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In order to confirm the accuracy of the reconstructions of the nine family lines we have identified through traditional genealogical research, we would ideally need to find a minimum of two male Adamthwaite individuals who would be willing to be tested from different branches of each line we have identified – although some of the larger lines have multiple branches, so we may need to test more than two males to be certain of their accuracy. This is particularly important as all of our lines originate well before the start of general registration, which means there is a greater likelihood of fundamental errors in our reconstruction. For this reason it is possible that we would need to undertake more than the recommended two tests, at least in the larger lines such as VIOLET, YELLOW, OLIVE and GREY lines.

One potential problem is that we have a number of documented illegitimate births back there in Ravenstonedale and Sedbergh, where we know with certainty that a line descended from a female Adamthwaite. (And of course, there could have been other cases where the father was not actually an Adamthwaite - or as they are more tactfully termed 'non-paternal events'). Each of these breaks in the male line would result in a negative match; so we need to select our testers with this in mind.

We are also fairly certain that at least two of our identified lines no longer have any living male Adamthwaite descendants. On the following page you can read a summary of the situation for each of our identified lines, together with descendancy charts showing where we believe any existing male Adamthwaites fit into the different coloured lines, and find out how you can help in our research project –