Lock / Locke

[LockeRoots]

I am reserching all Lock(e)'s of the world.

http://home.comcast.net/~lockeroots/home.html

[LockeRoots]

My Lock / Locke web site got taken offline years ago, sorry.

I basically run an unofficial single surname study on the Lock and Locke surname. I don't just do research on my own family tree, I do research on all the Lock / Locke family trees of the UK and USA. over the past 30 plus years, I have literally read and transcribed tens of thousands of vital records, Willis, land deeds, military records, various court records and more.

In 2005, I started the Locke DNA project which includes the Lock spelling, which has over 100 Y DNA participants in the project now. There are participants from the UK, USA, Australia, and elsewhere in the DNA project.

We are using the genealogical paper records in combination with Y DNA testing on us men of the
Lock / Locke surname, to try to identify related branches where ever they may reside today.

The male Y chromosome, which  is the sex gene that makes a male a male, is passed down from father to sons, generation after generations virtually unchanged. What that means is, every male Lock / Locke born to the same common male ancestor, will all share the same Y chromosome.

This is how we can tell who is related, and who is not related. To date 20 unrelated male lineages of the Lock and Locke surname have been Y DNA tested so far, known as Family Groups in the DNA project and to date, we now know there are well over 30 unrelated male lineages of the Lock and Locke surname in the world and counting.

Thanks to Y DNA testing and the paper trail research being used together, family tree connections have already been made between the UK to descendants in Australia, Canada, USA.
The male Y chromosome never forgets kinship! Lock / Locke male Y DNA participants are encouraged to share their family tree history with anyone they end up being a Y DNA match with to another Lock / Locke Y DNA participant(s), in hopes you and he can connect your paper trails together some day.

Most every Lock / Locke family tree has that family member whom just up and vanished, and it would be easy to assume they passed away, but for all we know, they migrated across the sea to other lands and raised a family over seas.

Your Lock / Locke family tree may very well be a branch of a much larger Lock / Locke family tree that you have not discovered yet using only the genealogical paper records to find those kinship's. This is where Y DNA testing done on us men of the Lock and Locke surname comes in to play, by comparing your Y chromosome against all other men of the Lock / Locke surname around the globe.

By my estimates, there easily could be an additional 30 to 100 unrelated Lock / Locke paternal lineages just of the UK whom have not been involved in Y DNA testing yet.

At some point, most Lock / Locke family trees come to that dreaded genealogical brick wall, but when we include the use of Y DNA testing, we may find we have Y DNA connections to other Lock / Locke branches that we had no idea were related, and once that Y DNA match is found between 2 Lock / Locke men anywhere in the world, is when both participants are encouraged to share their family tree histories with one another, to see if a common male Lock / Locke ancestor can be identified, to help you connect in a whole new branch to your paternal family tree.

I also run the Lock / Locke Genealogy & DNA facebook page which is open to everyone in the world whom working on their Lock / Locke family trees and it is also used to educate everyone on the use of DNA testing for genealogical purposes. Come join us on the facebook page if you like, we got a great group of people in the group whom share family tree research, share family photos and is a safe place to openly discuss the use of genetic genealogy ( DNA ).

In the files section of the Lock / Locke Genealogy & DNA facebook page, I have uploaded a lot of my research, Lock / Locke UK and USA birth, marriage, death records transcriptions, which can be pretty extensive files naming hundreds and hundreds of individuals of the Lock and Locke surname.

I highly encourage all men of the Lock / Locke surname anywhere in the world to join us in Y DNA testing, the Locke Y DNA project is a global DNA project open to all Lock / Locke of the world.
Using your favorite search engine, look up Locke DNA project and you can find the web link to the project.

The primary goals for the DNA project, is to help identify related Y DNA participants and then get all those involved to share family tree information in the hopes a common male ancestor can be identified and where possible, connect branches of Lock / Locke family trees back together using both the genealogical paper records research backed up with Y DNA evidence to confirm that kinship.

[LockeRoots]

Happy New Year!

I thought I would share 5 Lock / Locke lineages whom have one male Y DNA participant tested whom do not have any Lock / Locke Y DNA matches as of yet. If you are a direct male Lock / Locke descendant of any of those 5 specific paternal ancestors, you already have one family member
Y DNA tested in the Locke Y DNA project.

