Fisher DNA Survey

Conditions of Participation

Regardless of whether your family is now settled in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or any other country, if you have an unbroken male descent from a male Fisher ancestor who originated from the British Isles we want to hear from you. It is self evident that the greater the number of participants the greater the validity of the results. Therefore the collection of DNA tests will continue to update and improve the completeness and accuracy of the group results.

1. The participant must be a male Fisher with unbroken male Fisher ancestry. Subject to this the participant can be any male member of his family. Only one participant per family is required at this stage.

2. The participant must supply a copy of his male Fisher lineage, which must include full details, including dates, places, occupations, etc, as known. The details of living family members should be rendered anonymous without obscuring the relationship of the participant to the rest of the family.

3. The participant must certify he holds documentary proof (based on primary sources) of his male Fisher lineage.

Any male Fisher can participate. If you have a fully documented genealogy this will help to identify the most probable geographical origin of your family. If you do not we may be able to assist you in your research. If your surname is not Fisher but you have Fisher ancestors; provided you have a male relative who will take the test and whose surname is Fisher his result will define the haplotype of your Fisher family.

If you have a proven ancestry to the mid 17th century the financial cost of the DNA test will be borne by the Fisher Surname Study subject to the provision of satisfactory documentary evidence. Contact the Group Administrator for further details.

If two testees match at all 12 markers and they share the same surname they may share a common Fisher ancestor. However, as Fisher is a high frequency surname and most will belong to the most common European genetic grouping (R1b), a 12/12 match may not be sufficient and upgrading to a 25 marker test should be considered. If the same two testees then achieve a 25/25 match they are both related and share a common Fisher ancestor. In some cases a 24/25 and exceptionally a 23/25 matches will also have common ancestry. It will depend at which marker the mismatch occurs. Each test requires examination before asserting to what degree a relationship exists.

For more details or answers to specific queries contact the Group Administrator.

Results & Analysis

The majority of Fisher haplotypes are expected to belong to the dominant European haplogroup known as R1b with a small minority belonging to Haplogroup I. These groups are known to have populated the British Isles before the general adoption of hereditary surnames. This has been borne out by the results received. However there are a number of results belonging to R1a, J and G2—groups which are normally associated with Eastern Europea, Middle-eastern and East Indian origins—although the documentary information on the Fisher families belonging to these groups does not reveal a link to these areas.

Initially the definition of a Fisher family haplotype shall be based on the results of a 12-marker test. Where possible each haplotype definition shall be assigned to the (British) county of origin of the deepest ancestor of the testee’s family. The more ancient that ancestor the more confident the identification of the family's medieval origins.

Haplotypes have been ‘positively’ assigned to Suffolk (2), Devon (2),  Lancashire (Furness) and Nottnghamshire. Several ‘originate’ in London but with ‘true’ origins believed to be in Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Kent, Surrey and Ireland. The remainder are unresolved with documented ancestries to the 18th/ 19th centuries so the probability remains that these families actually originate elsewhere.

The two Devonshire haplotypes define families which originated from adjacent villages in NW Devon and recorded a 10/12 match. Statistically, these families cannot share a common Fisher unless a high resolution test confirms a 23/25 match. Ultimately, of course, these two families share a common male ancestor who may have originated in Devonshire at a time antedating the adoption of hereditary surnames.

It is estimated there are 200 to 250 extant Fisher haplotypes. The actual number will only become apparent when the number of matches recorded exceeds the number of new definitions of Fisher haplotypes discovered by DNA testing. The tested families will correlate with the known medieval Fisher family clusters and previously ‘unrelated’ Fisher families will begin to link up. This work, however, is at a very early stage in its development and requires significantly more families to be included.

Take the test and we will show whether your family is related to a known Fisher haplotype or defines a new Fisher haplotype.

For Fisher DYS values visit our page at FamilyTree DNA. When we have more results this schedule will be complemented by a distribution map of the known geographical origins of Fisher haplotypes.

Contact: fisher@one-name.org