Ancestor – Sir William Waad (Wade)

Sir William Wade traces back to me as follows:

Sir William Wade (12th GG) –> Edward Wade I –> Edward Wade II –> James Andrew Wade –> Colonel Robert Wade –>Stephen Wade–>Susannah Wade–>Marstin Bond–>Richard Wade Bond–>Jesse Franklin Bond–>Joseph M Bond–> Dollie Mae Bond (great grandmother)–>Rosella Shirrell (grandmother)–> Billy Joe Burchett (father)–>Me

Sir William Waad (or Wade), who served as the Lieutenant of the Tower of London in 1609, was a notable figure in Elizabethan and early Stuart England. His career spanned various realms, including diplomacy, espionage, and administration, reflecting the complexity and intrigue of the period. Waad’s tenure as Lieutenant of the Tower of London is particularly significant, as this position placed him at the heart of the political and religious tumult of the time.

Early Life and Career

  • Birth: Sir William Waad was born around 1546, the son of Armagil Waad, an adventurer and diplomat who participated in the early English exploration of North America.
  • Education: He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and later at the Inner Temple, reflecting a background that combined scholarly pursuits with legal training.

Public Service

  • Diplomatic Missions: Waad’s career in public service began with diplomatic missions. He was involved in negotiations in France, the Low Countries (modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands), and Spain, which were crucial in the context of England’s precarious position in European politics.
  • Involvement in Espionage: His work often intersected with espionage, a critical element of Elizabethan statecraft. He was engaged in gathering intelligence and counter-intelligence efforts, particularly against Spain and in matters related to Catholic plots against the Crown.
  • Clerk of the Privy Council: Before his appointment as Lieutenant of the Tower, Waad served as Clerk of the Privy Council, a position that involved him in the inner workings of the government and in close proximity to the monarch.

Lieutenant of the Tower of London

  • Appointment: Sir William Waad was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London in 1605, succeeding Sir George Harvy. This position was not just ceremonial; it placed him in charge of one of the most significant prisons of the time, holding political and religious prisoners.
  • Gunpowder Plot: Waad’s tenure is particularly remembered for its connection to the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot (1605), where he played a role in the interrogation and imprisonment of those accused of involvement in the plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
  • Prisoners: As Lieutenant, Waad oversaw the incarceration of several notable prisoners, including Sir Walter Raleigh, who was held in the Tower on charges of treason. Waad’s management of such high-profile inmates was part of his broader responsibilities, which included maintaining the security and order of the Tower.

Later Life and Legacy

  • Removal and Death: Waad was removed from his position as Lieutenant in 1613 under circumstances that suggest political maneuvering and personal rivalries. He died in 1623.
  • Legacy: Sir William Waad’s life and career reflect the intricate web of politics, religion, and espionage that characterized Elizabethan and early Stuart England. His role as Lieutenant of the Tower of London during a particularly turbulent period makes him a figure of historical significance.

Waad’s contributions and the challenges he faced during his tenure as Lieutenant of the Tower offer valuable insights into the complexities of governance, security, and diplomacy in early modern England. His involvement in key historical events and his management of the Tower of London during a time of political plots and religious conflict highlight his importance in English history.

More Ancestry changes means more confusion

Once again, Ancestry DNA results have changed. I get it… However, it really makes getting a test done, for the most part, useless.

You just never will know with any sort of certainty what your heritage truly is. It’s all based on demographics and people willing to buy and test their DNA. As a male, I have the luxury of being able to have my Y-DNA tested, which is, for the most part, pretty stable. It gives me better, albeit a bit more vague, insight into my heritage.

So I’m evaluating the current Ancestry change with past results, what I know for fact, and then weighing it alongside my Y-DNA results.

The latest results that came in show the following:

England and Northwestern Europe is really no change or surprise. That is my base heritage… maybe. Back in 2020 it jumped from 33% to 20% and then back into the 30 percentile until this last update, rocketing to 55%. At it’s lowest point my Germanic heritage was dominant and then evenly weighed.

Now my Germanic side is all but gone. I can only surmise that my Germanic heritage went down due to a reevaluation of Eastern Europe and Russia. I have verifiable Polish heritage on my mothers side. Did that heritage come out of Germanic Europe and get inserted into the Eastern Europe/Russia category (which, including the Baltics, originally was only like 4-8% of my DNA make up)?

Scotland was at a high point in 202 (along with everyone else in the world it seemed) and has since receded. Same with Sweden and Ireland. Bottom line is that the groupings keep changing and is inconsistent and really, as I said, based on demographics of folks having their DNA tested by Ancestry.

Finally, Ancestry has released an “Ethnicity Inheritance” feature recently. This breaks down heritage for each parent that comprises the makeup of your DNA. It doesn’t say “Mother/Father” just “Parent 1/Parent2” but it was easy to tell that parent 1 was my mother and parent 2 was my father.

