A shocking discovery was made about the Jamestown colony, the first settlement made in North America by the English. This settlement has extreme historical significance, teaching researchers about the original settlements in North America and how they operated.
When remains of two men were found in a significant burial site, research was done to figure out their identities and stories. A recent test of the ancient DNA of these remains ended up leading to a shocking conclusion.
A Shocking Family Secret!
After analyzing the aDNA on the remains, researchers were able to identify the men as Sir Ferdinando Wenman and Captain William West. Both of these men were kinsmen of Thomas West, Third Baron De La Warr, the first governor of the Jamestown colony.
Researchers then went on to look further into the relationship between those two men and how they could be related to each other. Continued research led to the finding that the two men were related through the maternal side and not the paternal side, causing a surprise to many.
Historical Controversy
Illegitimacy was extremely taboo during the time of the Jamestown colony. The remains of both men had a shared mitochondrial haplogroup, a trait that is carried through the maternal line.
If the two men are related through their maternal line and not the paternal line, it leads to the conclusion that one of the men was an illegitimate son of Elizabeth West. But which one?
Documents Uncovered
In order to learn more about this surprising family secret, researchers turned to historical documents to uncover additional information about the family lineage. Court records were found detailing the family’s situation.
The First Baron De La Warr had more than one daughter, so Elizabeth West had a sister named Mary Blount. When Elizabeth Werst died, Captain William West was very young and he was raised by Mary Blount, his aunt. Elizabeth had left important jewelry to Captain William West after her death, which was claimed by The First Baron De La Warr’s second wife. In order to retrieve the jewelry back, Mary Bloiuynt went to court and there are historical records of her court experience.
It All Comes Together…
Captain William West was Elizabeth’s illegitimate son, proven by the historical court records. Researchers were already intrigued by how little historical documents were recorded about Captain William West because he was a man of such high status yet there were miniscule historical documents mentioning him.
It all made sense when they pieced all the evidence together.
The Jamestown Settlement Itself
Built in Virginia in 1607, the Jamestown settlement was the first English settlement established in North America. The settlement went through lots of challenges, such as those that came with interacting with the current inhabitants of the land as well as natural factors like diseases.
As this settlement was the first of its kind, it set an example for all that came after the Jamestown colony.
The Limitations
The uncovered remains that were found and tested were not preserved very well, giving researchers doubts about their ability to come to conclusive results of an analysis. However, it was just enough of a result to give the researchers just what they needed.
Just the genetic evidence alone would not have been enough. But paired with all other information that has been found thus far, it ended up being incredibly helpful.
The Original Remains Discovery
In 1994, the original remains of two bodies were found. The burial site of these bodies was near an important church, suggesting that these men were of high importance and status in the Jamestown settlement.
In 2013, the remains were identified to be Sir Ferdinando Wenman and Captain William West through both osteological and archaeological analysis.
Why is This Study Significant?
This study used both the study of aDNA as well as previously investigated historical records to come to conclusions about the matching maternal lineage of these two men.
Though the study of the aDNA could not come to specific conclusions about the paternal lineage of the buried remains, the conclusive results that were found about their maternal line as well as historical documents allowed researchers to come to the conclusion about the possible illegitimacy of Captain West.
Multidisciplinary Approaches Prevail
The researchers spearheading this endeavor came to final conclusions through using multiple forms of evidence such as archaeological, osteological, genetic, and historical.
The use of all of these tactics helped heavily in the end and proves that using multiple methods of analysis can come up with more detailed conclusions than could ever be found otherwise.
