Winslow (Y-DNA)

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Status summary

As of June 20, 2020:

  • Recruiting Winslow for Y Elite test
  • One Big Y-500 test completed (descended from Gov. Edward's brother Kenelm)
  • Two Big Y-700 tests completed (descended from Gov. Edward) and one Big Y-700 pending (descended from Kenelm)

Paper trail

English Ancestry

The English Winslow ancestry is shrouded in the myst of time. The family is said to have Royal ancestry, but the connections are unclear.[1]

What is known with certainty is the fact the five Winslow brothers (and their three sisters) were children of Edward Winslow and Magdalene Oliver. Edward & Magdalene were married at St. Bride Fleet Street Church in London on 4 Nov 1594. The children's baptisms were all recorded in St. Peter's parish church register, Droitwich, Worcestershire. Droitwich was famous for its salt and Edward had apparently moved there to work in the production of this important substance. The 1877 Winslow Memorial gave a birth date for Edward as 17 Oct 1560, but where this date came from is unknown. In addition, it is stated he was born at St. Andrew's Parish, Worcester, Worcestershire, but, there is no evidence to support this statement. If the 1560 birth date is accurate, then Edward was aged 34 when he married Magdalene.[2] Some believe he was previously married, but this is not universally accepted. It is believed the elder Edward Winslow was son of Kenelm Winslow, but even with this, experts disagree whether there was one Kenelm Winslow or two (father/son).[3]

The five brothers

Edward Winslow was the first child of his parents. According to his baptismal record, he was born 18 Oct 1595 and baptized 20 Oct. Edward was apprenticed in the printing business and eventually made his way to Leiden. He was married twice. His first marriage was at Leiden (bans 28 Apr, 5 May & 12 May 1618) to Elizabeth Barker. She apparently never had any children and died at New Plimouth on 24 Mar 1620/1. Edward married second at New Plimouth (the first marriage in the colony) 12 May 1621 to Susanna Jackson, widow of fellow Mayflower passenger William White. Edward was the founder of the town of Marshfield, and settled his family there before 1643. He served in many capacities for the new Colony including three terms as Governor and eleven terms as Assistant. He had written a number of publications related to the settlement which was distributed in England to increase support (both more settlers as well as financial). He made multiple trips to England and served in the Court of Oliver Cromwell. Edward died at sea in the West Indies while in service of Cromwell. Edward and his second wife had a total of five children (one infant, one daughter and three sons). It is believed two of Edward's sons (Edward and John) died young[4] so the Y-DNA line comes down from the third son, Gov. Josiah. Gov. Josiah had two sons, one (Edward) died in infancy, so the Y-DNA line comes down from the younger son (Hon.) Isaac. Isaac had three sons, but it is currently believed living Y-DNA descendants only come down from his youngest son Edward. Edward built (or had built) the home which is now the headquarters of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, but he was a Loyalist and fled to Nova Scotia.

John Winslow was the second child. His baptismal record states he was baptized on 18 Apr 1597 and he was born the Saturday before being baptized (16 Apr). While John himself was not a Mayflower Passenger (he came on the Fortune in 1621) he married at New Plimouth (before the 1627 Cattle Division) Mary Chilton, who did come over on the Mayflower. Thus all descendants of John Winslow are eligible to join the General Society of Mayflower Descendants through Mary. John moved his family to Boston by 1655 and he died there sometime between the writing of his will (12 Mar 1673/4) and its probate (21 May 1674). John & Mary had a total of ten children (three girls, one infant and six sons). According to an old website (no longer active), winslowgenealogy the living Y-DNA line is limited to his grandson, Edward Winslow (II), son of Edward. However, the evidence (DNA testing) cannot rule out the possibility of living Y-DNA lines from other sons (and grandsons) of John & Mary. The Mayflower Families through Five Generations "Silver Book" vol. 15 (which includes the Chilton Family) does name a limited number of Y-DNA (male Winslow) descendants of the Fifth and Sixth generation.

Kenelm Winslow was the fourth child (and third son). His baptismal record states he was baptized 3 May 1599 and he was born the Sunday before (29 Apr). Kenelm is believed to have emigrated to Plymouth Colony in 1631 along with his younger brother, Josiah. Kenelm married at Plymouth in Jun 1634 to Ellen Newton, widow of John Adams. Kenelm & Ellen had four children (one daughter and three sons). While his brothers (with the exception of Gilbert) had more children than Kenelm, the vast majority of living Winslow Y-DNA descendants descend from Kenelm. In fact, there are many more living Winslow Y-DNA descendants of Kenelm than Y-DNA descendants of all of his brothers combined.