Kit 39563, Most Distant Paternal Ancestor: Walter Locke b. 1817 Kilbride, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Married Janet MacLean

Kit 508422, Most Distant Paternal Ancestor: John Morris Lock b. 1843 Middlesex, England

Kit N2389, Most Distant Paternal Ancestor: George Lock b. February 28, 1799 Cropthorne, Worcester, England, married to Maria Walters

Kit 263108, Most Distant Paternal Ancestor: Robert Locke b. 1824 Cork, Ireland, married to Anne Bateman

Kit 269724, Most Distant Paternal Ancestor: Thomas Lock b. 1820 Waltham, Leicestershire, England, married to Caroline Flower.

All Lock / Locke of the world are welcome in the Locke DNA project.

[LockeRoots]

Your Lock / Locke paternal lineage is distinct and unique compared to all other Lock / Locke paternal lineages in the world. The male Y chromosome never forgets kinship!

Here is a great example. One male Locke from Australia and one male Lock from the USA got themselves Y DNA tested a number of years ago, both men were a Y DNA match to one another.
Both men started sharing their family tree information with one another once they learned they were related thanks to the use of Y DNA testing, and eventually they were able to figure out who the common male ancestor was.

Their common male ancestor is George Lock,abt 1630, Ilminster, Somerset, England.
With out the use of Y DNA testing, they may have never figured out they were related to each other, and now that they have been able to make the paper trail connection, both their family trees have grown leaps and bounds because they were able to identify who the common male ancestor was in both their family trees. They are known as Group 12 in the Locke DNA project, the direct male descendants of George Lock,abt 1630, Ilminster, Somerset, England.

The same two Locke / Lock men took things to even a deeper level and choose to do the Big Y DNA test which is the most expensive Y DNA - SNP combination test available in the world, and they proved to be a Big Y DNA match to each other as well, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are indeed related to each other even though they live half a world apart from one another.

Far to many people have told me this kind of thing can't work, and yet Group 12 is living proof that with the use of Y DNA testing and working together on the paper trail research, proves it can be done and they were able to trace back to a Lock paternal ancestor born in the 1630's era!

Not a lot of paternal lineages can be traced that far back in time, and yet the men of Group 12 using both the paper records evidence along with Y DNA evidence, have done what many have said can't be done.

Ever wonder if that other Lock / Locke family residing in the same town are related to you?
The paper records do not always tell us what we need to know in regards to kinship, leaving you with unanswered questions. Through the use of Y DNA testing on us Lock / Locke men, we can at the very least be able to say, Yes they are related, or no they can't be related, which maybe far more information then you previously knew about.

Many a Lock / Locke lineages in the UK, Canada, Australia, USA and else where in the world, maybe stuck in the proverbial genealogical brick wall, not being able to trace their family trees any further back due to a lack of paper records making the connections. But the male Y chromosome never forgets kinship! You very well maybe carrying the genetic key to breaking down that genealogical brick wall, through your Y chromosome.

Genealogy is all about finding the clues in the evidence in hopes connections can be made, but again, the paper records do not always tell us what we need to know. the male  DNA test is just a tool that we are using in combination with the genealogical paper records research.

Many people through the decades have given up on their family tree research because they came to a dead end, and I say it may not be a dead end at all, had you included the use of Y DNA testing that could have proven to you that your Lock / Locke lineage is larger then you previously knew about. Every Y DNA match you find, maybe a clue to tell you there is far more to your family tree story then the story you know about.

Every new Y DNA match you get, has the potential to expand your family tree if the common male ancestor can be identified, so you can then link both Lock / Locke family trees together.
No Lock / Locke family tree can ever truly be complete, if there is even one branch of the tree that has gone unidentified.

Does not matter if you are father and son, or 1st cousins, or 10th cousins, the male Y chromosome never forgets kinship! Every biological male of the Lock / Locke surname, carries the same Y chromosome as all your Lock / Locke cousins, no matter where in the world they may now live.
This is how we can tell whom is related, and or not related, by comparing your Y chromosome against every other Lock / Locke male in the world whom has already been Y DNA tested.

I say don't give up hope with your family tree just because you got stuck in the paper records research! Give the Y DNA test a try and see what happens, see if you get Y DNA matches and you just never know, those Y DNA matches maybe pointing you in a whole new direction for your paternal family tree, to another branch that had not been connected to your existing family tree.

