The Burnett Y-DNA Project

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Burnetts of Leys and its branches, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (J‑M172A)

This paternal Burnett line embraces all the descendants of the noble Scottish family of Burnetts of Leys, who built Crathes Castle near Banchory in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Our base of Y‑DNA testers includes descendants of five of the branches of the Leys: the Burnetts of Craigmyle, Kemnay, Camphill and Elrick, and the Burnett‑Ramsays of Balmain. Other branches appear to have daughtered out and so cannot provide male testers. There are currently 9 Y‑DNA testers, located in Scotland, England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Burnett of Leys is a paternal line to which many researchers have mistakenly connected their tree. This family possesses a storied history of Lairds and soldiers, and, of course, the castle. Understandably, all Burnetts would like to connect their tree to this historic family. Surnames were adopted in Europe between the 11th and 16th centuries. It is likely that many paternally unrelated men adopted the name Burnett during that period, perhaps including men who served the Laird Burnett. In addition to the proven descendants of Burnett of Leys, there are at least two other paternally unrelated lines which trace back to Aberdeenshire and still others to other areas of Scotland. Although we know that most Burnetts do not descend on a direct paternal line from Burnett of Leys, Crathes Castle will always be the cultural home for Burnetts around the world.

Odo and Richard Burnard are attested in England in the 11th century. A century later certain Burnards are found in the Borders of Scotland at Roxburghshire, having emigrated north probably with the encouragement of David I, King of Scots, who wished to have new blood and skills in his kingdom. In due course, an Alexander Burnard from Roxburghshire decided to support the campaign of Robert the Bruce who determined to gain both the crown and the independence of Scotland from English domination. The Bruce became Robert I, King of Scots, in 1306 and he ensured Scottish independence by 1320. The king rewarded loyal support and service by granting land and, sometime before 1323, Alexander Burnard was granted the royal forest of Drum and the lands of Killenachtlerach on the river Dee, west of the royal burgh of Aberdeen. On 29 January 1324/5, Alexander Burnard had a further charter by which he was granted Tullibothill in the Sheriffdom of Kincardine and Little Culter in the Sheriffdom of Aberdeen. Tullibothill is shown in later charters to have boundaries corresponding with those of Kilduthie which lies a few miles to the north of Crathes. The charter of 1323 also mentioned the Loch of Banchory (later known as the Loch of Leys) and the island within it. The island referred to was the site of the crannog (or lake/loch dwelling) said to be the first dwelling of the Burnett family in north‑east Scotland. It was in 1553 that Alexander Burnett, the 9th Laird, and Janet Hamilton are said to have commenced the construction of Crathes Castle.

Full details about the history of the Burnetts of Leys and its branches can be found in The Holly and The Horn edited by Eileen A. Bailey.

Major Haplogroup: J‑M172 dated 25860 BC. Descendants of this line belong to this major haplogroup. Haplogroup J‑M172 is common in modern populations in Western, Central, and South Asia, Southern Europe, Northwestern Iran and North Africa. It is thought that J‑M172 may have originated in the Caucasus, Anatolia, Mesopotamia and/or present‑day Western Iran before migrating to Northern Europe.

Note: there is a separate paternal line (J‑M172B) tracing back to this major haplogroup, but it split from the Burnetts of Leys line in about 2480 BC, over 4,000 years ago.

Later haplogroups/SNPs:

• J‑FTA44956 dated 1476 +/- 80 years — all descendants of this paternal line share this haplogroup.
• J‑FTB28762 dated 1837 +/- 80 years — descendants in the Craigmyle and Kemnay branches.
• J‑FT413978 dated 1674 +/- 80 years; J‑FTB16510 dated 1699 ± 80 years; and J‑FTD39110 dated about 1750 ± 80 years — descendants in the Camphill branch.
• J‑FTC3780 dated 1630 +/- 80 years — descendants in the Elrick line.

See the chart below for how these haplogroups connect to each other.

