Hadley Surname Project
This DNA project is open to members of any family with Hadley, Headley, Hadleigh, Headlee, Hedley, Hatley, or similar surnames. The goal of the project is to use the DNA test results to confirm the conventional research done by participants (and others) and to find new information about these families.
Who Can Join: You are a male Hadley. The y-chromosome is passed from father to son, largely unchanged from generation to generation. While there are other DNA tests that work with females, the Hadley DNA Project is based on the y-chromosome test. We actively encourage any female Hadleys with known male Hadley relatives interested in this project to make their ancestry available to us as we are actively searching for any Hadley male relatives that descend from lines for which we do not yet have DNA results.
What might the results tell us?
Sorting out the many branches of the Hadley family using DNA information is a real possibility.
What is the project helping us determine:
- The results tell us whether two participants share a common ancestor. So finding a match means you have a “cousin” with whom you can coordinate your research.
- How many distinct Hadley lines are there?
- Is there a connection between the Simon, George, Dennis, Joseph and other Hadley lines?
- Are there linkages between the current UK Hadley lines and the US and Canadian lines?
- How about with the Australian Hadley lines?
- How are Hadleys in other countries related?
What have the results told us so far?
- Simon Hadley, from Ireland, and George Hadley of Ipswich, Massachusettes are not related, at least not within the past 600 years.
- Joseph Hadley of Yonkers, NY and George Hadley of Ipswich, MA share a common ancestor. This seems to confirm the belief that Joseph was George’s son.
- There are many distinct Hadley lines.