I belong to Group 2 in the Locke DNA project, which has 18 Lock / Locke men Y DNA tested from the UK and USA to date, and all 18 men are a Y DNA match to one another because they all shared the same common male ancestor, meaning they all share the same Y chromosome too.
Far to many times I have been told it can't be done, and yet there are 18 of us men of the Lock and Locke surname Y DNA tested for Group 2, proving we are all related to one another, proving it can indeed be done. 

[LockeRoots]

Group 8 in the Locke DNA project is what I call a problematic lineage because each Y DNA participant traces his family tree only so far back in time, but they do not have a paper trail proving kinship to the other Y DNA participants of Group 8.

Each Y DNA participants family tree traces back to a different paternal Lock ancestor, and the paper records have never been found to tell them how they are related to those other Lock family's and the only reason they know they are related, is thanks to the use of Y DNA testing, proving they all share the same Y chromosome.

Case in point, one of the Y DNA participants traces his paternal family tree back to
Ephraim Lock, b.about 1796, in Virginia USA, d. Giles County, Tennessee.
The other Lock participant traces his paternal family tree back to Abraham Lock b. about 1773 in Virginia, d. November 26, 1844 Chariton County, Salisbury, Missouri USA.

They have no idea how Ephraim Lock and Abraham Lock are related, in fact, prior to the use of Y DNA testing, they had no idea the 2 Lock men were even related because their paper trails did not connect. But they got a huge clue some years ago when a Lock man in the UK got himself Y DNA tested and proved to be a Y DNA match to the participants of Group 8 in the USA.

Mr. Lock in the UK traces his paternal family tree back to Abraham Lock b 1755 Wattisfield, Suffolk, England. After a little bit of genealogical research, it became clear to me the names Ephraim and Abraham Lock are known first names from the Wattisfield region, clearly suggesting there is far more to this family tree story then was previously known about prior to the use of Y DNA testing.

With out the use of Y DNA testing, all 3 Lock / Locke men in the UK and USA, likely would have never known they were related to each other because their paper trails do not connect, yet.
It is the DNA match to Mr. Lock in the UK whom is a direct descendant of Abraham Lock b. 1755 in Wattisfield, whom is a huge clue for all of them, pointing to the fact that theirs is a much larger Lock lineage then any of them knew about prior to the use of Y DNA testing.

There is a clear naming pattern when it comes to those of Group 8, Ephraim and Abraham are first names used in both Lock family trees in the Wattisfiled and Wyverstone, Suffolk, England lineage and of those of the Virginia Colony. It is only a matter of time before all the right paper records are found, before they are able to connect their family trees, greatly expanding their family trees and be able to do so with confidence because they included the use of Y DNA testing.

To take things even further, the Locke DNA project was able to obtain enough donations made directly to the project to be able to pay for 2 Lock / Locke men of Group 8 to be Big Y DNA tested.
One of the Big Y participants is a direct male descendant of Abraham Lock b. about 1773 of Colonial Virginia ( USA ), the other Big Y participant is a direct male descendant of Ephraim Lock b. about 1796 of Giles County, Tennessee USA, whom again do not have a paper trail linking the two Lock men together to the same family tree, and the Big Y test proved to the world that they are indeed directly related to one another!

Both Lock family trees were placed in Y Haplogroup R-FT212664 after being Big Y DNA tested.
As far as genetic evidence goes, there is no better genetic evidence in the world then to be able to prove they are not only a Y DNA match to one another, but they have proven to also be a Big Y DNA match and proven to be in the exact same SNP ( Y Haplogroup ).

They still do not have all the answers, but they have far superior answers then ever before thanks to the use of Y DNA and Big Y DNA testing being done on some of the direct male descendants.

Eventually I would like to see the direct male descendant of Abraham Lock b. b 1755 Wattisfield to also be Big Y DNA tested too, just so they all have even more genetic evidence proving that kinship out too, through the use of DNA testing. I am convinced that in time with enough genealogical paper trail research having been done, they all will be able to prove out their paper trails and prove their family trees back to a common male ancestor, whom was clearly born in England 1700's era.

When and where possible, when the Locke DNA project has collected enough donations, the project helps pay for free Y DNA and Big Y upgrades for existing participants, to help the participants be able to see through DNA evidence, how they are related to one another.

