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Introduction
Greetings to all readers of “Daltons in History”
!
The month has been a busy one for the Dalton International
DNA Project. New results have been posted by Family Tree DNA for four
new participants in the project and all have been confirmed as members
of existing genetic families, one in Group A, one in B, one in D and one
in Z. This is very heartening and supports the view that our database
has reached a size where we can expect new participants to find a match.
This in its turn should encourage more of you to join the project. If
you are new to DNA as a family history tool and want to find out more,
do read further below and in the “Dalton DNA Project”
section of this website.
As usual, you will find below my updates to keep you
fully informed about all our various DGS events, projects and activities.
Future DGS events
As everyone knows, 2010 marks the 40th Anniversary
of the founding of the Dalton Genealogical Society and we are holding
a special Gathering and Annual General Meeting in Surrey, England over
the weekend of Fri/Sat/Sun 30th/31st July/1st August 2010. Arrangements
have been made for the main events on the Saturday to take place at the
Surrey National Golf Club, Chaldon, Surrey. These include our conference
during the day and a splendid celebratory dinner in the evening. The conference
programme will include guest speakers and our AGM, and there will also
be entertainment in the evening. The theme of the weekend will be the
origins and the history of English Dalton families and particularly those
originating from Surrey. Coupled with this we will also review the work
of the Society over the past forty years and look ahead to the future.
There will be a programme of activities and visits for the Friday and
the Sunday. Accommodation has been arranged locally at the Reigate Manor
Hotel (www.reigatemanor.co.uk).
The Surrey National Golf Club is beautifully situated and has a modern
clubhouse with excellent conference and dining facilities. Further information
may be found at www.surreynational.co.uk.
More details and booking information for this
40th Anniversary celebration can be found in the “Forthcoming
Gatherings” section of this website. They were also
included as a separate flyer with Volume 51 of the DGS Journal for December
2009 which was mailed to all DGS members in early January. As I write
the Gathering is in just four months time and if you have not already
done so, please make sure that you reserve the dates in your diary now.
We have had a slow but steady stream of bookings but
there is still plenty of space to accommodate more. I am therefore
again extending the deadline for registration, this time to the end of
April, but do please register by then at the latest.
Notwithstanding that and as has been said before, it
would be very helpful to have the earliest possible indication of numbers
attending and, if you have not already sent one, I would appreciate a
short email (to michaelndalton@aol.com)
as soon as possible, and ahead of your registration form and deposit,
if you are planning to come. Thank you to those who have already
been in touch. This information is enabling us to ensure that we reserve
enough accommodation and it will help with the planning and organisation
of the various events and activities over the weekend. We look forward
to many members and their families joining us for this very special gathering,
and we anticipate that overseas members will use it as an opportunity
to visit other parts of the UK as well.
For 2011 we have arranged for the DGS Annual
Gathering to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA over the weekend of
Fri/Sat/Sun 23rd/24th/25th September 2011.
This will be another very special event and the gathering
organiser is our North American Secretary, Karen Dalton Preston. Karen
and her team are busy putting the more detailed plans in place. Initial
details are on the “Forthcoming Gatherings” section of this
website and please keep a watch for further announcements during the coming
year.
The DGS Annual General Meeting for 2011 will be held
in the UK earlier in the year and an announcement about that will be made
later.
For 2012 and beyond we have a number of suggestions already.
If you have any particular thoughts about where you might like to meet,
or a particular Dalton theme you think we should incorporate, we would
really like to hear from you with your ideas.
The Dalton International DNA Project (DIDP)
During October Issue 3 of the Dalton International
DNA Project Progress Report was published. This includes all
the new participants who have joined the project up to January 2009. There
were 99 participants included in Issue 2 of the report published in January
2008 and Issue 3 has 126 sets of markers recorded and analysed. This represents
an impressive expansion of the project. Additionally, many participants
have extended their number of markers and this adds considerably to the
value of the database as a whole to our Dalton family history researches.
The report is a landmark document and extends to 54 pages.
The number of separately identifiable genetic families has increased from
10 to 13. The number of singletons has increased by just three, from 18
to 21. This reflects the high success rate that we are achieving, with
nearly all new project participants finding matches with existing project
members.
All members of the project have been circulated by email
and invited to request their copy of the full report. If, as a
project participant, you still wish to receive the report but have not
advised me, please contact me by email immediately. We do ask
that those who receive the report are current members of the DGS. The
subscription contributes towards the cost of retaining our consultant
and, of course, brings many other benefits as well.
On the “Dalton DNA Project” pages
of this website you will find extracts from Issue 3 of the report giving
a summary of the main conclusions; the foreword to the report, which includes
a history of the project; and a description of the DNA process and how
it assists the family historian.
Further participants continue to join the project and
there are now approaching 140 sets of markers in our database. DIDP is
one of the largest and most respected projects of its type internationally,
but we still need to expand it further, particularly with individuals
who have documented ancestral lines that take them back to known English
or Irish Dalton origins. The strength of the database as a family history
research tool lies in its size, and its continued growth is of paramount
importance to us all. So, if you are a Dalton male please do think about
joining this well established and exciting project.
We are indebted to our DNA consultant, Chris Pomery,
for all his assistance with the preparation of the progress report and
the advice and guidance that we are able to give to individual project
participants. We are now working with him to determine the priorities
for further reporting during 2010. The emphasis will be on providing updated
reports on individual genetic families.
Some of you may not be aware of the special webpages
set up to enable genetic family groups to share data with one another.
Initially these are for groups A, B and D. We have added a link to these
from the“Dalton DNA Project” homepage here on the
main DGS website.
The DGS Journal
The Editor of the DGS Journal, John Dalton, is now assembling
material for Volume 52, due to be published in June 2010. As always, he
will welcome articles and other items for this issue. Please help him
by submitting copy as early as you can and certainly no later than the
end of April. John is always happy to advise and assist contributors and,
if you have any questions or need help, please contact him by email at
johndalton78@hotmail.com.
Back issues of the DGS Journal continue to be available.
On this website you can access the DGS Journal Index from the homepage.
Here you will find a full synopsis of the contents of the Journal of the
Dalton Genealogical Society commencing with Volume 1 published back in
1970 through to Volume 41 published in December 2004. Lists of contents
are available for Volumes 42 to 51 and the full synopses will be available
in due course. Copies of all back numbers are available for purchase and
these can be obtained from DGS member, Mrs Pat Robinson (address: Mallards,
3 High Street, The Green, Barrington, Cambridge CB2 5QX, UK email: gandprobinson@waitrose.com).
Details of prices, including postage and packing, will be found with the
index.
Conclusion
Enjoy this month’s issue of “Daltons
in History”, your regular monthly update on everything that
is happening in the world of Dalton family history. We will be back again
at the beginning of May.
Thank you for your attention.
Yours very sincerely
Michael Neale Dalton
Chairman and Honorary Life President of the Dalton Genealogical Society
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