My dad’s heritage is not very complex. Predominately England & Northwestern Europe, Scotland and Ireland. All, which are right in line with my research and what I know for fact. Where the strangeness comes in is on my moms side. More complex than the typical “we’re Polish” view of our heritage.  Again, England/Northwestern Europe rule but the advancement of Eastern Europe, Russia, Baltic alongside the inclusion of Sweden/Denmark and Portugal on my mom’s side was not expected.

Interestingly, my Y-DNA is Haplogroup I (I-M253) which is thought to have roots in northern France and today is mainly found in Scandinavia and Northwestern Europe as well as Eastern Europe (Viking DNA), matches my mom’s side a bit more than my dad’s.

Ultimately, this has just left me more confused and wondering what bombshells will be dropped at the next update. I’ve really started putting less care into my Ancestry DNA and have considered getting a more in-depth Y-DNA test done to see if I get more conclusive results. Granted, this only takes into account half of my DNA (my fathers) and leaves out a huge gap on my mothers side. Maybe more investigation on how to get better results from the maternal line is where I should focus my research on. But for now, I’ll be English/Northwestern European until the next change.

 

 

Over a year since I posted

Life has this way of making me get sidetracked easily. When I started this site, I had every intention of digging deeper into my BURCHETT legacy and hopefully piecing together missing pieces. Well, as I said, life just put that on hold for over a year now.

However, I recently got an update on my Ancestry DNA and, like before it’s not overly different, but enough that really using it to have a true understanding of my heritage seems impossible. Case in point: The last update seemed like Scotland dominated the update for everyone. While that made sense, in a fashion, it seems to be nothing more than something similar to marketing. What I mean is that unless a vastly huge percent of the human population submitted for DNA results the Ancestry results will be nothing more than an increase in DNA kits sold to certain markets, ergo, a higher percentage in that area in everyone’s results. How is that useful?

I don’t see the benefit of the test any longer. While a certain percentage of my results has stayed consistent, others (which I have some documented proof of ancestry) has radically changed. Scottish and Norwegian heritage are prime examples.

Initially my Scot heritage was pretty low, then, with the update it shot through the roof, now with next update, it has once again been knocked pretty low.  Similarly, my Norwegian heritage went from being fair to disappearing and now has come back again, higher than it was originally. The up and down with my English heritage is bewildering also.

So, I am not sure I can really get a true feeling of what my heritage really is. I can make a fairly educated guess, but I would love to be able to see something that confirms it. My Y-DNA test sheds some light, but again, nothing solid. But at least it seems to be solid enough to not be swayed by marketing type structuring and has a better shot at steering me in the right direction.

 

The brick wall that won’t break

So last I posted I had a lead on a possible Burchett (in this case, Birchett) line that showed potential of tying in with Benjamin Burchett. Alas, so far no such luck. If the connection is there it is rather far back (pre-1650’s), so while I am not giving up on that line, I have not been able to ascertain if my Benjamin fit’s into that line at all. It has been presented that Burwell Burchett may be a possibility, however, almost all that line, once gone from Virginia, ended up in Kentucky, which makes that a very unlikely scenario since my DNA results conclusively have a North Carolina connection and my Benjamin was born in North Carolina, not Kentucky. But, I haven’t discounted that possibility completely.

I have gathered enough documents that, while not 100% conclusive, leaves little room for me to doubt that the 1850 Benjamin Bucket(although after looking at the spelling it looks a lot like “Birchet” as opposed to “Bucket.” One thing I am sure of, however, is that my Benjamin is not the Benjamin Burchett of Adair, MO.  Family members, dates, locations, none of them add up or provide any link to Joseph Burchett. There is a Benjamin Burchett that shows up in Illinois that has a lot of similarities, but I believe this to also be a different Benjamin Burchett than my ancestor.

Again, dates, locations and family just don’t line up. Unfortunately, there is a lot of trees on ancestry tying all these Benjamin’s into one person, which is a shame, because it just leads to confusion and lack of proper research. So if you are one of those on Ancestry or FamilySearch, you really should correct your charts and not make assumptions based on other trees out there that equally make assumptions without any source material to back it up.

On a side note, while I was taking  breather from this stubborn 3rd great-grandfather, I discovered that I am related through various branches of the paternal line to Sir William Wade/Waad who was the Lieutenant at the Tower of London during the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and actually questioned Guy Fawkes.

In addition to learning that, I discovered that his father, Armagil Wade/Waad was married to an unknown woman with the last name Comyn from Scotland, who it turns out the records state she was the sister of Alured Comyn, Prior of St Oswald. Of course, the last name Comyn is not stranger to anyone who has researched Scottish history or has watched “Braveheart”! I have about 28% Scottish in my DNA results, so this seems to be valid conclusion. Time will tell!

 

A renewed focus on 1850 Benjamin Bucket

I am still wrapping my head around how to interpret my Y-DNA results from FamilyTreeDNA. I think I am starting to understand it a little better, but it’s more like knowing a few words and phrases in a foreign language rather than being able to carry a conversation in that language.

The good part is I have made a contact with another Burchett (well, in this case Birchett) through the YDNA testing that looks extremely promising. I have renewed my research mostly centered around Joseph (1843), his connection with the 1850 Cape Girardeau census Benjamin Bucket, and the potential that he is descended from Joseph Burchett (1725) or his father Robert Burchett (1673). Right now, I’m not finding any sons of either of these Burchett’s that line up with the dates and locations of my 1850 Benjamin. But hopefully with more research one pop’s up in this line.

