ROBSONS SOUGHT FOR CLAN RESEARCH

November 16, 2006

Call goes out to Robson clan

Four hundred years ago, the Anglo-Scottish border was ruled by clans known as the Border Reivers, a lawless community of tribes continually at war with each other.

Today, while the acrimony may be long gone, Border Reiver surnames such as Robson, Armstrong, Elliot and Burn remain predominant and scientists are to study whether these ‘clans’ still exist.

The study will examine whether modern Robsons can be linked back through their genetics to the original Border Reiver clan of the Robsons of Tynedale, described in his book, The Steel Bonnets, by George MacDonald Fraser as ‘a one-time leading family, and highly troublesome’.

The research has been commissioned by the Centre for Life for a new exhibit called ‘The Robson Encyclopaedia’ which will examine genetic inheritance. 100 male volunteer Robsons will be invited to give a DNA sample, using a simple mouth swab, which will then be examined for any similarities occurring in the Y-chromosome.

Linda Conlon, director of the Centre for Life, said: “The Border Reivers are part of our folklore. The idea behind the Robson Encyclopaedia is to take a topic we’re familiar with and use it to help explain a complex issue such as genetic inheritance. The Centre is in the middle of a £4.5million redevelopment programme, when finished next spring, it will house a new permanent exhibition called Human Life. The Robson Encyclopaedia will be part of it. We hope that by engaging local people in the development of the new exhibition it will encourage better understanding of what the Centre is about.”

Once the Robson DNA samples have been collected, the Y-chromosomes will be compared. Twelve markers, stretches of DNA from different parts of the chromosome where variations from person to person are known to occur, will be compared to see how many volunteers, if any, share the same variations. Examining these variations in genetic coding is a reliable way of identifying whether people share a common ancestry – if one person shares the same variations as another then they have inherited these variations from the same ancestor.

Dr Alix Groom, who is based at the Institute of Human Genetics at the Centre for Life, will be leading the genetic analysis work. She explained: “We are investigating whether the modern Robsons have a genetic root that leads them back to one original family. Just like a surname, the Y-chromosome is passed down from father to son.”

Organisers are hoping to attract one adult male Robson from any interested Robson family. To take part, volunteers must supply a DNA sample, which will be taken by a simple mouth swab. DNA samples will be taken by scientists at the Centre for Life from 10.30am through to 12.30pm on Saturday 25 November 2006 in the Centre’s Conference and Banqueting Suite. For further information about the Robson Encyclopaedia, or if anyone wants to take part but is unavailable on the date stated, please call Dr Alix Groom on (0191) 241 8837.

The results of the DNA testing will be announced in the New Year and those taking part will be invited to see the exhibition at its official opening in March 2007.

The research will reveal a group result and no individual results will be given.