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Intro

I'm very interested in my Borders heritage and would love to hear from any relations, potential relations, or fellow researchers of the surnames included in either of the pedigree charts below (see footer for contact details).
Helen Sinton WIGHT, one of my paternal great grandmothers, was born in 1848 at Maxton(ROX) and is one the two beginnings of my Borders ancestry.
She emigrated to New Zealand in 1875, apparently entirely on her own, marrying slightly over a month after her arrival.

Adam DAVIDSON, one of my paternal great grandfathers, was born 1851 at Harelawside, in the Parish of Coldingham (BEW) and is one of the two streams of my Borders ancestry.
His direct paternal line is also one of my shortest, and most mysterious.
His maternal ancestry however has taken me on a wonderful journey of exploration and is to blame for my starting both the FAIRBAIRN DNA Surname project, and the subsequent One Name Study of the FAIRBAIRN surname.
Quite an achievement for an acknowledged poacher. As of Oct 2022 his maternal grandmother's ancestry has been identified thanks to DNA and a bit of laternal thinking.

DNA

To aid my understanding of my Borders families, I administer several DNA projects for the Borders surnames of interest to me (Fairbairn, Runciman, Sinton, Wight), monitor some of the kits representing other Borders surnames in other projects (Davidson, Richardson), along with helping fellow researchers with interests on the Scottish Borders.
See the DNASurnames project list for links to each project mentioned.

We are still looking for direct male line representatives of the projects mentioned below, preferably at least two from separate lines of each, from distant cousins. Some we already have a single representative for and therefore need to corroborate the single signature we already have.
Perhaps one day we'll find out which lines of WIGHTs on the Borders are actually related to ours?

The fun and serendipity of finding dna relatives is no longer restricted to just the direct male lines however.
Anyone interested in their genetic matches can now test their autosomal dna, the bits we inherit, unfortunately randomly, from ALL of our ancestors. If you are a descendant of any of the families shown here, you would be welcome to join the newly created (Nov 2013) FFLornaHen project and see how much of which ancestor's dna has made it down to present day.
Who knows what we'll learn about unexpected connections between families!
FamilyTreeDNA's FamilyFinder test is our recommended test of choice but if you have tested with Ancestry instead, please do consider FamilyTreeDNA's autosomal transfer option.
For maximum return on your dna investment please also upload your raw data from your results (FamilyTreeDNA, Ancestry or 23andme) to GEDMatch where results can be compared across the three main testing companies.
  • WIGHT - representatives needed from any of the WIGHT lines
  • RICHARDSON - representatives needed from other RICHARDSON lines from the Borders
  • DAVIDSON - corroboration needed from this DAVIDSON line
If genetic genealogy are foreign words to you, ">here are some links to items that may be of interest to explain why genealogists are turning to this fascinating, now not so new, science for their family forests.

Helen Sinton WIGHT's ancestors

James Wight (say 1685 - aft. 1743)
James Wight (cir. 1721 - aft. 1743)
Margaret Houd (say 1690 - )
James Wight (say 1743 - 1791)
William Wode (say 1680 - )
Isobel Wood (say 1721 - )
William Thomson (say 1675 - aft. 1743)
Cristian Thomson (say 1685 - )
William Wight (1767 - 1847)
William Thomson (say 1675 - aft. 1743)
William Thomson (say 1715 - )
Janet Scott (say 1675 - )
Issobel Thomson (say 1745 - )
Walter Wight (1816 - 1886)
William Richardson (cir. 1670 - bet. 1716 - 1726)
Robert Richardson (cir. 1694 - aft. 1736)
Isabel UnknownSurname (say 1670 - )
Walter Richardson (cir. 1720 - aft. 1778)
male Ledgerwood (say 1645 - )
Walter Ledgerwood (say 1670 - )
Jennet Leigerwood (cir. 1693 - aft. 1736)
Margaret Henderson (say 1670 - bet. 1695 - 1699)
Robert Richardson (cir. 1747 - aft. 1791)
Robert Shiel (say 1665 - aft. 1729)
James Shiel (say 1690 - )
Margaret Shiell (1723 - aft. 1764)
Isabel Shiel (say 1695 - )
Elizabeth Richardson (1773 - 1831)
Jennet Finlay (say 1645 - )
John Runciman (cir. 1715 - aft. 1788)
Margaret Brown (say 1690 - )
Margaret Runchaman (cir. 1746 - aft. 1784)
George Fameltoun (say 1670 - )
William Familton (say 1695 - aft. 1753)
Elizabeth Familton (cir. 1720 - 1788)
George Wilson (bef. 1679 - )
Elizabeth Wilson (say 1695 - aft. 1753)
Helen S. Wight (1848 - 1941)
James Sinton (say 1730 - cir. 1802)
Peter Sinton (say 1750 - cir. 1811)
?Margaret? UnknownSurname (say 1730 - bet. 1760 - 1762)
Peter Sinton (fr 1783 - 1788 - 1866)
?John? Donaldson (say 1720 - )
Janet Donaldson (say 1750 - bet. 1794 - 1855)
?Janet? UnknownSurname (say 1720 - )
Helen Sinton (cir. 1820 - 1883)
James Wight (say 1755 - )
Jane Wight (cir. 1783 - 1858)
William Hall (cir. 1735 - 1817)
Isabella Hall (say 1758 - 1816)
Jane Stevenson (cir. 1743 - 1825)
Subject
Mother
Father
Duplicate
Y DNA tested line

Adam DAVIDSON's ancestors

male Davidson? (say 1790 - bef. 1900)
John Davidson (cir. 1817 - 1900)
James Collan (say 1770 - )
Ann Collan (1793 - 1863)
Ann Portes (say 1770 - )
Adam Davidson (1851 - 1920)
John Fairbairn (m. Bessie fflint) (bef. 1705 - bet. 1741 - 1805)
Archibald? Fairbairn (say 1735 - )
Bessie Flint (bet. 1700 - 1710 - aft. 1741)
Archibald Fairbairn (say 1760 - bet. 1800 - 1841)
Walter Fairbairn (cir. 1785 - 1859)
Male ?. Croser (say 1740 - )
Alison Crosser (say 1760 - bet. 1800 - 1841)
Agnes Fairbairn (cir. 1818 - 1884)
John Robinson (say 1760 - bef. 1863)
Agnes Robinson (cir. 1786 - 1863)
Ann UnknownSurname (say 1760 - bef. 1863)
Subject
Mother
Father
Y DNA tested line

Borders people on this site

The following two links have a rather broad definition of "Borders".
It has been stretched "slightly" to include East and West Lothian as well as Roxburghshire, Berwickshire, Selkirkshire, Peebleshire, along with those families living near the border in Cumberland and Northumberland and known to not be fussy about which country they lived in or recorded their official events.
Bear in mind that the flag this is based on isn't always accurate however, and some people will not necessarily have been to the places shown, eg they may have a relation there instead.

Borders burials on this site