Are you a Stanley ? If so, do you know for certain who your Stanley ancestors were, and where they came from ? If you don't know for sure - or even if you think you know but are not certain - then please take part in the Stanley Surname DNA Project ! If you have the surname Stanley (or a relative of yours does), your participation in this project may be vital not only to your own genealogical research, but to that of others.
In 2003, the year when this website (Stanley Roots) was first published, Dick and Nell Stanley in the USA began the important task of setting up the Stanley Surname DNA Project, and the Stanley DNA databank. The aim is to catalogue all the different strands of Stanley DNA, in order to find out for certain which Stanleys are related to which other Stanleys, and which Stanleys are unrelated to one another. In time, this will help to build up a complete genetic picture of where different Stanleys came from, and who is related to whom. The project may help you to find your cousins - and to find out which Stanleys are NOT your cousins !
The Stanley DNA Research Project should be extremely important to all those who are interested in Stanley genealogy and family history research. It is important that as many Stanleys as possible take part in the project - wherever they live. It is important that as many Stanleys in England as possible take part in the project, especially if there are records of their ancestry, so that the DNA databank can have a 'control' bank of DNA and can then classify English Stanleys into different genetic groups.
If you are a Stanley in the USA or elsewhere, then your participation is still very important, to help determine, for example, which American Stanleys are related to one another, how they are related to English Stanleys, and where in England their ancestors came from. The project is still in its early stages, but every contribution is valuable and important. To find out the revealing results so far, see below !
The National Stanley Family Association of the USA, i.e. those Stanleys descended from the 'Quaker' Stanleys of Hanover County, Virginia, are very welcome to take part in the important Stanley DNA research project, and should benefit greatly from it in determining their links to England. See http://www.stanleyfamily.org/ for their website.
The "Hartford" Stanley Families of Connecticut will also be able to benefit greatly by participating; DNA testing will determine whether their ancestors in Kent, England, were related to other English Stanleys - and if so, how. See http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~stanfam/stanfam.htm for their website.
In fact, the more Stanleys everywhere take part, the more complete and valuable the findings of the project will be. If you are a female with a male Stanley relative, please encourage your male relative to take part ! It is the Y-DNA of male Stanleys which is particularly needed for the databank.
So please visit the website of the Stanley DNA research project at the address below, and please take part in the DNA tests !