Herriott Surname Project

The objective of the Herriott Surname Project is determine what genetic and genealogic relationship, if any, exists between the Herriott's of Scotland and any of the variant spellings of Herriot, Heriot, Harriot, Harriott, etc.

To break through where documentary evidence has failed, the Herriott Heritage Association seeks to establish, through scientific evidence and the means of Y-Chromosomal DNA analysis, the genetic genealogy and possible links among the various "Herriott" branches.

Many branches of this family claim descent from the Heriot's of Trabroun, Scotland, established in 1423.

We have not been able to prove any direct link, but many Herriott's, Herriot's, Harriots's and Heriot's are believed to be descended from the Heriot's of Edinburgh, from which we have George Heriot, the Founder of Heriot's Hospital (School) and jeweler to King James VI of Scotland and James I of England.

It was said that George's family were of the Heriot's of Trabroun. George had no direct male descendants, but he had several half-brothers with descendents in Scotland and England and one descendant, David Herriott, immigrated to Perth Amboy in the Province of East New Jersey in 1685.

A branch of the Herriott's of Edinburgh was also thought to have immigrated to Belfast in the 1600's. The Belfast Herriott's emigrated to the US initially in the late 1700's as Scots-Irish and later to the United States in the 1860's. A member of that branch went back to Northern Ireland in the late 1860's to do some family history and genealogy research. The Belfast Herriott's came to Northern Ireland from Glasgow. Any other connection before that is unknown. The Belfast Herriott's believe they may have descended from the Herriott's of Edinburgh, but have not found any documentation to support this.

In addition, there are the Heriot's of Longniddry, said by Sir Alexander Nesbit, to be Cadets of Trabroun, with two descendants of this same family from Castlemains in Dirleton and two from Haddington, Scotland immigrating to the province of South Carolina beginning in 1759 and two from Haddington immigrating to Canada in the 1840's and 1860's.

The Heriot's of Ladykirk and Shiels and of Berwickshire are also thought to be related to the Heriot's of Trabroun. It is thought that from this branch came the founder of Drummondville, in Quebec, Canada, namely Major General, The Hon. Frederick George Heriot, CB, KtB.

There are various Herriott's in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and in the United States, also considered to be "of the Name" or "Clan" -- the Heriot's of Trabroun.

The Herriott Surname Project has been initiated and registered with Family Tree DNA, Inc. of Houston, Texas.

Family Tree DNA, Inc.
1919 North Loop West, Suite 110
Houston, Texas 77008-1354
Phone: (713) 868-1438; Fax: (832) 201-7147

Family Tree DNA has a very interesting, large and well-organized website: http://www.FamilyTreeDNA.com. A promotional video from Family Tree DNA can also be viewed over the Internet via the following link: http://www.familytreedna.com/videoaudio.html

The Herriott Surname Project is utilizing the 37-marker test. This test is considered a very high definition DNA test. The highest definition test currently available from FTDNA is for 67 markers at an additional cost. However, the additional 30 markers can be added to the 37-marker test at a later date for an upgrade cost if desired.

The vast majority of the surname projects currently registered by several companies performing genetic genealogy have used only 10, 12 or 25 marker tests. So, the 37-marker test is more than adequate and is expected to fit our needs nicely.

The Herriott Surname Project is offering free testing performed by FTDNA to an initial cadre of 16 members, selected from the five currently known or main branches of the Herriott's of Scotland. This free offer for testing to early participants in the Herriott Surname Project should encourage the initial testing and overcome expected inertia and some naturally expected and very understandable reticence to the concept of DNA testing.

Once the initial cadre has been tested, the Group Administrator will post notices about the Herriott Surname Project on this site, the major genealogy internet forums and associations and solicit "walk-ins" of any male with the Herriott surname or any of its variant spellings. However, we will request some basic genealogical information to help the HHA expand the family tree in the Herriott Blue Book database.

According to Family Tree DNA, Inc., there is a 95% chance that males in defined and fairly limited surname group from a specific locality and nationality will be related. On the other hand, that also means that there is a 5% chance of being unrelated due to a heretofore unknown or undocumented adoption or an unacknowledged or unknown paternal event that could cause an entire line to have unrelated DNA on the Y-Chromosome. It is also possible for spontaneous mutations to occur but these generally only cause minor differences in the Y-Chromosome DNA.

James H. Heriot, MD is the Herriott Surname Project Group Administrator. He may be contacted at Jameshheriot@aol.com.