October 2019

There is now a Dorling Surname Ancestor Project on Gedmatch for Dorling descendants who have uploaded their autosomal DNA results to Gedmatch.  Gedmatch take uploads from most DNA testing companies.  If you have tested, you just need to register with Gedmatch at https://www.gedmatch.com/register.php and follow their very clear instructions about how to upload results to them.  

July 2019

I have started a "Dorling DNA Group" on facebook open to anyone with a direct ancestor who is a Dorling and who has taken a DNA test.  There are not many Dorlings so this group will grow slowly.  

March 2019 Bacton branch YDNA

We now have more advanced results for the YDNA of the Bacton branch of the Dorlings. I am told that: "the likely distant origin of these J2b-L283 branches is around the Adriatic (Balkans/Italy).....you should form a rare J-Z1296* line split as it appears PH2967 and Z1297 are negative". We will probably never know how and when the YDNA of our line of male ancestors got from the Adriatic to Suffolk in England.

GDPR 2018:  

The personal data the project holds enables the project to be administered to achieve the goals of the project.  The personal data the project holds is that which members have provided, either personally to the administrator, by testing via the project, or by joining the project and allowing the administrator access to your personal pages on FTDNA.  

YDNA results are viewable to the Dorling DNA Project members but will not include the names of the individuals who provided the DNA samples. 

Your personal data i.e. your name, your kit number and contact details (email and/or address) will not be shared with other project members, published or made public.  For the purposes of analysing and discussing the Dorling DNA Project and it's results publically, members names will be pseudomised unless the member has given permission for their name to be used.  

However, your DNA "Matches" on FTDNA will have access to the name associated with your kit if matching is enabled, and an email address so they can make contact to explore the match.  

NB: you will be choosing to share your FTDNA name with the project members if you use the activity feed.  

2018

We have a Framsden descendant volunteer to help the YDNA Dorling Project.  This branch could be related to the bacton Dorlings or to another branch.  Hopefully we will get his results later this year.  

2018 April YDNA Upgrades 

 We ordered upgrades for the YDNA tests of the Bury St Edmunds (BSE) and West Stow (WS) branches towards the end of 2017.  The results are finalised and we now know there is a 90% chance that their common ancestor was born around 1450, and a 62% possibility they were born around 1570.  These figures use a generation as 30 years.  We do have Dorling information from the 1500s but connecting it to the BSE and WS branches has yet to be achieved.

2018 Jan - % by branch of  UK Dorling male births 1837-1912 & male dorlings born 1800-1837 who survived childhood.  Total 737 Dorlings

• BSE 21%

• Herringswell 18%

• West Stow 17%

• Bacton 15%

• Nacton 5%

• Bedfield F 5% (descended from Ann)

• Framsden 3%

• Dennington 3%

• Unknown Parents 3% (1/3 die in infancy)

• BSE F (of female Dorling descent) 2%

• Hadleigh 1%

• Washbrook 1%

• Wortwell 1%

• Herringswell F (descended from female Dorlings) 1%

• Waldingfield 1%

• Bedfield 1%

• Bacton F (descended from female Dorlings) 1%

• Moulton 1%

• Washbrook / Holbrook 0.5%

• Unknown origin of parents 0.5%

• Non-genetic/adopted Dorling 0.13%

Autosomal DNA Members

We now have members from the following branches: Bacton, Bury St Edmunds, Bedfield and Moulton.   Members from other branches would be very welcome.

However, we do have gedmatch kit numbers for Dorlings from several branches, which enables us to identify possible Dorling DNA.  Gedmatch is a website with DNA analysis tools enabling various comparisons to be made between people.   Anyone with autosomal results from FTDNA, ANcstry, 23andMe and other DNA testing companies can upload their results to Gedmatch. 

2017 Feb - Main Branches & % out of 1,482 Dorling births 1837-1912 (as at Feb 2017)

• Bury St Edmunds 24%
• West Stow 16%
• Bacton 17%
• Herringswell / Barton Mills 11%
• Bedfield 5%
• Nacton 4%
• Framsden 3%
• Dennington/Epson 2%
• Hadleigh 2%
• Moulton 1%
• Washbrook 1% (includes Dorlend, Doyland & variants originating in South Suffolk)
• Waldingfield 1%
• Doily & variants of Alderton area, South Suffolk
• Branch unidentified 9%
• 
  

January 2016 the Dorling DNA Project was added to the Guild of One-Name Studies DNA Projects.  Thanks to Susan Meates of The Guild of One-Name Studies who gave very helpful advice. 

YDNA PARTICIPANTS NEEDED (March 2017)

The Project needs a Dennington descendant to be tested so we can confirm that the previous results truly represent that branch and to provide a 37 marker test for the Dorling DNA Project at Family Tree DNA.

