Guest author and genealogist Nick Rowland took the Big-Y DNA test and learned his male line is more Viking than British. He has graciously allowed us to present his story here at Rowland Genealogy.

——

The Essex Rowland Family Story from 10,000 BCE to 2020 CE

This is the possible early history of our Essex, England, Rowland male line as of today.

The story is based on the Family Tree DNA Y700 test done on Nicholas Rowland (B612826) and resulted in a haplogroup Y4342.

It starts with a family in the Palaeolithic era in central North Africa just south of what is now the Sahara Desert but was probably a fertile region at that time. Gradually descendants of this family migrated across Africa to the Straits of Hormuz and crossed over into modern day Arabia. This was still in the Palaeolithic era and more than 10,000 years ago. Why they migrated is really a guess but it is very likely climatic change in the area and population growth forced them to find new areas to live in. They would have been using very basic stone tools and living a very hard life off the land.

As they migrated, the DNA in the men would change a little, leaving traces of where they had been. We can trace their migration across Arabia, Iran, across Siberia and ending the Palaeolithic era just north of the Aral Sea where the DNA Haplogroup had modified to R-M240.

During the Mesolithic era the family didn’t move very far ending up near the modern-day town of Belgorod in Russia. It is likely the Quaternary Ice sheet kept them from wanting to venture very much further. By now their DNA had modified to R-M417.

At some point about 10,000 years ago they started to migrate towards Europe, quite possibly following the fertile lands exposed by the retreating Ice sheet and hunting the animals who were also following the new grazing land exposed by the melt. By now the family were in the Neolithic era and were using quite sophisticated stone tools, they were probably meeting other families and starting settlements. This era is where humans started to live in settlements and started farming as a way of life.

During the Neolithic era they continued to migrate West and by the Bronze Age had reached Eastern Europe, their DNA had changed by then to R-Z284.

All through the Bronze Age and Iron Age they didn’t move very far at all and by about 400 CE they were probably living near the west coast of modern-day Norway. Although this date meant most of Europe was part of the Roman Empire, the Rowland family probably never knew that nor saw a Roman soldier because the Romans didn’t go that far. The Rowlands were now classified as Norse and almost certainly were not yet called Rowland. The map below shows this part of the story.^[8]

By 400 CE their DNA had changed to BY95335 a sub group of YP4342 which is classified as belonging to the R1a group which is found in modern day Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.

By around this time, we have to guess a little as to when, the Rowland family migrated to Britain. They may have come as early as the Neolithic era (see map below).^[8]

However, a recent archaeological excavation of Greenland has given us a clue. A male was excavated and his DNA was tested as being YP4342, which matched with the Y700 test. This man was given the identity of VK184.

In the above table of the R-Y4342 haplotree from YFull.com, the England flag shows the Rowland sample and immediately below it is the Viking sample VK184. So far, the Rowlands are the only close match to this individual, although a man in Germany with the name of Ulrich Erichson is close as are two men from Sweden Johannes
Andersson and Börge Johansson. Further down is an Archaeological sample DNA from a Longobard burial in Hungary and this individual is suspected as being descended from a Scandinavian who travelled deep into Europe. This DNA sample is the only one in the excavation with R1a type DNA.

Anyway, back to Viking VK184 who we shall call Leif as VK184 seems a little impersonal. Leif was buried in the Viking Eastern Settlement on Greenland, which is near the modern place called Brattahlid, Qassiarsuk.

This is the Archaeological report about his burial.^{[1] [2]}

“The site is located on the Qassiarsuk plain in Tunulliarfik Fjord, where 60 ruins were recorded and identified as the high-status farm Brattahlid, where one of the first Norse colonists, Erik the Red, settled with his family in the mid-980s CE.

The northernmost farm at Qassiarsuk identified as the ruin group Ø29a is thought to have been that of Erik the Red. According to Icelandic sagas Tjodhilde, the wife of Erik the Red had a church built on the farm around 1000 CE, and the remains of a small church found in the beginning of the 1960s have been identified with Tjodhildes’ church. Radiocarbon dates of skeletons from the church yard indicate that the small church was built at the time of settlement in the late 10th century CE. The church yard was taken out of use in the beginning of the 1200s CE and the church site relocated.

