FOUND!! - A PHOTOGRAPH OF MY GREAT GRANDFATHER

Well, about 3 weeks ago and totally out of the blue, I had a message sent to me over Facebook Messenger, by a Leslie James Byers. It said "Hi Neil. If you come from Gretna you will be related to me. I had three uncles and half a dozen or more cousins there..." And that was it.

I replied saying that I was indeed born in Gretna and that my grandpa was George Byers. This was Leslie's uncle and it transpired that he (Leslie) was the son of my grandpa's younger brother, Marius. So Leslie was my dad's first cousin and mine, once removed. He is 81 years old and lives in Springfield, just outside Gretna.

Leslie also went on to say that he had messaged a Neil Byers in Lockerbie, who he thought was the grandson of John Thomson Byers (1903-1967), the youngest of the 12 children born to James Byers and Mary Jane Thomson. He had received no reply from this Neil Byers (who I had not heard of before).

Anyway, I thought, on the off chance, to ask Leslie if he had a photo of my great grandfather (his grandfather), James Byers, who is the only one of my eight great grandparents I don't have a photograph of. Amazingly, he replied within half an hour, through Messenger, with a photo of James and here it is.

My great grandfather, James Byers

And upon saying to Leslie that I had a dearth of photos from the Byers side of my family, he also sent me the following - 

My great grandmother, Mary Jane Thomson

Janet Glendinning Byers (1881-1962) (My grandpa's eldest sister and the oldest of the 12 children)

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Her brother and my great uncle, Robert Byers (1887-1951)

My great uncle, Thomas Joseph Byers (1893-1968)

Another photo of my great uncle, Richard Byers (1896-1917) (Killed in action in the Great War)

My great aunt, Mary Isabella Byers (1897-1962)

My grandfather, George Byers (1899-1960)

My great uncle, Marius Anderson Bell Byers, and wife Hilda Mary Davis, at the time of their Silver Wedding in 1953

As a matter of curiousity, I asked cousin Leslie, why his father had been named "Marius". He said that my great grandfather had worked at some stage for a Marius Bell, at "Broats Farm". (There are a few Broats Farms, but the most likely one, and the closest to Scotland, is near Penrith, Cumbria). Leslie added that Marius' middle name "Anderson" was after the Doctor who delivered him. His other middle name "Bell" is not from the Marius Bell mentioned above, but is the maiden name of his paternal grandmother.

My great uncle, John Thomson Byers (1903-1967) and his wife, Mary Helen McWhir, on their wedding day in 1928

And finally, this is a photograph of my first cousin, once removed, William James Johnston Byers. He fought in the Second World War, was captured by the Japanese and became a Prisoner of War. He worked and died on the building of the Burma Railway. (This was a 258 mile railway line between Thailand and Burma, built by the Empire of Japan in 1943 and more than 12,000 Allied prisoners died in the making of it).

William J.J. Byers (1912-1943)

Quite a treasure trove of family photographs and all as a result of my father's cousin randomly getting in touch.

THE MEANING OF THE BYERS SURNAME

I received an email today from Ancestry, inviting me to discover the origins of my surname. Clicking on a link in the email took me to the Ancestry website, and this informed me of the following (although please bear in mind the source of this information is from the "Dictionary Of American Family Names") - 

Byers Name Meaning:  Scottish and Northern English. Topographic name for someone who lived by a cattle-shed, Middle English byre, or a habitational name with the same meaning from any of several places named with Old English "byre"; for example, Byers Green in County Durham. Amercanised spelling of the German "Bayers".

And "Where is the Byers family from"?

The above is a map of England reflecting the preponderance of the Byers surname in the Census year of 1891. The recorded number of the Byers surname in the UK in 1891 was 1,266. The county with the largest number of Byers was Cumberland with 23% of the total; next was Lancashire with 14%; London with 10% and then Northumberland with 6%.

