PROJECT LINEAGE TEST COVERAGE
The Hadley DNA project has identified at least 6 distinct lineages, each with its own Y-DNA signature.
The most represented Hadley subgroup in the project continues to be the Simon/John/West Midlands lineage. This group has been the most active over the past few years and has nearly doubled its members from about 20 to over 40. We have so far identified six branches of this family in the Black Country region west of Birmingham, England. So far, Y-DNA testing suggests the branches of these Hadley families separated as long ago as the early 1400s. FamilyTreeDNA has built a new visualization tool showing the relationship between these branches going back to the Middle Ages here.
As we expand our testing coverage in England and around the world, we continue to verify and identify previously unknown Hadley lineages interspersed with the main group from villages around the West Midlands region. In 2022, two new testers, one from Canada and one from New Zealand, were thought likely to connect to the large West Midlands group, but instead were perfect matches with one another forming a previously unidentified Hadley lineage in the Rowley/Halesowen area going back to the early 1800s.
Slightly to the south, a recently added participant’s Y-DNA test results helped to verify the Y-DNA signature of Hadleys descending from Edward Hadley, b. 1735 in the Cradley, Herefordshire area of England. Several Hadley landmarks to the north, near Salwarpe, are suggestive that this Hadley family had a separate origin in the area going back many years.
In addition to these groupings, data from additional participants tracing their Hadleys back to other villages in Staffordshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire is beginning to suggest that a second large grouping of Hadleys sharing a common ancestry distinct from these others groups might have arisen in the West Midlands. Determining whether these disparate Hadleys do in fact share a common origin within a genealogically relevant time frame will be one of our goals in 2023.
Finally, it now appears the origins of George Hadley of Ipswich, Massachusetts are likely to have been in the north of England, near the Scottish borders. We have recently come across Y-DNA matches of men having the Hall surname that appear likely to share a close enough connection with this Hadley subgroup to suggest they share a common origin. We are currently waiting for this Hall participant’s Big Y 700 results to reveal just how close this relationship with these Hadleys might have been.
Research Questions
While we have made some progress this past year, a number of gaps remain in our knowledge of the various Hadley families and their origins. Below is a summary of key research questions we’re hoping to make progress toward answering in 2023 (organized by lineage subgroup):
George Hadley of Ipswich, Massachusetts
- Are George’s origins in the north of England? And if so, does this lineage connect to the Headleys and Halls living in the vicinity of Elsdon, Northumberland? Did the surname change from Headley to Hadley at some point?
Simon/John/West Midlands
- Do the Hadley lineages centering on Halesowen, Oldbury, and the surrounding villages of the Black Country region represent only a branch of the overall Hadleys of the region?
- Does the fact that the Simon Hadley and John Hadley of MD lineages seem to have branched off from the main group of English Hadleys around Halesowen and Oldbury as long ago as the late Middle Ages suggest they shared an origin point further afield in the West Midlands?
- Do Hadleys from villages further to the north and west (Wolverhampton, Kidderminster, Shrewsbury, Wednesbury, Uttoxeter, etc) share the same origin as the Hadleys from the Halesowen and Oldbury areas?
- Were the prominent gunmaker and clockmaker Hadleys from Birmingham connected to this group in some way? Do any male line descendants of these craftsmen still exist?
Hadleys of North Nibley, Gloucestershire
- Do the Hadleys of North Nibley, Cam, Droitwich, and Salwarpe represent a separate Hadley family taking its name from the local village of the name?
- How far back can the appearance of the Hadley surname in this area be estimated using Y-DNA?
Other Hadley groups
- As the project has expanded its coverage of Hadley participants from villages around England, the Anzac diaspora, and more recent emigrants to the United States, we have continued to come across Y-DNA signatures that have yet to be grouped into a single family tree.
- Do these Hadleys represent a yet-to-be-discovered Hadley lineage?
Looking ahead
As we move into 2023, we remain focused on increasing the reach of our project membership into Hadley families not yet represented in our project database. We are also committed to being strategic in our testing strategies so that we make the most efficient use of limited monetary resources. In practical terms, this will mean identifying willing project participants from each of our major lineages whose family trees are well documented and whose results would provide the most insight into the origins and specific Y-DNA markers representing each Hadley family group. We encourage our current membership as well as any Hadleys or Hadley descendants interested in learning more about their family history to reach out to us to see how they can contribute to or join the project. Please continue to monitor our website www.hadleysociety.com and our Facebook group page Hadley Society 3.0 for updates.
We wish you all the best for the New Year. May it be one of new connections and discoveries for our Hadley families.
Today, the Hadley Society supports all Hadleys regardless of ancestry, working to research their family trees using traditional genealogy and through the Hadley Surname DNA Project.