There is zero doubts that there is a family tree connection between the Lock's of Wattisfiled and Wyverstone, Suffolk, England to the Lock's of Colonial Virginia and Giles County, Tennessee.
The genetic evidence already known about, is living proof of their kinship to each other, and it is just a matter of time before all the genealogical records are found to be able to figure out who the common male ancestor is.

[LockeRoots]

Group 9 in the Locke DNA project also got a major clue through the use of both Y DNA and Big Y DNA testing.

The direct male descendants of John Lock, b. abt 1696 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ( USA ) have proven to be a Y DNA and Big Y DNA match to a direct male descendant of William Lock, b. 1663, South Molton, Devon, England.

This is exactly the kind of DNA match this lineage was looking for, and while they still do not have the paper records evidence to prove how John Lock is related to William Lock, they now have a starting point in the genealogical records research because they proved it to themselves that their family trees are a biological DNA match to one another.

The whole point of being Y DNA tested, is to help give those whom are involved in the paper trail research whole new clues to follow in the genealogical records, by proving they are a Y DNA match to one another to give them all the confidence that they are on the right path paper trail wise.

With more genealogical paper trail research having been done on the Lock's of South Molton and maybe having a few more male descendants from the South Molton lineage being Y DNA tested, I have high hopes that one day the common male ancestor can be identified so their family trees can be connected in to a much larger family tree some day.

[LockeRoots]

Group 4 in the Locke DNA project are the direct male descendants of Capt. John Locke, d. 1696 of Rye, New Hampshire USA whom are one of the USA's oldest Locke lineages.

Group 4 makes claim to being related to the famous John Locke the Philosopher and they have what many believe to be one of the oldest Locke family tree genealogy books ever published, which is often referred to as the book of Locke's by John Goodwin Locke.

Unfortunately this lineage does not have any Y DNA matches to Lock / Locke men in the UK yet, but this is an important lineage because of their ties to important Locke's in UK history.

[LockeRoots]

Good news to report, a Mr. Locke has just joined the Locke DNA project with a Big Y DNA test having been completed, he was placed in Y Haplogroup R-FTB19907.
He has proven to be a 25 marker match to another Locke participant whom was already in the project, and because of this latest Y DNA match, Group 22 has tentatively just been created.

The latest Lock Big Y participant stated he traces his paternal lineage back to William Locke b. 1721.

I can not be for certain, but I believe William Locke was Christened in Oddington, Gloucestershire.

William Locke
Christening: June 11, 1721
Oddington, Gloucestershire, England
Parents: George Locke & Mary

This newly identified Lock / Locke lineage through Y DNA evidence appears to also have ties to Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England if I am not mistaken. 

It appears both Lock / Locke Y DNA participants of Group 22, are both from the UK.
I do not know yet whom the common male ancestor is yet of the original participant, I am waiting to hear back from both participants.

It isn't often when a newly identified Lock / Locke lineage is discovered to be able to create a new Family Group, so this is a pretty big deal and it involves two Lock / Locke men from the UK.

[LockeRoots]

Update for Group 9

A Mr. Locke who traces his paternal tree back to Walter Lock b. 1625 Parracombe, Devon, England has just completed his 37 marker Y DNA test has just proven to be a genetic match to John Lock, b. abt 1696 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ( USA ) and a direct male descendant of William Lock, b. 1663, South Molton, Devon, England.

This is getting pretty exciting, 3 Lock / Locke branches with direct ties to Devon, England have been Y DNA tested and proven to carry the same Y chromosome.

A professional Genealogist has been hired to help try to figure out who the common male Lock ancestor is.
I was told it was the Genealogist who made this potential connection to the Lock's of Parracombe, and it turned out to be a good connection because a direct male descendant proved to be a Y DNA match to Group 9 in the Locke DNA project.

The latest Y DNA participant will likely be upgraded to the Big Y 700 test in the near future.

That is the whole point to the Locke DNA project, to use the paper records research in combination with the genetic evidence, to help find family tree connections that were previously not known about using only the paper records as our soul evidence proving kinship.

How many other Lock / Locke family trees of Devon who maybe related to Group 9, is not known yet, but if you are a male Lock / Locke with old ties to Devon, you might want to consider being Y DNA tested some day to see if you are a Y DNA match with Group 9.