Family Groups
In decoding the DNA results, we find that there are at least two major distinct families - One family which originated in the town of Cliburn in old Westmoreland County, England, and another which originated in King's Lynn, near London. There may be additional genetic families, but for the sake of clarity we are listing these families are the progenitors of the Genetic Lines. The various sub-branches and families of these lines will be listed within each group. On paper, there is a lot of confusion about which people are connected to which groups, and that is why the DNA results are so vital - they prove undeniably if there is a link between members of certain family groups or not. As we populate these tables and information below we will also be attempting to build a DNA Family Tree that will hopefully show us how and when the genetic code of the Claiborne/Clyborn families have changed over time.
As genealogical data is added to this site it will be done so in a professional and academic manner. By that I mean that all sources will be thoroughly listed and enumerated so that any researcher can recreate and double check the work. Any connections which cannot be supported by direct evidence but has supporting circumatantial evidence will be explicitly listed as such, and any connections which have virtually no supporting evidence will likewise be clearly cautioned. The primary aim here is to correct many of the numerous mistakes that are oft-repeated in the family trees and to give you, as a genealogical researcher, a clear underastanding of how we arrived at every connection.
ID Numbers
As I build out the genealogical records of this site I will be assigning a random ID number to each member of the family. This number doesn't necessarily have any specific meaning. I just need a way to differentiate two people with the same name so that I can make individual pages for both. Simply writing "John Le Franceys" doesn't work because there are more than one person with that name. "John of Cliburn" runs afoul of the same problem. Believe it or not, "John of Cliborn (b. 1200)" still has the same problem. Thus, the only solution is to assign random ID numbers to both of them. I am certain that this will come up a lot so the ID numbers will be a way to keep everyone separated and cut down on confusion.
In order to help ensure privacy, but still allow for tracking of living persons, each person in the tree is given a unique character set which is then encoded. That coded value serves as their unique ID number.
Westmorland Families
One of the defining genetic characteristics of these families is that they belong to Haplogroup R-M269.
Col. William Families
The defining characteristic of these families is that they belong to haplogroup I-M170.
Other Families
These families have the Clayborn name in some form, and on paper may appear to be connected to one of the other branches, however, DNA evidence is anomalous and suggests that they may not be connected.