Earliest Known Ancestor: Alexander Burnard, 1st Laird of Leys, 1265–1358.

Origin Country: It is well known and well documented that this paternal line has resided in Scotland for around 800 years.

Y‑DNA‑verified Paternal Ancestors

From the family trees of our testers, the paternal ancestors listed below are confirmed members of this paternal line. Note that two of the surnames are not Burnett. In one case, this is because the second son of the 6th Baronet of Leys and his wife Katherine Ramsay, who was born Alexander Burnett, adopted the surname Ramsay when he was created a Baronet in 1806 with the title of Sir Alexander Ramsay of Balmain. His descendants dropped the surname Burnett and retained that of Ramsay. In a second case, the tester traces back to Alexander Bruce who was born out of wedlock in about 1831. His father is reputed to have been another Alexander Bruce, presumably born about 1802. It is suspected that this Alexander’s father was a Burnett of the Camphill branch of Leys. Although no documentary proof has emerged of his identity, Y‑DNA shows that he had a Burnett of Camphill in his direct paternal line.

Greater detail about the Burnetts of Leys and their branches can be found in The Holly and the Horn, edited by Eileen A. Bailey. The broader Burnett of Leys family tree can be found on Ancestry (you will need to register, for free) by searching the Burnett of Leys Master Tree https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/174546748/family?cfpid=402263199390 , where you can search for any name.

If your Burnett/Ramsay/Bruce ancestor is listed below, it means you also descend from this paternal line. Many dates are circa/estimated. Living ancestors are not included.

