Burnetts of Banchory, Aberdeenshire (I‑M253F)
The family trees of the testers in this group reveal three separate paternal descendant lines tracing back to the Banchory area of Aberdeenshire. Y‑DNA testing proves they share a common paternal ancestor within the past 1,000 years. The name of their common ancestor has not yet been established, but two of the testers are proven by Y‑DNA testing to share a common ancestor born about 1432, suggesting the name Burnett has been used in this branch for several hundred years and making it one of the oldest proven Burnett paternal lines. Testers in this group also have matches to other surnames including Duncan and Gear. Duncan and Gear could be branches that sprung from a paternal Burnett through a non‑paternal event or the reverse could be the case.
Two men named William Burnett, born about the same time in the same area have been identified in different tester trees. One had a son William b. 1770 who married Anne Laurie, the other had a son Robert b. 1776 who married Barbara Caie. These could very well be the same William. A Big Y test of a descendant of William Jr would prove or disprove this.
Although this line has been definitively traced to Banchory in Aberdeenshire Scotland, the known location of Burnett of Leys, Y‑DNA shows descendants of this line are not paternally descended from the Burnetts of Leys. They may have adopted the surname as a result of working for the Leys.
Major Haplogroup: I‑M253 dated 10000 BC. This is a very common haplogroup which is considered the original paternal lineage of Nordic Europe.
To date only 2 testers of this group have upgraded to the Big Y, which produced a haplogroup of I‑FTA42244 dated to about 1432 ± 80 years, around 200–300 years before the earliest known ancestor of either of them. Three of the four US testers descend from Robert Burnett and Barbara Caie. Of these three, one has upgraded to the Big Y. The second Big Y is from the results of a UK tester who descends from Nathaniel Burnett and Mary Fielding (see chart below).
Earliest Known Ancestor: one of the earliest known ancestors was William Burnett, possibly born in about 1688, whose son Nathaniel was born in Banchory in 1730. Nathaniel moved south to England where his son Theodore was born in Clitheroe, Lancashire in 1765, an area in which the family has remained to date.
Another early ancestor was Robert Burnett, who married Elspet Booth in Banchory in 1691. He may have been baptised in Arbuthnott in 1674, the son of William Burnett. The family remained in Aberdeenshire until the early 20th century when a descendant moved to Massachusetts.
The third family’s earliest ancestor, shared by three testers, was Robert Burnett, born in Kincardine O’Neil in 1776, son of William, who married Barbara Caie in 1801 in Midmar. A descendant of this family emigrated to the USA in 1888, to Philadelphia, before eventually moving to Florida.
Family Chart
The abbreviated family chart below may help the reader understand the relationships between the ancestors discussed in this summary.
Y‑DNA‑verified Paternal Ancestors
From the family trees of our testers, the paternal ancestors listed below are confirmed members of this paternal line. Some of the dates are estimated. If your Burnett ancestor is listed below, it means you also descend from this paternal Burnett line. Ancestors born after 1900 are not included for tester privacy.
| Name | Birth | Death | Spouse |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Burnett | 1650 Scotland | ||
| William Burnett | 1688 Scotland | ||
| Robert Burnett | 1674 Arbuthnott Scotland | 1725 Lumphard Leys | Elspet Booth |
| Andrew Burnett | 1712 Kincardine Scotland | Jean Imray | |
| Nathaniel Burnett | 1730 Banchory Scotland | Mary Fielding | |
| William Burnett | 1746 Scotland | ||
| William Burnett | 1744 Kincardine Scotland | 1835 Scotland | Christine Molyson |
| Theodore Burnett | 1765 Clitheroe England | Jennifer Oddy | |
| William Burnett | 1770 Kincardine Scotland | 1829 | Anne Laurie |
| Robert Burnett | 1776 Kincardine Scotland | Barbara Caie | |
| John Oddy Burnett | 1789 Walton‑le‑Dale England | 1832 Rufford England | Margaret Davison |
| David Burnett | 1804 Midmar Scotland | 1885 Aberdeen Scotland | Mary Smith |
| George Burnett | 1807 Aberdeen Scotland | 1883 Aberdeen Scotland | Mary Lamont |
| John Oddy Burnett | 1819 Rufford England | England | Mary Smith |
| David Burnett | 1834 Aberdeen Scotland | 1924 Aberdeen Scotland | Isabella Mathieson |
| James Burnett | 1855 Rufford England | England | Harriet Seddon |
| Frederick William Burnett | 1882 Southport England | 1961 Southport England | Hette Sanderson |
| Alexander Burnett | 1838 Aberdeen Scotland | Jane Scatterty | |
| James Burnett | 1845 Aberdeen Scotland | 1923 Aberdeen Scotland | Barbara Mowatt |
| George Burnett | 1866 Aberdeen Scotland | 1923 Philadelphia, PA USA | Anna Weightman |
| William G Burnett | 1872 Aberdeen Scotland | 1936 Holyoke, MA USA | Christina Davidson |
| Henry L G Burnett | 1891 Aberdeen Scotland | 1940 Barre, VT USA | Jane Ross Allan |
| George Leslie Burnett | 1898 Philadelphia, PA USA | 1979 Broward, FL USA | Emily S Kerr |