It's a pity there is no mention of the Scottish statistics. As far as I am aware the surname "Byers" originated from Dumfriesshire and indeed almost all my Byers ancestors came from that county. The relevant parishes within that county are - Lochmaben, Kirkmichael, Wamphray, Westerkirk, Canonbie and Gretna. All these parishes are located in either the middle or east of Dumfriesshire. A map of all the county's parishes is shown below.

AN UPDATE FROM ANCESTRY ON MY DNA TEST

A note on the Ancestry website states that "Since AncestryDNA first launched, we've continued to add new regions and improve the precision of your results. DNA research is a fast-paced, cutting-edge field, and you can expect us to make more advancements as DNA science evolves".

So today I happened to recheck my DNA results on the website and found that indeed my test results had been updated. They now look like this - 

So, to summarise, my Northern England side is still dominant, but not so much as it previously was. Down to 54% from 60%.

The Scotland side is up from 21% to 43%, although the "ethnicity estimate" previously only said "Scotland" and now says "Central Scotland & Ulster, Ireland and Northeast & Central Scotland".

Gone is mention of Scandinavia (8%) and West Europe (7%), and other regions constituting the other 4%, and there is now only mention of "Sweden" with 3%.

Quite a change in these results and in my own mind, probably more realistic with the England / Scotland split. Also quite specific, with the only other country mentioned in my DNA make-up being Sweden.

As mentioned in a previous post, the average Briton is 36% British, per the Ancestry DNA database, and it would now appear that I am 97% British. This would seem to be almost as British as you could get. But I daresay the results could change again?

ESTHER BYERS AND HER JOURNEY FROM THE WEST OF THE SCOTTISH BORDERS TO THE EAST

Quite recently, I saw one of my Ancestry "hints" directing me to an "Esther Byers", my great great aunt and my great grandfather James Byers' sister. Researching another BYERS ancestor seemed a good idea, as apart from her name (and birth of an illegitimate son) I had no more information.

I decided to check out both Ancestry and the Scotlands People website to see what was held online. The initial Ancestry "hint" was basically Esther's name appearing in 20 other online family trees. Having looked at all this information, it was obvious that some researchers had just copied details direct from one another and even erroneously included information for another Esther Byers, born in the same month and the same year (this Esther being my first cousin, three times removed). Many of these other family trees also had different dates of death for Esther, so I decided to look for Esther's marriage and death certificates on the Scotlands People website.

Firstly though, I looked at Census information and in 1861, Esther (named after her grandmother, Esther Rae) was living with her mother, Janet and her half sister Fanny, aged 8, (Esther's mother Janet Bell, having given birth to Fanny in 1853 - whether James Byers was the father is not known, although obviously Fanny did take the Byers surname) and her brother, Richard, aged 2. The 1871 Census is confusing inasmuch as the Esther Byers I have found is probably my cousin, not my great great aunt. 

So, onto 1877, when, as mentioned, Esther had given birth to a son, David Byers, with no information currently known of the father. This was on 13th May (Esther's 19th birthday). Three years later, on the 26th of November, 1880, Esther married James HUSBAND, an under gamekeeper, aged 23. They were married at Grahamshill Cottages in Kirkpatrick Fleming, which James also gave as his "usual residence" at the time of the marriage. Esther's residence at this time was Fairy Row, Kirkpatrick Fleming. The marriage was witnessed by Fanny Byers and a James Howden.

From what I can find online, Grahamshill Cottages lie about 1 mile east of the village of Kirkpatrick Fleming (near Junction 21 of the A74(M)), and Fairy Row lies about 1 mile south of Kirkpatrick Fleming. Per the Ordnance Survey Name Book at that time, it states that the name of this hamlet is HOLYLEE, not Fairy Row, as can be seen from this quote "this is a long range of one storey buildings with garden attached to back. This place is sometimes called Fairy Row, which is not proper. Colonel Graham states that there was an encampment of monks near this place - but the site cannot be pointed out - hence the name Holylee".

