Viking bloodlines still run through half Wirral’s men

Feb 9 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

HALF of all men living in Wirral and West Lancashire are directly descended from Vikings, according to a new study.

The blood of the Norse Vikings is still coursing through the veins of men living in parts of the region, says a paper published this week that combined an investigation into ancient surnames and modern DNA testing.

A team of 14 have been collating evidence since 2002, although they admitted they had been surprised at the sheer strength of the Vikings’ genetic legacy in the region, which is on a par with the Orkney Islands.

“We knew this area had a potentially strong Viking area, but didn’t think it would be this strong. Up to 50% of the blood of men in Wirral and West Lancs appears to be Scandinavian,” said Stephen Harding, professor of physical biochemistry in the Nottingham University School of Biosciences, and who is originally from Wirral.

“We knew this was an area of intense Viking settlement, there is all the place name evidence.

“Wirral and West Lancashire are the only two areas in the whole of England which have Thingwall as a place name – it translates as ‘parliament’ so means the settlements must have been substantial. Even Tranmere is a Viking name.”

To find the 100 male volunteers for the study, the names were chosen from tax lists dating back to the time of Henry XIII in 1545.

The names investigated included surnames which were also place names such as Oxton, Scarisbrick and Melling, and old names like Forshaw, Rigby, Rimmer and Robinson.

Prof Harding added: “DNA on the male Y-chromosome is passed along the paternal line from generation to generation with very little change, providing a powerful probe into ancestry. So a man’s Y-chromosome type is a marker to his paternal past.

“The method is most powerful when populations rather than individuals are compared with each other.”

The collaborative study, by the Universities of Nottingham, Leicester and University College London, was led by Prof Harding, colleague Professor Judith Jesch, and the University of Leicester’s Professor Mark Jobling.

The team have now secured the funding to roll out their study further across North Lancashire and Cumbria, and to see how far Norse Viking blood runs into Yorkshire.

Vikings landed in Wirral in 902AD after being expelled from Dublin.

Place names such as Aigburth, Formby, Crosby, Toxteth, CroxtethŠ are all Viking names.

The results of this research were published this week in science journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.

vickyanderson