The Dalton International DNA Project is one of the largest and most respected projects of its type internationally and has approaching 180 sets of DNA markers in its database. We still need to expand it further, particularly with individuals who have documented ancestral lines that take them back to known English or Irish Dalton origins. The strength of the database as a family history research tool lies in its size, and its continued growth is of paramount importance to us all.

So, if you are a Dalton male and you have yet to take the plunge, please do think about joining this well established and exciting project. If you wish to participate, you should contact either myself (michaelndalton@aol.com) or Karen Preston (karen@golden-hills.com) as the project administrators, and we will be pleased to discuss what is involved in more detail.

We are indebted to our DNA consultant, Chris Pomery for all his assistance with the project over the past six years, which includes the preparation of three issues of the very comprehensive project progress report, and most informative presentations at our annual gatherings on three occasions.

Well over 80% of participants in the project are members of one of the 15 identified genetic families. The latest DIDP news and a full DIDP update were published in December 2010 with a further update in May 2011, and may be accessed by clicking on the appropriate link below.

The emphasis is now on providing updated reports for each individual genetic family. The first of these, for genetic family A, was published in December 2010, establishing the template for these reports. During September 2011 we completed initial versions of the reports for genetic families B, C and D in time for the Salt Lake City Gathering, so we now have four reports available as follows:

- Genetic Family A - the Virginia Daltons

- Genetic Family B - the Eireann Daltons

- Genetic Family C - the Carmarthenshire Daltons

- Genetic Family D - the Golden Vale Daltons

These proved very useful at the gathering with each of these groups well represented by delegates, and much useful discussion took place, both formally and informally. On the formal side, Chris Pomery gave a video presentation updating us all on the project, and then participated in a discussion and question time via a live link up from his home in Yorkshire, UK. Also Melanie Crain, Rodney Dalton and Cathy Negrycz gave presentations about groups A, C and D respectively.

This all helped us to take forward both the details of the project by identifying specific further research for these groups, and also the project as a whole by demonstrating its breadth and depth, and the ways in which it will help other delegates in due course. Links to all the presentations and the supporting slides will be found here.

There are two further reports still to be published as follows:

- The first will cover genetic families E, F, G, H, J and K together with R1b singletons

- The second will cover genetic families Q, W, X, Y and Z together with non-R1b singletons

It is planned to complete these in January 2012.

All these reports are made available to the members of the group or groups covered in each one, and it is generally a requirement that recipients of reports are paid up DGS members. This enables us to reimburse Chris Pomery as our DNA consultant for the immense amount of work that he undertakes on an ongoing basis for the project.

Karen Preston and I are now in discussion with Chris about how we propose to take the project forward in 2012, and we will be making further announcements about this in the new year, so watch this space!

Special webpages have been set up to enable genetic family groups to share data with one another. These have now been established for groups A, B, C and D and can be found at www.dalton-dna.net. Webpages will be added for other family groups shortly.

Last update: December 2011.

Project History

DIDP was established by the DGS in May 2003. At the end of 2005, the Society appointed Chris Pomery, an authority on genetic genealogy, as consultant to the project, to advise on interpretation of results and lines for future research. In October 2006 a preliminary presentation of the project findings was made at the DGS American Gathering in Hampton, New Hampshire, USA. This first report included 71 testees and appeared in November 2006. In July 2007, Chris spoke at the DGS Gathering in Worcester, UK. There were 99 participants included in Issue 2 of the report published in January 2008 and Issue 3 was published in October 2009 and had 126 sets of markers recorded and analysed. Many participants extended their number of markers and this added considerably to the value of the database as a whole to our Dalton family history researches.

Our DNA consultant, Chris Pomery made a video presentation on Saturday 31st July at our 2010 Gathering. Entitled “Getting the best from traditional and genetic genealogy – the future for the Dalton surname project”, it provided the latest update on the project and stressed the importance of undertaking traditional genealogical research alongside the DNA results in order to extend and maximise our knowledge of the family history associated with each identified genetic family.

We thank Chris for the superb work that he has done in preparing these reports for us. They are truly excellent pieces of work and set a formidable standard for all those engaged in one name Y-DNA studies. We are indeed fortunate to have Chris as our consultant and his ongoing services continue to be available to us through the coming year.

Meet Chris Pomery in the video of an interview given by him at "Who Do You Think You Are? Live!” in London in February 2009.

Learn more about DIDP in the video of the presentation made to the DGS Gathering in Australia in March 2009.