A scientifc approach to our origin using Y-DNA

Recently, I enlisted the services of Dr. Tyrone Bowes in Dublin where he has adopted a scientific method of evaluating Y-DNA surname matches at the 37-marker mark to isolate the origin of one’s ancestor at the time surnames were required (about 1100 years ago). We corresponded many times while he was compiling his analysis and I waited for the results.

In the study I received recently, Dr. Bowes writes how his analysis enables him to pinpoint the origin. “A commercial 37 marker Y chromosome DNA test will potentially provide one with the names of many hundreds of individuals with whom one shares a common male ancestor, but what often perplexes people is how one can match many individuals with different surnames? The answer is quite simple. Roughly 1,000 years ago one’s direct medieval male ancestor, the first for example to call himself ‘Gowan’ was living in close proximity to others with whom he was related but who assumed other surnames like McWhirter, McCulloch, Hannah, Ferguson, and Wilson. Given that 1,000 years have passed since surnames were adopted there will be many descendants of these individuals some of whom will today undergo commercial ancestral DNA testing. Hence the surnames of one’s medieval ancestor’s neighbours will be reflected in today’s DNA test results.”

Ballantrae, Ayr, Scotland

According to Dr. Bowes, our GOWAN ancestor was near the township of Ballantrae, Ayr, Scotland. He stated that the name was likely “Gowan” with an “a” at the time. The surnames that live within Ayrshire and Wigtownshire near Ballantrae not only match with us on Y-DNA, they match many that lived near our last known ancestor, William Gowin, who lived in Bedford County, Virginia.  They also matched surnames of those whom William had close associations. Names for both association with our last known ancestor and on Y-DNA matches include: Irvine’s, Mitchell’s, Wilson’s, Hannah, Sharps, Burns, Gillespie, McCullough, Parker, Ferguson, Carson, Carswell, MacDonald, McWhirter, Brown, McTaggart, McNeil, Mills, etc.

Dr. Bowes writes “The method of using reoccurring surname matches as revealed by commercial ancestral Y-DNA testing to pinpoint a Genetic Homeland works by exploiting the link between the Y chromosome, surname, and land which are typically passed from father to son. In the absence of a link to the land the process of pinpointing an origin becomes much more challenging. Hence one must determine whether the Scottish Gowan’s had a link to the land, this can be done by examining where farmers with this surname were found...Near Ballantrae are place names of Gowan’s burn (small river) and Knockgowan (Gowan’s hill). One also finds Wilson’s Glen, Wilson burn, and Tormitchell (Mitchell’s cattle field)."

Dr. Bowes continues, "Almost everyone with Scottish ancestry will be genetically related to at least one of the prominent Clans and families. Although there is no mention of Clan Gowan in this area, there are reference’s to our close genetic relatives including the McDonnell’s (McDonald’s) and McNeill’s found to the northeast of Ballantrae across the Firth of Clyde on the Mull of Kintyre. While to the South one finds Clan McCulloch."

Ballantrae is south of Glasgow by 65 miles. Interestingly, nearby is Maybole (about 24 miles) where William Burness was living when he met and married Agnes Broun (Brown?) before he moved to Alloway where their son, Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, was born. This is interesting because our William Gowin's sons married “Burns” women who were believed to be related to Robert Burns. The matching of the Burns family location and our GOWAN origin seems to point to some credence.

The parish name of Ballantrae is said to be Gaelic and means the town upon or above the shore. Ballantrae Is the nearest town. There are three lighthouses visible from the village, Corsewall Point, Wigtonshire, and Pladda. The land was primarily used for oats, wheat, bear potatoes, turnips, beans, sheep, goats, cattle, and fish. The population in 1777 was 770. The population in 1831 was 1506. The registers do not go back further than 1744, and are not in a good state of preservation.1 

Although the origin of our GOWAN family may be near Ballantrae, that period of time was 1100 years ago and it is more likely that our family moved closer to Glasgow or even south to Wigtownshire, due to the clearances of farmers which forced many to migrate quickly and all but disappear from this area by the mid-1800s. The towns of Irvine, Ayr, Cummock, Kilmarnock, Maybole, Prestwick, and many others have not only our own surname, but also those we share through DNA and written genealogy. We can’t rule out Wigtownshire because not only is our name found there with all of the others mentioned in this posting, it is also a location of one William Douglass who was a teacher to James Madison and Thomas Jefferson before becoming a Reverend and settling at St. James Northam Parish in Goochland County.  We've already proven that our William Gowin and Annester (Unknown) are not the same couple as the Goochland County William Gowan and Anna Stacia Sullivan couple, but there were other William Going’s recorded in Goochland at the same time and in other districts that may lead us somewhere. If nothing else, there was a migration from this same area of Scotland to Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia in the late 1600s and early 1700s.

There has always been family lore of our GOWAN family coming to the colonies from Glasgow, the results by Dr. Bowes seems to point to a high degree of confidence that this story is plausible. Remember, Glasgow was and is still today a shipping port. The Tidewater Region of Virginia was trading tobacco with Glasgow in the period.  Industrialism and the eviction by those with money buying local land was forcing people to move from their rural farms to the larger cities.  Glasgow may have also only been the port of exit and a way of describing the larger vicinity.

We have already started looking for possible clues within this region of Scotland. We are hopeful that clues will begin to emerge.  During this period of time, people didn't travel large distances and land was only passed on to family.  This meant that farmers usually remained within close proximity (100 miles) of where their ancestors lived.  Sometimes for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.  Some remain in the area today.