Hands up and mouths open wide for the great Fitz(-)Henry DNA study!

A lot of things have occurred since I last posted. Apart from a trip to Winchester and Ashtead to follow up on the leads about William, Barbara and Martha Fitz-Henry, the worldwide Fitz-Henry / Fitzhenry DNA study is now up and running.
Or rather taking a leisurely stroll, as so far there's only one participant (my Dad).

So what's the DNA study all about?

If you're male, the thing that makes you male is a Y chromosome. You inherit it from your father. If you're female, you get an X chromosome from your dad along with the X chromosome that you get from your Mum. In the patronymic manner of name giving, the surname goes from father to son along with the Y chromosome. It doesn't mutate very often so the same genetic fingerprint is passed on over many generations.

How does this help in creating an extended family tree and finding out whether different branches are linked?
If you're a Fitz(-)henry in the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland or where-ever, then you may have a common Fitz(-)henry ancestor with me in England. If you have are male, then you can take a DNA test to compare your Fitz(-)henry DNA to the DNA from my tree. If they are a close match, it is very likely that we have a male ancestor in common.

If you are interested in taking part, please take a look at the DNA project page at:
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Fitz-Henry

.. and if you want to discuss anything, there is a direct contact email address for me on there. There's no results on there at present as my dad's test is still being processed.

The study is being conducted through FamilyTreeDNA , a well respected genetics firm based in Texas which is hosting most of the DNA studies from Guild of One Name Studies. Unfortunately if you're a woman, you don't have the required Y chromosome (hence I had to test my dad), but you can badger one of your male Fitz(-)henry relatives to take part. If you have been considering getting tested but the price has put you off, there is a discount if you get tested through a One-Name Study.

Cricketing FitzHenrys

I'm studying for the GL6 cricket umpiring exam and looked on the cricinfo.com archive for other cricketing Fitz-Henrys or Fitzhenrys.
I found Russel Charles Fitzhenry, who played one first class cricket match for Eastern Province, South Africa in the 1991-2 season.
I knew there was a Fitzhenry branch in South Africa, but how did they get there and where did they originally come from?
If you are a Fitzhenry or Fitz-Henry from South Africa (or even Russel Fitzhenry himself!) then please get in touch through this blog, and I'd be very pleased to put your family history here if you want to share it.

Article about Nesta of Pembroke in the Guardian 21.12.07

The link below gets you to an article published in the Guardian newspaper yesterday. Simon Jenkins argues that the Welsh princess Nest (or Nesta) of Pembroke has been sadly overlooked in the history of the British Isles. She has been described as the British Helen of Troy and had liasons with at least four different members of the conquering Norman nobility including Henry the First.
How is this relevant to this blog?
Nest is commonly recognised to be the mother of all Fitz-Henrys/Fitzhenrys because she bore the illigitimate son of Henry 1, Henry Fitzhenry. However, Henry 1 is said to have had 20 illigitimate children so maybe there were other separate starting points for other Fitzhenry lines, Fitzhenry meaning "the bastard son of Henry".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2230948,00.html

The Fitzhenrys of Rock, Worcester Part 2

Firstly note that I've dropped the hyphen in Fitzhenry - the family didn't seem to use it when they were signing their legal documents (see picture). The other thing is to note that Ann signed the document for herself. She was the daughter of a wealthy clergy man, so unlike many women of her time she was literate. I've got so many birth marriage and death certificates where the woman's mark is just a cross.
Anyhow, a distillation of the rest of the Chancery papers. It seems that Thomas Bradley Paget and Elizabeth Paget got the declaration from the Court that they wanted and got at least some of the money they felt they were entitled to. But their victory was short lived - Charles Watkins (Elizabeth's brother and the Heir to Richard Watkins' Estate) died in 1813 and this left his two sisters disputing what remained of the father's estate with Charles' widow. Elizabeth died in November 1815 aged 27, leaving Thomas with 3 young children. Ann Fitzhenry died in 1825 (so that's all the Watkins siblings now dead) and Andrew Fitzhenry died in February 1830. Each time one of the Defendants died (or another child was born), a new Bill had to be submitted to the Court of Chancery which summarised all which had gone before and listing who the new Defendants were. The last of the Bills of Chancery that I've seen is 1831 when Andrew Richard Fitzhenry takes over the reins from his father. I have an image of Thomas Bradley Paget becoming a bitter and twisted man as the case trundled in over the decades. I know that Andrew Richard FH died in 1844 and Thomas Bradley Paget in 1846 so perhaps the matter died with them then.