I - SSDP SURNAME IN and OUTS
"Anyone taking the time and enjoying the pleasures to sort out the many and
varied descriptions about where our ancestors came from, and how, knows so much
is lost in history that at this time, only DNA comparisons can be trusted to
define our genetic group. We have unique DNA results which almost unequivocally
join us together, regardless of the surnames which we or someone else chose to
define us as a historical family."
Arthur W. Stapleton, Jr., Group Administrator, Stapleton DNA Project
We accept pedigrees of members as presented, therefore, this study shows that a
person may have a pedigree to a surname ancestor that is not the same identical
ancestor or surname as the majority of the genetic family group, however at some
point back in time the ancestors of this group were genetically related. Hence,
it is possible to have a genetic relationship to a group and have a different
ancestor and/or surname.
Conversely, occasionally this study shows that a member may have a pedigree to a
group's common ancestor and not be genetically related; hence it is possible to
have a written pedigree and not have a genetic relationship to a group for
various reasons.
We know from recorded family history during the early surname era that many
individuals could not write their name and some surnames changed. These changes
came about, at times by the wish of the surname individual and also at times by
the misspelling or changing of surnames by individuals recording information.
It was not that long ago that when misfortune fell upon the head of a family his
family became destitute and children were given to friends and other relatives.
Some of these children took the surname of their benefactor.
There are many documented reasons of given and surname changes. About 50% of the SSDP membership originally carried the surname of STAPLE. All now carry the surname of STAPLES. One of our STAPLE(S) Family Groups shows a close genetic relationship to a family branch named STAPLETON.
ORIGINS OF STAPLE, STAPLES, STAPLETON & STAPEL SURNAMES:
c. 530 BC; the name STAPHYLUS is referred to in Greek mythology as the son of
Ariane and Dionysus, the God of Wine.
79AD; the eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii. Before the catastrophic
event scratched on a house wall - scribbles trace a love's uneasy course; "Here Romula and STAPHYLUS met" - and, alas, "Here STAPHYLUS met Quieta" - and,
inevitably, "Do you think I'd mind if you dropped dead tomorrow?" The National
Geographic Society, 1968, 'Greece and Rome, Builders of Our World', Volume 'The
Story of Man', P16;
STAPOL: Old English for post. Barnstaple history indicates that its name derives
from Old English in the 9th or 10th century "Bearda's STAPOL" meaning 'Trading
Post of a man called Bearda'.
STAPULA: Latin for a "marketplace". In northern France, ~10km (~6 miles) east of
St. Omer, is the village of STAPLE, its documented history shows that its name
derived from the Latin word Stapulas, recorded in the Map Archives of Saint
Bertain in 1026. It is at the crossroads of an old Roman road and was a
marketplace with warehouses. In 1328 Robert de STAPLE was Lord Rewart of Berques
who received his title from Philip Duke of Burgundy. There street signs still
carry the Coat-of-Arms of Robert de Staple.
STAPLE: Middle English for a marketplace as appointed by English and French
Monarchy designating a place where principal goods were stored and traded
between countries. Eventually the name STAPLE became to mean a place where
principal commodities, such as wool, are bought and sold and was also used to
describe the various commodities as staples. It is said that in 1234, Henry the
III founded the Hospital of Ospringe located in the parish of Headcom and land
in Twithan, STAPLE, Adisham, Wingham and Hammewolde' in Kent. Among the Masters
or Wardens of Ospringe, 1234 - 1515, are Alexander de STAPLE, appointed 1295,
and Nicholas de STAPLE, appointed 1310, removed 1314. The village of STAPLE is
located on an old Roman Road in Kent ~12 km (~7 miles) east of Canterbury.
According to its history one of its earliest families carried the surname of
Omer.
STAPLES: A variant of STAPLE; in England some families referred to themselves in
the English plural form, while on the continent the surname remained in the
singular form as STAPLE or STAPEL.
STAPEL: Middle Low German for a 'Column', 'Signpost', 'Warehouse' or 'Market'. A
Rhine-skipper called Godart STAPELL from Myllingen (Millingen) Netherlands
during the period Oct 5, 1466 is mentioned on page 150 of the book "Bijdragen
Van Het Instituut Voor Middleleuwse Geschiedenis Der Rijks-Universiteit Te
Utrecht, O, Oppermann en D. Th. Enklaar, Chapter XXVI.
STAPLETON:
A variant of STAPOL or STAPLE, of English origin with a good number
of families migrating to Ireland, derived from the Old English Stapol 'Post' or
Staple 'marketplace' plus tun 'enclosure or settlement' [Stapoltun/Stapletun].
In Ireland some branches adopted a Gaelic patronymic, viz., Mac an Gaule which
in due time was anglicized Gall, Gale and Gaule. Some leading STAPLETON'S backed
the Jacobite cause in Ireland and were forced into exile after its defeat,
settling at Nantes, France, where an Irish Colony was established. The French
department archives contain records of naturalizations of Irish-born Stapleton's
during the first half of the eighteenth century.
SURNAMES & DNA:
Regardless of our Anglo-Saxon surnames according to the National Geographic
Society, Genographic Project, our Y-DNA test results show that the vast majority
of us, carry a form of the ~30,000 year old R-M343 or R1b Haplogroup strain,
(M-168 > F-M89 > K-M9 > R-M207 >R-M173 > R-M343. According to our Y-DNA we
go downstream to R-M269, and some go further downstream to SNP R-U106.
According to Geneticist Dr. Bryan Sykes, Oxford University our R-M343 Y-DNA is
not Saxon, or Viking, but came by way of the Iberian refuges after the cold
spell called the 'Younger Dryas' that lasted from 12,300 to 11,000 years ago.
Dr. Oppenheimer, another Oxford geneticist says that in all, about
three-quarters of today's British and Irish populations arrived between 15,000
and 7,500 years ago from the Iberian refuges when rising sea levels finally
divided Britain and Ireland from the Continent and from each other. To view two
newspaper articles on Britain's Indigenous People - click
HERE.
Arthur B. Staples, Jr.
15 March 2009
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