How DNA finally proved my long-suspected connection to Cumbria

The following article was first published in the August 2014 edition of the Newsletter of the Cumbria Family History Society, and is re-printed below with the permission of the editor   

How DNA has finally proved my long-suspected connection to Cumbria

Home of John Lockhart - Kirkandrews-Upon-Esk

As a long time researcher and professional genealogist, the origins of my great, great grandfather, Alexander Lockhart presented me with a challenge I could not seem to overcome. Ironically, it had been easier for me to research his wife’s story. Women’s lives are traditionally more difficult to trace due to name changes, lack of visibility in various records, and in this case a move from one country to another.  I published her story in Marie Richenet—From Switzerland to Ireland—her Amazing Life Story. I was able to trace her family to the 1600’s in Switzerland and then follow her to Ireland where she came as a governess to the three daughters of Lord John George Beresford, brother of the Archbishop. She and the girls lived primarily at the Archbishop’s palace in Armagh.

It was here that she would have met Alexander Lockhart, who first appears at their 1826 marriage record in St. Patrick’s Cathedral (COI) in Armagh. Alexander’s occupation was Gardener to His Grace the Archbishop. Sadly, no reference was given to his father’s name or his place of origin. However, his status as gardener to the Archbishop indicated a significant degree of training and experience as well as the connections and references required to obtain such an elevated position. This marriage was also written up in the Belfast Newsletter at a time when most marriages did not appear in newspapers. Subsequent references to Alexander in Irish records are scant although he was identified as a gentleman on the affidavits when his son Alexander entered the practice of law. The most significant reference to him was the inscription on his tombstone in Belfast, indicating that he was 60 at the time of his death on 6 January, 1848. This would have given him a birth year of about 1788. But the question was—where?

Thanks to present-day access to a wide range of data the records many Lockhart families in England and Ireland were searched for clues. A most intriguing family was found in Kirkandrews-Upon-Esk. On 1 April 1787 an Alexander Lockhart was born to John Lockhart (1759—1841) and Margaret Story (1757—11 April, 1787). Margaret clearly died as a result of his birth and then subsequently this Alexander disappears from all local records. There is no evidence of a marriage, a death, an emigration or an entry in any census. His father John went on to marry again and have more children, including a son Robert. John had also had previous relationships with a Mary Carruthers and a Janet Peal. 

Of great interest to me was the family occupation as gardeners. The father, John, was a cottage gardener on the grounds of Netherby, the estate of Sir James Graham. The Carlisle Patriot of September 23, 1839 and again of September 5, 1840 quotes from speeches given by Sir James Graham at the annual meetings of the Netherby Agricultural Society. Both refer to prizes he won for best-kept cottages and gardens. In addition, it is noted that he is the father of the famous David Lockhart who had gone on to become “the botanical gardener to the government garden of Trinidad – a large and important public establishment connected with the cultivation of the finest plants of tropical climates.”

Now thoroughly intrigued by this family, I researched it extensively online and then onsite in Kirkandrews-Upon-Esk and Longtown with the assistance of Bridget Casson and William Bundred. Together we searched for any documentation which might prove a link between the Alexander, born 1787 and the Alexander, born about 1788 and buried in Belfast. None was located, but the research did illustrate that gardening was the profession of a large part of this family. From his first relationship with Mary Carruthers, a grandson, Robert (1804—1881) was a master gardener. From his marriage to Janet Paisley, a son Robert (1803—1875) was a master gardener, living near Netherby in the 1841 and 1851 census. Robert’s son John (1827—1844) was a flower gardener at Netherby Hall in 1841, and a son Robert was assistant under gardener at Netherby in 1851.

The most prominent of John’s sons was David Lockhart, whose life has been written up in the Oxford Dictionary of National of Biography. He had evidently been trained at Kew Gardens in London as he was sent out by them to the Congo on an expedition in 1816. He survived and was sent to Trinidad where he became the Superintendant of the Royal Botanic Gardens. He remained at this position until 1845 and is buried in a cemetery on the site of these gardens. Had his brother Alexander also gone with him to Kew?

There seemed to be strong circumstantial evidence that the Alexander, born in Kirkandrews and my Alexander, are one and the same, but could this be proven? The latest tool in the arsenal of genealogists and family historians is DNA. Of course the results depend upon who has chosen to be tested and how broad the database is. I chose to be tested with www.familytreeDna.com as well as www.23andme.com. The cost was reasonable and provided solid confirmation of relationships to several others on various of my family lines whom I had known or suspected might be related. But could any DNA results link me to the Lockharts of Kirkandrews?

First I had to try to find living descendants of others in those family lines who would agree to be tested. I developed a complete family tree and posted it online on Ancestry, keeping it separate from my own tree. To increase my expertise and understanding I also attended a DNA course. I was fortunate to locate some descendants of Robert Lockhart (1803—1875) in Manitoba, Canada. One member agreed to be tested (I paid) and we eagerly awaited the results. They were inconclusive, which we knew might be possible, since we were searching for matching results from half  brothers four generations later. Then a few months ago I located a descendant of David Lockhart, the botanist. Bart had not known about his illustrious ancestor and was most anxious to help me with the search. Again I paid for the test which had to be shipped to England. 

This time we were successful! I can say this as I have had the results evaluated by my DNA class instructor. Bart had a very strong match to my cousin Diane (3^rd cousin once removed) in Australia. She is descended from Alexander and Marie’s eldest son John, whereas I am descended from their second son (another Alexander). Because of the manner in which DNA is distributed, this man, Bart, did not match me directly, nor several other of my cousins, but the match to Diane is considered statistically significant. This is not the place to get technical, but for those who might be interested the match was 11.9 cM (centimorgans) on chromosome #13. At the same time, Bart matched other matches of mine (relationships not yet proven) who also matched Diane, all on exactly the same place and for the same strong amount on chromosome #13. Eventually this triangulation of matches confirmed that there is a relationship, as the matches are all consistent, all in the same range and the right size for going back the number of generations we would be looking at for descendants of half siblings. 

To add to our discovery we re-examined the earlier results from the Canadian testee, Gwen, and she matches four of my other Lockhart cousins, all on chromosome #4. The matches are not strong, and by themselves would not be conclusive enough evidence, but with the other data they support our finding because again the chromosomes and segments are consistent in the same manner.  

I am now in the happy situation of being able to say that Diane and Bart and I all share a common Cumbrian ancestor, John Lockhart. I am even happier that I can show that my great, great grandfather, Alexander, was the half-brother of David Lockhart, the famous botanist. John’s father was Alexander Lockhart (DOB between 1709 to 1729 to 2 June 1782) in Moat, so this discovery has taken me even further back in my ancestral research. Now my goal is to get this family back across the border to its Scottish origins.