Per the 1881 Census, Esther and her husband, James were living with James' parents and three siblings in Old Engine (?), Lasswade, Midlothian. Between 1882 and 1888, Esther and James had three children, Archibald, Frances and Christina and by 1891, the family were living at 16 Market Place, Coldstream, Berwickshire. They certainly moved about, presumably with James' job as gamekeeper, as Archibald was born in Lasswade, Frances in Cockpen, Midlothian and Christina in Coldstream.

By 1901, James was a coal miner, and the family, now with James' mother, aged 86, lived at Waterside Cottage, Stobhill, Borthwick Parish, not far from Gorebridge. Ten years later, Esther and James were still at the same address.

Esther died on the 1st of March, 1928 (of mitral stenosis (heart disease)) at Waterside Cottage, Gorebridge, with Esther's husband present at the time of her death. So Esther and family had lived in the same cottage for the best part of 30 years. And she had outlived her brother, James, my great grandfather, by 8 years.

MY GREAT UNCLE, RICHARD BYERS, WHO FOUGHT IN WORLD WAR ONE

My grandpa's older brother, Richard BYERS was born on 14th September 1896 on Rowanburnfoot Farm, near Canonbie, Dumfriesshire. One of 12 children born to James BYERS and Mary Jane THOMSON.

I am unsure when he enlisted to fight in the First World War, but Richard was in the King's Own Scottish Borderers (6th Battalion) and latterly was Lance Corporal.

L/Cpl Richard Byers

I did however contact the KOSB Regimental Museum in Berwick-On-Tweed and was advised of the following - 

"No service or pension records for your great uncle have survived. His Medal records show that he initially served in the 1st Battalion, but as he did not qualify for the 1915 Star, he would not have served overseas before the end of 1915. His regimental number (23835) would indicate that he enlisted in early 1916 and would very likely have seen action on the Somme (the 1st Battalion was engaged on the first day, 1st July 1916 and subsequently). Possibly he was wounded there, which might explain his transfer to 6th Battalion, KOSB. It was not always possible to return a man who had been wounded and hospitalised to his original unit. He was killed in action on 6th June 1917 near Fampoux".

This latter information contradicts the detail I had previously researched. From the Imperial War Graves documentation and other documents relating to his death, Richard was killed on 8th June 1917 - and I had previously thought this happened at the Battle of Messines, in West Flanders, Belgium. However, I can find no mention of the KOSB being present at The Battle of Messines, nor any fighting near Fampoux in June 1917. So that's a bit of a mystery really. 

The only clear fact is that Richard was killed in action on 8th June 1917, aged only 20. He is buried at Brown's Copse Cemetery, Roeux.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Certificate

First World War Memorial Plaque

This Memorial Plaque was issued after the First World War to the next-of-kin of all British and Empire service personnel who were killed as a result of the war.

The plaques were made of bronze, and hence popularly known as the "Dead Man’s Penny", because of the similarity in appearance to the somewhat smaller penny coin. 1,355,000 plaques were issued, which used a total of 450 tonnes of bronze, and continued to be issued into the 1930's to commemorate people who died as a consequence of the war.

MY ANCESTOR WHO FOUGHT AT THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO

Thomas GLENDINNING is my maternal first cousin, six times removed, who was born in 1797 in either Canterbury or Portsmouth. He was one of 13 children born to Adam GLENDINNING, a Quartermaster in the 2nd Royal Dragoons before joining The Royal Waggon Train in 1805, and Elizabeth CROOK. Adam was born in Castleton Parish in Roxburghshire and was the son of my 6xgreat grandfather, also named Adam GLENDINNING, a farmer and shepherd in Castleton. (The Glendinnings back to at least the early 1700's lived in Castleton Parish). Adam and Elizabeth appear to have retired back to Scotland and both died in Newcastleton in the mid 1800's.

