Cannell DNA project

 

This page describes an early stage DNA project on a traditional Manx family name. It aims to understand the relatedness and origins of all Cannells. If you are interested in knowing more then please contact me at robert@manxmanorialroll.com .

 

The origins of the Cannell surname

 

The UK census of 1841 includes 1175 people with the Cannell surname. Of these the majority (624) were living in the Isle of Man, meaning that about one in every 77 Manx individuals was a Cannell. By comparison Cannells made up a tiny proportion of the population of the rest of the United Kingdom (about 1 in 30000). The name was more prevalent in several English regions: Norfolk, Lancashire and Middlesex. By 1900 the Cannell surname had spread more widely. There were over 2000 people with this surname in the UK (of which the Manx now made up only a third) and over a thousand in the US.

 

Analysis of the Manx records show that Cannell has been a common name on the Isle of Man (particularly in the parish of Kirk Michael) throughout recorded history, and that multiple Cannell families were living there in the 1490s. (The earliest records actually give the surname as Mc Dannell, but its evolution to Cannell can be traced through the land records. Almost all Manx male names had the Mc prefix at this time.) There are no earlier Manx records with which we can go further back in time.

 

An Ogham Stone from the 5th century A.D found at Ballaqueeny on the Isle of Man reads that this is the stone of "Bivadonis Maqi Mucoi Cunava(li)" Cunava or Cunavali being the tribal name predating Cannell (Connell, O'Connell, McConnell etc.) In English this translates as "Bivadonis Son of the tribe Cunava". The Cunavali originated around County Louth in Ireland. They are considered "Cruithne" or Irish Picts, the race existing before Celtic immigration." (This doesn't necessarily imply that all members of the Cunavali tribe were related to the Cannells, just that Cannells took their surname from belonging to the tribe.) The Ogham Stone described above is on display in the Manx museum.

 

A search of online records reveals a handful of early 16th century Cannells on the British mainland, including three wills from Norfolk. These could be from the same family, from a separate derivation of the same surname, or simply mis-transcriptions of another surname. The only way to discover this is through Y-DNA testing.

 

Initial results

 

At the time of writing thirteen Cannell men are known to have received YDNA test results so far. The majority of these had genealogically traced Manx ancestry, but some had no known connection with the Island.

 

No genealogical connection was known between most of the eight individuals with previously identified Manx descent, but the genetic results show clearly that all had a common ancestor. The evidence strongly indicates that all Manx Cannells are descended on the male line from a "recent" common ancestor, and this ancestor is likely to have lived sometime between 1250 and 1450. A similar analysis reveals a distinct Cannell origin in Norfolk, with the tested Cannells with ancestry in that place all sharing a "recent" common ancestor. There is evidence of two other derivations of the Cannell surname, but more tests will be required to confirm these.

 

Through Y-SNP testing, the Manx Cannell line can be conclusively placed on the patri-lineal ancestral tree. On the basis of a single Y-SNP test result, it is currently linked to descendents of a single individual who lived about 1000 AD (specifically identified as haplogroup I-143389 within I-P37). This man lived prior to the typical adoption of surnames, and the his descendants also include several members of the WATT, KENNEDY and MITCHELL families. One or more additional tests should identify a later common Cannell ancestor with a corresponding Y-SNP haplogroup which is unique to Cannell men of Manx descent. Deductions about the location and migration pattern of the paternal ancestral line of the original Manx Cannell can be made both by looking at modern descendants, and also at YDNA similarilities with ancient remains. The larger grouping of which it is part is particularly associated with the British Isles (as opposed to continential Europe). It is thought to have been present in Western Europe 5000 years ago living as hunter-gatherers prior to the arrival of new technologies.

 

Two of the tested Cannells didn't have any known Manx ancestry, and their Y-DNA results show that they have a different patri-lineal ancestry (both from Manx Cannells, and from each other). As more tests are completed, it should be possible to identify additional derivations of the Cannell surname.

 

Manx Cannell Genealogy

 

Using sixteenth and seventeenth century land and probate records we can identify various distinct Cannell families of the period. Cannells Y-DNA results will potentially enable us to understand the connections between these different groups, and to fit them into a larger Cannell family tree. It will also increasingly become possible to connect any Y-DNA tested Cannell to a specific Cannell ancestral group where genealogical efforts to do this are stalled. The section below describes some of the earliest genealogically traced ancestors of various of the Y-DNA tested Manx Cannells.

 

Some Cannell Ancestral Groups with a Y-DNA tested descendant

 

Gilbert Cannell (1637 Will) and wife Christian Quayle (1658 Will) of Kirk Michael, IoM

 

Gilbert married Christian Quayle circa 1604, and their children included Phillip, John, Robert, William and Patrick. Land held by the family included most of a quarterland of rent 18s 4d in Dromrewaigh (inherited by Christian Quayle, and subsequently by her son Phillip), most of a quarterland of rent 16s 4d in Norlough (purchased by Gilbert Cannell and also inherited by his son Phillip) and most of a quarterland of rent 17s in Dromrewaigh (purchased by Gilbert's son Robert). [This family made Michael Compositions Z032 and Z035 as labelled in the Transcriptions section.]

 

John Cannell "Jnr" (died between 1646 and 1659) and wife Jony Lewen (1659 Will) of Kirk Michael, IoM

 

The children of this couple included Phillip (who married Jaine Crayne), William (who married Averick Cannell of Tromode, Onchan), Thomas (who married Margaret Corjeage) and Charles (who married Molly Quayle). John held the quarterland of Ballamanough in Ballcrynane of rent 26s 8d, which was inherited by his oldest son Phillip. [This is part of Michael Composition Z002 as labelled in the Transcriptions section.]

 

William Cannell and wife Alice Faile (1784 Will) of Braddan, IoM

 

The children of this couple included Thomas (who married Isabella Clague), Robert and Ann. William purchased a parcel of quarterland in Ballawillan (Braddan) from Thomas Kelly in 1771, adjoining other land held by another Cannell family. It seems likely that William is descended from Cannells who held land in the area back to circa 1600.

 

Other Cannell Ancestral Groups

 

There were at least a dozen other distinct Cannell family groupings living in the Isle of Man at the start of the seventeenth century. There were additional groupings on the British mainland. I aim to add details of those here in due course.