DNA tests reveal long-lost ancestors

It is this correspondence which can provide the missing links between a clan's ancestors.

As family history is flourishing, most people see the internet as providing new opportunities for technological research.

But many still trawl through dusty archives, peering at birth, death and marriage certificates.

All are eager to establish links and delve deeper into their own history.

Now one man believes he may be on the verge of a breakthrough with the opportunities offered by DNA.

Last weekend, 26 people agreed to be swabbed for DNA at a gathering in Storrington of more than 100 people with surnames originating from Lin(d)field.

A swab was taken from the inside of their cheeks, which was put in a plastic container and sent away for testing.

Lin(d)field One Name Group secretary Alan Lindfield said: "From our point of view, it is very exciting. We have spent years trying to trace the different branches of the Lin(d)fields and have got as far back as 1066, the time of the Normans.

"But no matter how much research we do, there are still missing links.

"There are 1,000 people with names originating from Lin(d)fields in the UK - what if all these originated from just a few ancestors?

"The samples may not tell us anything but they may link some of our branches."

The group has about 70 members around the world who are all descended from one of nine ancestors.

But the DNA testing could show the number of ancestors to be even smaller.

Linfield and Lindfield are used interchangeably because they refer to the same surname - they just got changed because people could not write very well. Lingfield, Linkfield and Linville are other variants.

For Alan, 53, the fascination with surname history runs deep, fuelled more by the intellectual challenge than a burning desire to know who he is as a person.

He said: "I don't want to prove I am related to Henry VIII or where I came from. I already know most of the Lin(d)fields are descended from farm labourers.

"But when I was a child I always wanted to be a detective. Doing surname research is similar to detective work but without a crime."

It is this penchant for sleuthing which may help police suggest a surname for criminals from DNA at crime scenes.

The Lin(d)fields' DNA samples will be used for research by the Forensic Science Service.

Alan, an electronics engineer, said: "I just happened to be at a police security exhibition and was asked to give a DNA sample for research.

"We got talking about the Lin(d)field event and they said they would give us free swab kits to help their research."

Project manager Penny Noak said: "They want to trace their ancestry and we want to predict an offender's surname from their DNA. This was the perfect opportunity.

"It is the first time we have researched so many people with the same surname."

For her, DNA is important in serious crimes where there are no witnesses and little other information to go on.

She said: "We look at the pattern sequences in the Y chromosome, which are passed from father to son, just like surnames are.

"There is always the problem of illegitimacy but we are aware of that."

Alan believes DNA is just one more tool to help build up information, whether in relation to a crime or not.

The move is the culmination of years of investigation.

Alan's passion for surname research was triggered when visiting Australian doctor Ken Gudmundsen, himself a descendant of a Lindfield, contacted him in 1990.

Alan, who lives near Horsham, said: "We spoke and it turned out he was a distant cousin.

"I became more and more interested as I realised there were significant numbers of Lin(d)fields in Sussex.

"The family had not spread out much, maybe because they were homely people. They were still mostly found in the South-East."

The Lin(d)field One Name Group was formed in 1992.

Alan sent letters to 330 Lin(d)fields in the telephone directory, 120 of whom lived in Sussex.

The group had its first meeting of about 70 people in Haywards Heath soon after.

Since then, Alan has been trying to attract new members.

Last weekend's event was the first time invitations were sent out according to the electoral register.

It showed there were 535 Lin(d)field households made up of 1,000 people.

Alan, who is married to Lorna, a teacher, and has a son Paul, 26, and a daughter Julia, 24, said: "The day went really well. It was a great celebration of the group's last ten years.

"I was slightly disappointed more people didn't turn up but I still met some new cousins. We also got some new members."

Many parishes in Sussex have important Lin(d)field connections.

In Storrington, Edmund Linfield made brass dial clocks from the 1750s and his kinsman Peter Linfield was a butcher in Church Street, moving to the village from his farm in West Chiltington in 1779.

Frederick Linfield (1861 to 1939) was Mayor of Worthing from 1906 to 1908 and later became a Liberal MP.

Thakeham's association with mushroom growing began in 1913 when the Worthing firm of AG Linfield and Sons acquired Town House Farm.

It initially built a granary and a few mushroom houses but after the Second World War mushroom growing became its most important commercial activity.

By 1960 it was the largest mushroom grower in Europe.

The surname does not appear to originate in Lindfield, Sussex, but in Linkfield, part of what is now Redhill. The earliest references to the name appear there before 1066 and the family spread into Sussex.

The main branches are centred around Bolney, Slaugham, Fletching, Horsham, Nuthurst and Shipley but others moved further afield into Kent, Suffolk and London.

A Lin(d)field exhibition takes place at Storrington Museum at The Old School, School Lane, until July.

For details, email: lindfield@one-name.org or visit www.longweb.f9.co.uk