Hi All - great thread. I too have DNA matches that seem to go through Oliver Smith (1808) who I believe came down to South Shields and created the Smith branch down here. The links to (like MinnieNZ's) back to Oliver Smith (1770) born in Gaila, which is now no longer there (although the foundations of the settmlement are visible by the Old Haa guesthouse on Fairisle) This is by no means certain yet as there are other possibilities for Minnie and I to be connected to Oliver (1770), but this is the most likely explanation. I have found no record of Oliver (1770) having a son called Oliver, and he would have been born only 2 years before Oliver(1770) died at 38 years old. I've been told that Gaila was abandoned because of Smallpox, which could explain a move from Shetland to the Fair Isle. I've got another Y-Chromasone Paternal test in process which may help find more links. There are a few tree's that show Oliver (1770) being married to Helen Irvine, again this is currently unconfirmed, but no evidence of his parentage. My DNA is only (maybe) 2% Sweden and Ireland, with the remainder being Irish and Scottish to there's no strong link to Scandanavia yet. The interesting thing at the moment is that Oliver (1808)'s line which I come from always has to have an Oliver and a Stewart in it, I'm the 9th Stewart I've found so far. The lines that come from Oliver (1770) are also full of Stewart and Olivers, which provides more weight to the as yet unproven hypothesis that we've found a link to Fair Isle. I've also been told that there were Smiths on Fair Isle. Join the Friends of the Fair Isle Facebook Group, you'll see a short discussion there.