Thomas became a Cornet (originally the third and lowest grade of commissioned officer in a British cavalry troop, after Captain and Lieutenant) in The Royal Waggon Train on 9th December 1813, aged 16. This part of the British Army was formed in 1794 (then called the Royal Waggoners) and served the need for a dedicated and reliable military transportation organisation. It served throughout the Napoleonic Wars, notably at the Battle of Waterloo.

After this battle, for the first time, every soldier who fought was awarded a medal, regardless of their rank or role. All soldiers names were inscribed in a book called The Waterloo Roll Call and the page relevant to my cousin is undernoted.

Thomas received his Waterloo Medal and in 1816 was promoted to Lieutenant in the 60th Regiment of Foot. In 1821, he and his wife, Jane, moved to Canada, still in the Army. He died in Ontario, Canada in 1870 with the rank of Major.

MY DNA TEST WITH ANCESTRY.COM

So, what is an Ancestry DNA test?

Their website states "AncestryDNA is a new DNA testing service that utilises some of the latest autosomal testing technology to revolutionise the way you discover your family history. This service utilises advanced DNA science to predict your genetic ethnicity and help you find new family connections. It maps ethnicity going back multiple generations and provides insight into such possibilities as: what region of Europe are my ancestors from, or am I likely to have East Asian heritage? AncestryDNA can also help identify relationships with unknown relatives through a dynamic list of possible DNA member matches".

My DNA may hold information to help make new discoveries about my family's past, my cultural roots, as well as confirm information in my family tree. This should also give me hints that can connect me with new relatives and link me to others who have taken the AncestryDNA test.

So having ordered the DNA test kit on 24th March, it arrived within just a few days and I sent if off to the U.S.A. (via Dublin) on 28th March. Now all I have to do is wait 6-8 weeks for the results, which will be sent to me by email.

To be continued...

3rd April - Ancestry have received my DNA test sample and hopefully I will see the results by mid/end May.

18th April - Ancestry have emailed to advise that my DNA sample is now being put through its' laboratory testing, and I should receive the results by email in 2-4 weeks time.

26th April - and the results are in. The ethnicity estimate in bare detail is that I am: 60% from North England; 21% Scotland; 8% Scandinavia and 7% West Europe.

This seems quite surprising, but it has to be said that the counties where my grandpa Byers and his forebears came from (Dumfriesshire) and my maternal grandparents families (Anderson and Turnbull from Roxburghshire) are right on the Scotland / England border. How the DNA sample differentiates between north England and the very south of Scotland (a very small radius) I’m not sure, but it would certainly seem I have a distinct connection with my granny Byers side of the family from County Durham.

Very interesting results indeed.

30th April 2018
Reviewing the Ancestry website has brought up some interesting comments on the ethnicity ranges / estimates as mentioned above. Namely, it mentions that they "run 40 separate tests on randomly selected portions of your DNA. The bottom number in a range is the smallest amount of an ethnicity that appeared during the 40 analyses, and the top number in a range is the largest amount of an ethnicity that appeared".

Looking at the Great Britain / North England estimate, this covers a range of 31% - 90%, which has been averaged out at the aforementioned 60%. When it comes to the Scotland estimate, this covers 2% - 38%, and thus we see the average of 21%.

Earlier this year, a study of the AncestryDNA database was made with detail collected from 48,120 individuals with birth locations across the UK. This showed that the average Briton is 36% British with over 60% of their DNA coming from regions across Europe, including Ireland (23%), West Europe (19%) and Scandinavia (9%). So it would seem I am more British than most people born in the UK.

AncestryDNA Average Briton DNA Chart

A further comment on the website states that "Your ethnicity estimate is based on the data we have and the methods we use to compare your results to that data. When AncestryDNA launched in 2012, we compared your DNA against 22 possible regions. Since then, additional data and advances in science have enabled AncestryDNA to identify dozens of new regions and improved our ability to determine how likely it is a region is part of your past. DNA research is a fast paced, rapidly expanding field, and you can expect to see additional updates as DNA science evolves".