There was a sex bias in the arrangement of the graves in the churchyard. The southern side of the church was mostly for high status men while many of the women were buried on the north side. A few high-status women were also buried on the south side, whereas a few low-status men were buried on the north side, and studies show that there were clear differences in both stature and teeth conditions between people buried on the south and north sides, likely reflecting the social structure of the Norse society.

A mass grave was also excavated on the south side of the church with 13 adult men and two boys of 10 and 17 years of age, respectively. This was determined to be a secondary grave because the bones of the skeletons did not lie in situ, indicating that the remains might have been moved to ‘Tjodhildes’ Church’ from another grave or they may have died far away, and their bones were subsequently brought to Brattahlid for burial. Studies by Alexandersen and Prætorius suggest that the individuals buried in the mass grave might have been relatives. Strontium isotope analyses suggested that some of the of the individuals buried at Tjodhildes church were immigrants from Iceland.”

One of these is VK184.

It looks like Leif was buried around 1000 CE and had been born in Iceland. Most Vikings in Iceland came from the West Coast of Norway. Therefore, we can assume Leif’s family at some stage between 400 CE and 1000 CE migrated to Iceland and at the same time another part of the same Family (yes, Leif is a Rowland cousin) migrated to Britain. There is small chance that Leif (and therefore the Rowlands) are related to Eric the Red as they tended to live in family groups. Eric the Red’s family originated in Rögaland in the SW of Norway.

Again, it is a guess but the Essex Rowland DNA type is found in Scotland and is a parallel group to people of the surnames Cummings and MacDonald.^[5] It is possible the Rowlands had come to Scotland by about 800 CE and slowly moved down through Britain, possibly via York and then ending up near the Essex coast. These were all areas that were part of Danelaw and it is quite possible the Rowland family just followed the Viking invasion through England, probably by boat down the coast and up the rivers, eventually settling in Essex.

What is still a mystery, is why they chose the surname Rowland. By 1538 surnames were in common use in England because of Taxation and Parish register requirements. The earliest documented Rowland of our family (apart from Leif) was a Nicholas Rowland born around 1510 who had a land dispute (recorded in the Essex Feet of Fines) and had to leave Witham in Essex, moving to Coggeshall a short distance away.

Rowland could be a Norman name but this seems unlikely in our case as the Normans were generally DNA group I not R, originating from a different part of Scandinavia. It is possible, however, that they lived on a manor owned by a Lord called Rowland and they had to take that as a name. Nobody knows but it is unusual for a Norse family to change from Viking names to essentially English ones, maybe they just wanted to blend in, who knows. It is theoretically possible they originated in Rögaland and maybe Rowland is a corruption of that…we’ll probably never know.

Our Rowland family remained in Coggeshall all through the 16c, 17c, 18c, and early 19c, working as agricultural labourers and weavers. This is recorded in Parish records held by Essex County record Office.^[6]

By the early 19c some of the Rowland men in Coggeshall had turned to Haircutting/Hairdressing as an occupation, we don’t know why this was and whether it was ladies hair or just the work of a barber for men. Around 1830 Elisha Rowland moved the short distance from Coggeshall to Halstead in Essex and started a Hairdressing business in North street, which was later carried on by his son Ichabod, who also worked as a hairdresser in London for a while. Another son, Peter emigrated to Brisbane in Australia, his son Norman de Horne Rowland^[3] became is well known judge on the Sydney circuit and for a short time in Papua New Guinea. Another of Elisha’s sons born in 1845 was Rowland Hill Rowland^[4], he started work in a Jeweler’s shop in Halstead but through knowing a local family called Minter moved to take over their shop in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

Rowland Hill turned the Woodbridge shop into quite a large Hardware business, making furniture and also had some ships trading between Woodbridge and London. One of them was called the “Hope” and she carried straw and animal feed to London (for the horses), bringing back goods and Whale oil (for lamps) to sell in the shop. Sometimes she would also bring back horse manure for the famers to use on their fields. Because London had a huge number of horses, there was a big problem getting rid of their manure.

