A yDNA connection to an early 1700's Tyrrell Surrey line

by Conrad W. Terrill and Nancy Tyrrel Theodore, 28 Aug. 2013

Last year an Ancestry DNA close match to us descendants of Roger came to our attention—one who is not descended from our Roger1.  Dennis G. Tyrrell, of Australia, had been tested to 43 markers.  Since then he has been tested to 111 markers by FTDNA.  Not counting CDYb, which we consider to be an unreliable marker for our project, Dennis has six mutations over 111 markers from Modal Roger1.  The table below shows how this number compares to those for the rest of us who have been tested to 111 markers, all of whom are presumed to be descended from Roger1 (CM Terrell does not know his paternal line to Roger1).

Obviously, the number of mutations in a paternal line over ten or so generations is quite variable, but still Dennis's number stands out, so we can conclude that his Tyrrell line's connection to our Terrill lines occurred prior to Roger1, perhaps by several generations.

Dennis's great-great-grandfather, John Tyrrell, moved his line from Surrey, England, to New South Wales, Australia, in 1849.  Dennis knew his paternal line back to this John Tyrrell's father, a James Tyrrell, born in the late 1700's, who married an Elizabeth Eades.  We believe we have traced the line back two generations further.

A list of immigrants on the Midlothian, which arrived in New South Wales on 8 April 1849, tells us that the native place for John Tyrrell, age 39, was East Horsley, Surrey, and that his parents' names were James and Elizabeth, and that Elizabeth was living at that time in Kingston (Upon Thames), Surrey. ¹  John was baptized 24 Sep. 1809 at St. Nicholas, Great Bookham, Surrey, his mother's original parish, where she and James Tyrrell were married by banns on 22 Jun. 1807. ^2,3

Click here to view a map of Surrey with place names relevant to this story

John, the first and only child of James and Elizabeth, was raised in East Horsley, probably in the house of his grandfather Terrill.  James seems to have died between 1809 and 1813 (when the extant records for East Horsley start).  Elizabeth remarried in 1820 in East Horsley, to John Goodright, by whom she had five more children.  By 1823 they had moved to Kingston-upon-Thames.  Elizabeth died in Long Ditton in 1851.

The only reasonable identity candidate for James is a James Tyrrell, son of Robert and Susannah, baptized 2 Mar. 1788 in East Horsley, who would have been almost 19 years old (if baptized immediately after birth) when he married Elizabeth Eades, who was a year younger. ⁴  One witness to the marriage was Susan Tyrell, presumably James's mother, or possibly his sister.  Since there are no Surrey probate records pertaining to James, we assume he died suddenly and left no estate worth administering.

And the most reasonable candidate for Robert is a Robert Terrill, son of Joseph and Mary, baptized 4 Jan. 1755 in West Horsley, a mile west of East Horsley. ⁵  Robert married Susannah Bristow, eldest child of George and Susannah (Field), on 3 Jun. 1777 in East Horsley.  George Bristow was a native of East Horsley.  Robert Terrill/Tyrrell died in 1829, at age 75, and Susannah died the year before.  Robert, like son James, left no probate records.  Here's a list of their children: ⁴

So our lineage for Dennis Tyrrell looks very good back to Joseph Tyrrell, husband of Mary and born in the early 1700's.  We know little about Joseph, but we do know the names of his and Mary's children, from the baptism records of West Horsley: ⁵

Since his first child was born in 1750, Joseph would not have been born much later than 1730.  Joseph Jr., by the way, married an Ann, and they had eleven children, so there would have been no estate in West Horsley for Robert Tyrrell.  There is no record of Robert there after his baptism, which makes it likely that the Robert Terrill who first appeared in East Horsley records in 1777 was him. There were no Terrills at all in East Horsley records during the preceding century.

We cannot find records to make the connection from any particular Joseph Tyrrell to Robert Tyrrell bapt. 1755.  We've noticed a baptism record for a Joseph Tyrrel baptized in 1736 in Cobham (about 8 miles NNE of West Horsley), but he would have been too young to have had a son born in 1750.  A Joseph Tyrrill, son of Edward, baptized in Cobham in 1720, is more plausible, but there is no very good reason to assume that he must be the correct Joseph.  So for now this paternal line starts with Joseph Terrill/Tyrrell who married Mary ___ and started raising a family in West Horsley in 1750.

What does all this tell us? It tells us that this Joseph Terrill of Surrey in the 1700's was a close yDNA match to us descendants of Roger.  And since this was just a hundred or so years after our Roger1 was living in England, it lends support to what we've been told was inscribed on a monument of some sort in Rahway (NJ) Cemetery in the 1950's, indicating that Roger Terrill was from Surrey (see "Roger Terrill of Surrey — A Monumental Record?").  Terrills were numerous in places not far from West Horsley in the 16th and 17th centuries.  Two such places were Stoke D'Abernon and Leatherhead.

References

1.  List of immigrants on Midlothian, 13 Apr. 1849, from Ancestry.com database: "New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Lists, 1828-1896," (Ancestry.com image).

2.  Baptism, St Nicholas, Great Bookham, Surrey: John, son of James & Elizabeth Tyrrell, September 24th [1809].  From Ancestry.com database: "London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812," (Ancestry.com image).

3.  Marriage, Great Bookham, Surrey, 1807, James Tyrell & Elizabeth Eades.  From Ancestry.com database "London, England, Marriage and Banns, 1754-1921," (Ancestry.com image).

4.  Register for St Martin parish, East Horsley, 1788-1812, Ancestry.com database "Surrey, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812," (Ancestry.com image).

5.  Registers for St Mary parish, West Horsley, 1600-1754 and 1755-1812, Ancestry.com database "Surrey, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812," (Ancestry.com image).