What I do know, so far…

There is a Benjamin Burchett from Adair, Missouri, however, I does not appear to be the same Benjamin as the one in the 1850 Cape Girardeau Census. There is a will available for the Adair Benjamin, however, the children’s names do not match with the 1850 Census Benjamin, leading me to believe he is a different person.
The following artifacts seem to line up with the Benjamin Bucket (Burchett) listed in the 1850 Census in Cape Girardeau, MO.
  • There is a Benjamin Burket listed in the Arkansas, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1819-1870 as being in Arkansas Territory, Monroe County, AR. in 1839. This coincides with the possible birth of son Joseph in Arkansas around the 1840 time frame.
  • There is a marriage to Miss Elizabeth Wooly on 1 MAY 1856 in Mississippi County Missouri, which is close to Cape Girardeau, for a Benjamin Burchett. If this is the same Benjamin, this would be his second wife and assumes his first wife (also Elizabeth) died some time after birth of daughter Perneicia in 1846 and prior to 1856.
  • There is a U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918 for a Benjamin J Burchett in 1864 in Jonesboro, Illinois. This is also fairly close to the SEMO area that Benjamin Burchett resided in. The assessment is for 14 head of cattle, possibly meaning he moved there to farm or herd cattle. Nothing so far to tie this record to 1850 Benjamin – yet.

I also have made other observations and continue to document the following:

  • It appears a lot of people are mixing Benjamin Burchett records together, including marriages.  The Adair, MO Benjamin was married to Eliza (not Elizabeth) DEROD (1 Jul 1877) and the SEMO Benjamin married Elizabeth (not Eliza) WOOLY (1 MAY 1856).
  • While I do not have a record yet, Benjamin was married to another Elizabeth from Tennessee who was the father of his children Eliza Jane, George, Susan, Sally, Joseph, Elizabeth and Perneicia. Many list this as Elizabeth MOBELY, but again, no citation to prove that as of yet.
  • Also, Civil War records for the Benjamin Burchett serving in CO B 39th INF RGT is for the Adair, MO Benjamin Burchett.  This also validates that the date of  22 AUG 1891 is NOT the death date for our Benjamin Burchett but IS the death date for the Adair, MO Benjamin.

So, still nothing conclusive, but some good leads. The real break through would be if I can conclusively tie the 1850 Benjamin to the North Carolina Burchett/Birchett line through my DNA results with them. BUT, all of this is very promising and could finally be the break through I have been looking for all these years!!

Y-DNA Results came in today as well as updated Ancestry results

I was expecting an extremely long wait time (the FamilyTreeDNA site told me 6-8 weeks before I would get results) for my Y-DNA test results, however, they surprisingly came today just shy of four weeks after they received them.

After a quick look at the results all I really know so far is that it is predicted I belong to Haplogroup I-M253 with the explanation that,

Haplogroup I dates to 23,000 years ago, or older. The I-M253 lineage likely has its roots in northern France. Today it is found most frequently within Viking/Scandinavian populations in northwest Europe and has since spread down into Central and Eastern Europe, where it is found at low frequencies. Haplogroup I represents one of the first peoples in Europe.

Unfortunately, a quick look at the matches has done nothing to break through my paternal brick wall. It appears the matches I do have are many, many generations past Joseph Burchett and leaves a very large gap in between them and Joseph.

The plan now is to learn more in-depth what the results tell me and how I can use them to break down the brick wall. This will require more education on my part into the DNA realm and I suspect the involvement of a professional.

I’ll be sure to update.

On another front, Ancestry had updated results and wow, did my DNA results alter themselves. Both interesting and a bit disconcerting at the same time.

 

Sweden disappears altogether and Scotland takes a huge leap forward. The Germanic is expected and well-known to me. Another interesting observation is how my English roots dropped a good bit as well.

So, the disconcerting part is trying to make sense of this. I’m concerned that the results are less scientific and more based on, as a friend who also had her DNA analyzed, “crowdsourcing”. Ancestry provides a variety of surveys on your DNA account and I’m wondering how much my results are based on the updates of people with similar markers taking the surveys are as, again, opposed to scientific data.

Lot’s of what if’s and the brick wall that is Joseph Burchett remains… to be continued…

Ordered my FTDNA Y37 test

I ordered my FamilyTreeDNA Y37 test kit this morning. I was on the fence initially when trying to decide to order it or not.

My first concern is that it would only lead me to Joseph Burchett again and no further. I didn’t want to spend $120 if that was going to happen. I posted my concern on the DNAAncestry subreddit, and the responses were that it helped some of them overcome their brick walls, so I decided to go ahead and spring for it.

Now, once again, the wait. Waiting for it to be shipped, then waiting for it to be shipped back, and then waiting on results! (Can you tell I have an impatient side?)

But seriously, I am looking forward to seeing what the results are and really hope they open things up on my paternal side.