Name	Birth	Death	Spouse
Alexander Bruce	1831 Aberdeen Scotland	1912 Aberdeen Scotland	Isabell Fyvie
Peter Fyvie Bruce	1874 Aberdeen Scotland	1955 Aberdeen Scotland	Mary MacLennan
Alexander Bruce?	1802 Aberdeen Scotland	— Scotland	Jane Norrie
George H M Burnet	1875 Pas-de-Calais France	1929 Boulogne France	Kate L Wallis
Rodber Wm Stapylton Burnet	1850 Baden Germany	1880 Kensington England	Ada Hartwell
Thomas Burnet, 6th Baronet of Leys	1708 Kincardine Scotland	1783 Crathes Castle Scotland	Katherine Ramsay
William Burnet	1680 Criggie Scotland	1747 Virginia USA	Jean Burnet
Alexander Burnett	1470 Scotland	1525	Agnes Leighton
Alexander Burnett	1590 Scotland	1648 Scotland	Jean Arbuthnot
Alexander Burnett	1793 Scotland	—	Catherine Beaton
Alexander Burnett	1805 Aberdeen Scotland	1892 Ontario Canada	Janet Innes
Alexander Burnett, 11th Laird of Leys	1540 Scotland	1578 Scotland	Katherine Arbuthnot
Alexander Burnett, 12th Laird of Leys	1560 Scotland	1619 Scotland	Katherine Gordon
Alexander Burnett, 2nd Bt of Leys	1637 Scotland	1663 Scotland	Elizabeth Coutts
Alexander Burnett, 4th Laird Kemnay	1735	1802	Christian Leslie
Alexander Burnett, 8th Laird of Leys	1450 Scotland	1529	Janet Gardine
Alexander Burnett, 9th Laird of Leys	1490 Scotland	1574 Scotland	Janet Hamilton
Alexander G Burnett, 6th Laird Kemnay	1816 Aberdeen Scotland	1908 Aberdeen Scotland	Letitia Kendall
Andrew Burnett	1570 Scotland	—	Christian Jaffray
Andrew Burnett	1602 Scotland	—	Katharine Lichtoun
Andrew Burnett, 2nd Camphill	1527 Scotland	— Scotland	Constance Pitcairn
Andrew Burnett, 5th Elrick	1685 Aberdeen Scotland	1720	Marjorie Johnstone
David Burnett	1881 Ontario Canada	1950 Canada	Fannie E Beaven
Edward Francis Burnett	1897 Ontario Canada	1985 Saskatchewan Canada	Gladys Gilroy
Francis Burnett	1754 Clatt Scotland	1841 Kennethmont Scotland	Elizabeth Wilkie
George Burnett	1822 Aberdeen Scotland	1894 Penola Australia	Johanna Hayes
George Burnett, 3rd Laird Kemnay	1714 Kemnay Scotland	1780 Kemnay	Helen Burnett
George Edmund Patrick Burnett	1876 South Australia	1932 South Australia	Annie Shaw
James Burnet	1819 Skene Scotland	1897 Cairnley Scotland	Jane Glennie
James Burnett	1845 Skene Scotland	1916 Monymusk Australia	Ann Reid
James Burnett, 2nd Craigmyle	1590 Scotland	1644 Scotland	Elizabeth Burnett
John Burnett	1848 Ontario Canada	1936 Ontario Canada	Elena J Hamilton
John Burnett	1878 Monymusk Australia	1942 Pendle Hill Australia	Sarah E Stronach
John Burnett, 10th Laird of Leys	1525 Scotland	1575	Elizabeth Lumsden
John Burnett, 1st Elrick	1628 Scotland	1666	Mary Jamesone
John Burnett, 5th Laird Kemnay	1786 Kemnay Scotland	1847 Worcestershire England	Mary Stuart
John Burnett, 7th Elrick	1714 Scotland	1748 Aberdeen Scotland	Margaret Strachan
John Burnett, 9th Elrick	1745 Aberdeen Scotland	1822	Helen Garden
John Alexr Burnett, 7th Laird Kemnay	1852 Aberdeenshire Scotland	1935 London England	Charlotte S F Gordon
Peter Burnett, 10th Elrick	1791 Aberdeen Scotland	1870 Nice France	Mary Ann Robertson
Peter Burnett, 11th Elrick	1820 Quebec Canada	1889	Guillemina Curtis
Robert Burnett	1760 Scotland	1829 Scotland	Helen Pirie
Robert Burnett	1799 Newhills Scotland	1876 Scotland	Janet Nicol
Robert Burnett	1820 Scotland	1886 Ontario Canada	Agnes Torn
Robert Burnett, 4th Elrick	1666 Scotland	1697 Scotland	Bessie Burnett
Robert Francis Burnett	1854 Ontario Canada	1942 Saskatchewan Canada	Susannah Weir
Thomas Burnett, 1st Baronet of Leys	1580 Scotland	1653 Scotland	Margaret Douglas
Thomas Burnett, 1st Laird Kemnay	1610 Scotland	1688 Kemnay Scotland	Margaret Pearson
Thomas Burnett, 2nd Laird Kemnay	1656	1729	Elizabeth Brickenden
Thomas Burnett, 3rd Baronet of Leys	1658 Scotland	1714 Scotland	Margaret Arbuthnot
Thomas L F Burnett	1886 Ramsey ND USA	1940 Aberdeen Scotland	H Corsar; E Fitzgerald
William Burnett	1718 Aberdeen Scotland	— Aberdeen Scotland	Margaret Ruglin
William Burnett, 1st Camphill	1480 Scotland	1547 Pinkie Scotland	—
William Burnett, 7th Camphill	1682	1764	Anne Guthrie
Alexander Burnett Ramsay, 1st Baronet of Ramsay	1757 Kincardine Scotland	1810 Kincardineshire Scotland	Elizabeth Bannerman
Bertram Home Ramsay	1883 Surrey England	1945 Toussos-le-Noble France	Helen M Menzies
Francis Ramsay	1815 Kincardine Scotland	1867 Gloucestershire England	Georgina H Home
Sir Alexander Ramsay, 2nd Bt Ramsay	1785 Edinburgh Scotland	1852 London England	Jane Russell
William Alexander Ramsay	1848 Edinburgh Scotland	1933 Gloucestershire England	Susan N Minchiner

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