Gilbert Winslow was the fifth child (and fourth son). His baptismal record states he was baptized 29 Oct 1600 and he was born the Sunday before (26 Oct). Gilbert emigrated aboard the Mayflower in 1620 with his eldest brother, Edward, but returned to England sometime between the 1623 land division and the 1627 cattle division. In 1651 William Bradford reported Gilbert had died in England, but it is unknown if Gilbert's death had been reported back to Plymouth, or whether Bradford was simply stating where Gilbert's family record in Plymouth is over. It is currently unknown whether Gilbert ever married so no descendants are known.

Josiah Winslow was the youngest child. His baptismal record states he was born on 11 Feb 1605/6 and baptized 16 Feb. He emigrated to Plymouth in 1631 and moved to Marshfield in 1643 along with his eldest brother, Edward. He had married at Plymouth (prior to removal) before Sep 1637 (child born) to Margaret Bourne. They had five daughters and one son (Jonathan, born 8 Aug 1639). It is likely the Y-DNA of Josiah died with his paternal grandsons.[5]


  1. It is beyond the scope of this wiki to conduct original research on the English ancestry. Individuals interested in further exploration are encouraged to explore the publications noted at the bottom of the Edward Winslow biography at: American Ancestors 2020 biography of Edward Winslow
  2. Magdalene is believed to have been baptized at St. Clements Dane, Middlesex (near Fleet Street, London) on 4 Aug 1566. If accurate, it would support her husband's reported 1560 birth.
  3. The ancestry of Kenelm has been debated among experts. For more information see the sources found in the first reference.
  4. both named in the 1627 cattle division
  5. The Will of Ruth Chipman (widow of only son Jonathan) dated Sandwich 7 Dec 1710 fails to list any children or grandchildren. It appears the children of Jonathan & Ruth all died before their mother and any issue also died young. Thus it is highly likely there are no living Y-DNA descendants of Josiah Winslow.

Previous Y-DNA testing

Previous Y-STR testing through the Winslow surname DNA project[1] has indicated that the Winslow lineage belongs to the I-M253 Y-DNA haplogroup, which is quite common in Northern and Northwestern Europe. Furthermore, the Winslow project has a member who has taken the older FTDNA Big Y-500 test and his haplogroup is: I-M253>DF29>Z58>Z59>CTS8647>Z62>Z61>S9939>S20652>S11023>BY34545>BY34542 (which is shared with other surnames). Pending Big Y-700 tests will further refine this haplogroup and assign a unique clade to this Winslow family.

  1. https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Winslow?iframe=ycolorized

Results

In April, 2020 two male Winslows have ordered the Big Y-700 test. One of these individuals descends from Gov. Edward Winslow, while the other individual descends from his brother, Kenelm. Their results will document a series of mutations unique to this Winslow family as well as identify mutations unique to their lines of descent from Gov. Edward and Kenelm.

Usefulness of Big Y and Y-Elite testing

DNA mutations are random events. As they are random, we cannot say with exact precision how often a mutation would occur. However, looking at the Big Y tests of known relatives, rough estimates can be made. There have been a number of cases where both father and son have taken a Big Y test. In the majority of cases, neither test documented a mutation not found in the other test,[1] but occasionally, one (or more) mutations have been discovered in the son, not found in the father. On the other end of the scale, there have been times when second and third (and rarely) fourth cousins have both tested and shown no mutation in one line not found in the other.

On average, the Big Y-700 test discovers a mutation between distant cousins roughly every 80 years or so, but (as documented above) it could be a son has a mutation a father does not have, or a line can go several generations without a mutation. This is similar to rolling a pair of dice and taking the sum. The sum can be as small as two or as large as twelve, but the average value is seven. If we roll the pair one hundred times the total would likely be between 600-800 with a small chance between 500-900 (but possibly even falling outside this range).

Given the fact the five Winslow brothers were born roughly around 1600 (which is 420 years from 2020) it is virtually certain some mutations have cropped up in every Y-DNA descendant of these brothers, and we can use these mutations like a bread crumb trail to trace the person's Y-DNA line back.

  1. Each individual Big Y actually randomly tests slightly different sections of the Y-Chromosome so in theory two Big Y tests of the same person may document a mutation found in one result not found in the other. However, these differences are usually mutations which occurred long ago, and are screened out when we compare known cousins.

Findings from Big Y testing

Two male Winslows have had their Big Y results published. They both fall under Haplogroup I=BY34542 along with an individual with the surname of Wright. The two Winslows descend from two different Winslow immigrants (brothers Edward and Kenelm). These two individuals also have three additional SNPs NOT found in the Wright Big Y result (Build 38 positions 8426286, 11529879, 20132357). FTDNA manually examines the Big Y results and will likely identify these SNPs and assign a new Haplogroup for the Winslow family.

Summary of findings

(to be added)

References & External links