A male Framsden descendant is needed to see if they are related to any other Dorling branch.  It seems to me highly likely that the small Framsden branch will be related to one of the other branches.

I would also love to find a volunteer from the Doily / Doiley family descended from William Dawling who married Elizabeth Thurston in Sudbourne, Suffolk, UK, 1779 and had family in Blaxhall and then in Alderton, Suffolk from 1788.

Autosomal DNA Testing e.g. Family Finder test, Ancestry DNA test, 23andMe DNA test

Testing to find matches with others within the last 5+ generations is now available from various companies, including FTDNA, 23andMe and Ancestry, and enables Dorling descendants who are not from a direct line of male Dorlings to contribute their (non Y) DNA to the project.  There is a chance that autosomal testing may help to take the ancestry of some branches further back.   It may help to identify, and / or confirm, which branch of the Dorlings your ancestor came from.   However, please note that the family Finder test is best for finding matches to people who have a common ancestor no more than about 5-7 generations back.

The Dorling DNA Project is now open to anyone with Dorling ancestors and at March 2017 we have about 20 members descended from the Dorling branches of Bacton, Bury St Edmunds, West Stow and Bedfield.  

As part of a planned investigation in 2016, some distant cousins from the Bacton Branch were tested - this provided us with specific segments on Chromosomes which are likely to have come from the founding couple married in 1787.   Finding other matches to these segments may help us to learn more about the ancestry of this branch.  

Anyone who has tested with 23andMe or Ancestry can transfer their results to FTDNA and join the Dorling DNA Project.   

Gedmatch

Most of the Dorling descendants who have taken autosomal tests have had their data uploaded to Gedmatch, a free website with a variety of very helpful tools to find and analyse matches.  Results from several companies including FTDNA, 23andMe, and Ancestry can be uploaded to Gedmatch in order to reach a wider number of people for matches, as well as making use of the tools on the site. 

Dorling Descendants

If anyone reading this is a Dorling descendant and is interested in joining the Dorling DNA Project please contact me at dorling@one-name.org

Additional information about the main Dorling branches

• Bury St Edmunds branch, descended from James of Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds d.1722 = 1. Anne, then 2. Margaret Holmes 1681.  (the common ancestor of DNA tested participants is Henry Dorling born 1795)
• West Stow branch, descended from Samuel = Mary Scarrow m. 1745.  (Common ancestor of participants is Samuel Dorling born 1746)
• BSE and WS are 2 of the largest branches and they share a common ancestor, but this common ancestor is still unknown.
• Bacton branch, descended from John = Elizabeth Sargeant married 1787 Bacton. DNA results rare in UK (1% f UK population). (Common ancestor of participants is John Dorling born approx 1762)
• Nacton / Easton branch descended from John = Ann Capon mar. 1785 Nacton.  Common European DNA group.
• Barton Mills & Herringswell branch.  Descendants of Samuel = Abigail Rumbelow m. 1729 with Dorling ancestry now going back to the early 1600s in Moulton, Suffolk.   DNA results from haplogroup I1bI - rare in UK.  
• Dennington/Epsom branch descended from John (baptised 1670 Laxfield son of John & Mary,) married Margaret with children bp 1694-1716 Dennington Sfk, with speculative tree going back to the late 1400s.  Another male descendant is needed for a YDNA test.
• Framsden branch descended from Robert born abt 1770, of Helmingham when he married 1809 Gt Blakenham = Lydia Rout.   Volunteers needed for DNA testing, especially YDNA
• Bedfield branch have had no YDNA participants to test yet - this branch is split into those descending from George b. 1763, son of Anne Dorling, and those descending from the William Dorling & Sarah Bolton, married 1742 Bedfield, Suffolk, UK.
• Washbrook branch - descendants of Robert Doyling born abt 1747 and Sarah Nevitt / Neavewood, and surname variants Dorland, Doilend etc in Ipswich area.
• Hadleigh branch - probably descended from Robert Dawling & Anne nee Borham married 1718 Monks Eleigh.
• Moulton branch, descended from Oliver Dorling m. 1716 & 1735 both in Bury St Edmunds, no known male descendants
• Waldingfield branch - no currently known descendants.
• Alderton  "Doily variant surname" branch, descended from William Dawling married Elizabeth Thurston  in 1779 Sudbourne, Suffolk.
• Dalling of Bungay, South Elmham & Earsham branch - descended from James died 1663 and Grace died 1681.  This is the only family from Suffolk known to have kept the original spelling of Dalling - almost certainly due to them being literate.  Unfortunately there are no known male descendants.
• And various smaller, including older, families, often with no known descendants living today.