With the introduction of cars and public transport people started to travel further to buy things so the shop in Woodbridge started to struggle as the locals shopped further afield. Eventually the business closed in 1936.

The following is a summary of our direct line from 1510. This information was taken from notes made by myself from records in Essex County Record Office^[6] between 1982 and 1990.

It starts with Nicholas Rowland (my 13th great Grandfather) who was born in Witham, Essex, we know his age but we don’t know who his parents were. Nicholas moved to Coggeshall in Essex around 1530 and had married a lady called Margaret, they had a son in 1530 called Thomas Rowland, he married a lady called Sibil and they had a son in 1560 called Thomas Rowland. We don’t know who Thomas married but he did have a son in 1588 called Richard Rowland. Richard married a lady called Jane and they had a son in 1613 called George Rowland.

In 1633 George Rowland (1613-1685) married a lady called Ellin Bardwicke (1612-1662) and in 1635 they had a son also called George Rowland; we don’t know who he married but in 1650 he also had a son called George Rowland. We don’t know who this George married but they had a son in 1670 called Peter Rowland (1670-1742) who married Martha Northey (1670-1725) in 1690. In 1693 they had a son called Peter (1693-1757). Peter married Elizabeth Clerke (1684-1759) in March 1714 and in 1721 they had a son also called Peter Rowland (1721-1781) and in November 1759 he married Mary Humphry (1741-1796).

Peter and Mary had a son in 1761 also called Peter Rowland (1761-1834) who married Hannah Robinson (1765-1818) in February 1784. Peter and Hannah had a son in 1807 called Elisha Rowland. Elisha became a hairdresser and moved from Coggeshall to Halstead in Essex. He set up his business in North Street, Halstead and in October 1830 he married Mary Ann Brewer (1809-1882) they had a son in 1845 called Rowland Hill Rowland (1845-1929) they might have named him after the man who invented postage stamps but we don’t know for sure.

In May 1875 Rowland Hill Rowland married Sarah Jane Bailey (1855-1929), who was the daughter of two Wesleyan School Teachers who taught in a type of school called a “British School”. Around the same time in 1875 Rowland Hill Rowland and Sarah Jane moved to Woodbridge in Suffolk where Rowland Hill Rowland had taken over a Hardware Shop. One of their sons was Norman Launcelot Rowland (1885-1937), he married Agnes Beatrice Lingley. They had a son John Norman Rowland (1923-2002) who married Freda Grace Petley. They had one child Nicholas John Rowland (1954-date) who is the writer of this document. He has one son James Nicholas Rowland (1987-date) who has three sons George (2013), Edward (2016) and William (2018). That brings our male line up to date.

(Apologies to all the other sons and daughters of all the above people but this is trying to describe the direct Rowland male line. The full tree can be seen on Ancestry.co.uk.^[7])

——

Sources:
[1] 442 Ancient Viking Skeletons Hold DNA Surprises – Does Your Y or Mitochondrial DNA Match? Daily Updates Here! by DNAeXplained, published September 18, 2020
[2] Population genomics of the Viking world by Ashot Margaryan, Daniel J Lawson, and others, published September 16, 2020 at Nature.
[3] Rowland N.D.H. : Judge, District Court 1924 – 1925 @ Sydney [ NSW Australia ], Occupation eventlet
[4] “History of Rowland Hill Rowland of Woodbridge, Suffolk, England” by Rev. Ivan Moore, the husband of Anita Rowland the eldest grand child of Rowland Hill Rowland.  Photographs added in 2009, 14 pages.  This document was first published for the Suffolk Local History Council and was written in the early 1980’s.
[5] New Results from “BigY” Tests, published by Clan Donald, USA
[6] Essex Record Office, The storehouse of Essex history, Essex County, England, United Kingdom
[7] Family Tree at Ancestry (login required)
[8] SNP Tracker by Scaled Innovation

——

Note: This Rowland line does not currently have a designated DNA Group identifier in the Rowland Xref Project or the FTDNA Rowland DNA Project, because currently there is only a single Y-DNA test-taker from this line. It is being temporarily identified as Rowland DNA Group Essex. If you are a Rowland male, and believe you may be part of this DNA group, then we strongly encourage you to join the Rowland Xref Project.