work contributing to the Project has been submitted. We now have research findings on 23 individuals associated with the Declaration, in addition to findings on another 8 who had previously been researched as part of the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project. These findings consist of brief biographies, four generation genealogies showing descendants of the grandparents of the focus individual and details of coats of arms. The list of their names can be found on the Strathclyde genealogy website at https://www.strathgenealogy.org.uk/declaration-of-arbroath/
Research is still to be carried out on another 17 individuals.

Genetic genealogy strand

We already have access to one DNA test result from a documented male line descendant of an individual associated with the Declaration and several others have been identified whom it is hoped may be willing to participate in the Project by taking a DNA test. E-mails have also been sent to a number of relevant DNA surname projects to discover whether documented male line descendants have already taken DNA tests and are members of a project. If so, it is hoped that we can cooperate with specific projects to carry out genetic genealogy research into the families of those associated with the Declaration.

Exhibition

Following consultation with Historic Environment Scotland, it has been confirmed that the Project Exhibition will be held initially at Arbroath Abbey from 3 July to 14 August 2020.
Quotations for the hire of display boards and printing are now being sought.

Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project To mark the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014, we ran the Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project, to throw light on the participants in the Battle from a genealogical point of view.

There are two strands to the Project

Documentary strand
This features biographical information and coats of arms of 70 of the combatants and genealogies of their families over four generations.
According to our research, the number of combatants in the Battle who are named in primary sources amount to 161 individuals (142 English, 19 Scottish), while the names of another 125 individuals who may have been present appear in secondary sources. The major primary sources used were several chronicles, particularly The continuation of the annals of Nicholas Trivet, the Calendar of documents relating to Scotland and a number of rolls of arms from the period.
Genetic Genealogy Project
Genetic genealogy is becoming more and more important as a tool for genealogical research and this strand of the Project aims to show the power of genetic genealogy by revealing living descendants of combatants in the Battle. Having identified several male line descendants of combatants using documentary sources, we invited them to take a DNA test, and then attempted to find another individual who closely matched each testee. If successful, this would show that the second individual was descended from the same combatant, despite having no supporting documentary evidence.

Some of the results of this Project can be seen by clicking the links on this page.

For further information please contact Graham S Holton at g.s.holton@strath.ac.uk