Who is the Bartholomew Family?

Part 4: Early Beginnings

YDNA-61698 migration map — Map of human origins tracing the YDNA-BY61698 subclade to which the Bartholomew family belongs.

The more distant history of our branch of the Bartholomew family in Scotland is becoming clearer, thanks to recent results of YDNA genetic analysis of samples taken from a pool of family members.

Close-up of possible I-BY61698 yDNA paths — Close-up of possible patrilinial migration

Contrary to family lore, we are unlikely to be descended from the Huguenots who fled from France in the late 16th Century. On the male line we belong to a yDNA haplogroup known as I1, which is less common in the British Isles. This line is rooted and still well-established in Sweden and Northern Germany. This is a different genetic history from many Bartholomews in the south of England, who seem to have migrated from Northern France from as early as the Iron Age.

The map above suggests that our ancestral branch (YDNA subclade I-BY61698) was already living in Scotland in earlier times. Perhaps our forebears came later with the Vikings or even before that. We are researching this further now with more sophisticated testing. There are records of the family name as early as 1296,when Alisaundre Bertholmeu of Edinburghshire rendered hommage to Edward I. Variants of the Bartholomew name start to appear widely in Scotland from the 1500's in church and legal records.

There are three distinct recent family groups of Bartholomews in Scotland to whom we are related (incl. Barclays, Bartlemans, Bartilmos and other variants). DNA shows that all are related to each other within the last ten generations. We call our branch the Bartholomews of Linlithgow. The other two branches are of Duntarvie/Kirkliston in West Lothian and of Muiravonside near Falkirk. Our branch stayed mostly in Scotland until recent times. Some members from the other branches migrated in the 18th and 19th Centuries from Scotland to North America, Australia and New Zealand. We maintain contact with distant cousins in all branches. A fourth Scottish Bartholomew cluster, the Bartholomews of Renfrewshire exists since the 16th century though we have not yet established if there is a family link.

Map of the three Bartholomew branches — On Bartholomew's Half-Inch Map, this shows approximately where each of the three Bartholomew sub-branches were located in the late 18th Century. Edinburgh is to the east of this area.

Linlithgow in 1693 in Theatrum Scotiae — Linlithgow in 1693, *Theatrum Scotiae*

Current family research is focused on using genetic genealogy combined with documentary research to understand how the three Scottish Bartholomew groups are related. This will also hopefully allow us to discover the ancestors of Archibald BARTHOLOMEW, born around 1682. Archibald was a merchant and burgess of Linlithgow.

Archibald had nine children, all born in Linlithgow. Our family database tracks the descendants of two of his sons, Archibald b. 1716 and George b. 1718. This George's son John Bartholomew moved across the Firth of Forth to settle in West Baldridge, near Dunfirmline. He fathered two children out of wedlock, Isabell and George, before settling down with Hannah Turnbull with whom he had five children. There are no known living descendants from this marriage.

The living descendants of today's Bartholomews of Linlithgow are all part of a line from John's eldest son George whose mother Margaret Aitken was a chambermaid in the Southside of Edinburgh.

Take a journey through the lands of the Scottish Bartholomews with this interactive version of this interactive version of Bartholomew's Half-Inch map. Start in Linlithgowshire and let your mouse or fingertips explore further.

Click on image below and zoom in and out of the map to find many of the places, large and small, which are mentioned in the database.

FAMILY PROFILE: Early history and origins

Who is the Bartholomew Family?

Part 4: Early Beginnings

Take a journey through the lands of the Scottish Bartholomews with this interactive version of this interactive version of Bartholomew's Half-Inch map. Start in Linlithgowshire and let your mouse or fingertips explore further.