WALKER WAS MYSTERY MAN

The parents of William Jagger (born about 1781, Southowram) were Mary Jagger and a man with Walker yDNA. My cousin Randy Jagger’s yDNA matches several men in Walker Group 20 at the Walker surname yDNA Project at 

www.familytreedna.com/public/Walker%20DNA%20Project%20mtDNA%20Results/default.aspx?section=yresults  

Currently, Randy’s nearest matches listed at FTDNA are 60 of 67 STR (Short Tandem Repeats) yDNA markers. Randy has a 59 of 67 markers match with Dave Walker (Kit number 352904) whose ancestry was associated with Birstall, West Yorkshire. A bit east of Southowram. Some Walkers of Liversedge, Cleckheaton, & Birstall are likely DNA kin to our Jaggers. 

Here is the probable Walker ancestry of Dave: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=nickmartin&id=I24250

William Jagger and his wife Martha Wilkinson were Most Recent Common Ancestors for Chris West & me, so our “Jagger-Wilkinson” autosomal DNA shared chromosomal segments might also contain a trace from William’s Walker father. Chris & I have some joint atDNA matches whose ancestries remain to be identified. There is hope of further progress via DNA.  

By 1545, Walker was reportedly one of the most prolific of West Yorkshire surnames, according to Yorkshire Surnames Series, Part Three: Halifax & District, by George Redmonds. A Walker was a man who operated a manorial fulling-mill. The surname is thought to not have been single-origin. So, only some of the many Walker men of West Yorkshire bear the yDNA signature that we have found in our Jagger line. There are several Walker researchers among the membership of the Calderdale Family History Society. Some Walker families were part of an inter-related group in the weaving industry, which focused particularly upon Birstall and Batley. http://maggieblanck.com/Land/WE.html  

A Walker family owned Walterclough Hall in Southowram https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walterclough_Hall at the time that Mary Jagger (b. 1759) of Southowram became pregnant by some Walker man. Some happenings at Walterclough Hall were part of the inspiration for Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuthering_Heights  The Walker family of Walterclough Hall reportedly were religious non-conformists, as were the family of our William & Martha Wilkinson Jagger, whose kids were baptized at the Square Chapel Independent Church in Halifax. There were also Walker people in Elland that were reportedly associated with Square Chapel. Birth, baptism, and burial records for Square Chapel may prove helpful, seeking any Jagger, Walker, & Wilkinson entries.

In the 1841 census of Southowram, our William Jagger, genetic son of Walker, was a wool comber. There are some Walker families in the 1841 census of Southowram. The listing includes Ann Walker (1803-1854), who lived at Shibden Hall in 1841. https://lowercalderlegends.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/the-ghosts-of-shibden-hall/  http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~calderdalecompanion/qq_170.html This Ann Walker was the heiress to Crow Nest Mansion, Cliffe Hill Mansion in Lightcliffe, & also heiress to Shibden Hall until her death in 1854. The Calderdale Companion tracks Ann Walker’s ancestry back a considerable distance. There is a tie-in to Walker of Walterclough Hall, but any connection to Dave Walker’s ancestry has yet to be detected.  

My wife Kathryn & I visited Shibden Hall in 2004, but at that time I was unaware of a Walker connection to Shibden, or that I even had Walker ancestry. Our Shibden Hall guides, & general Calderdale ancestral-tour hosts, were my Hardyman cousin Philip Aaron & his wife Val. My ancestor Mary Hardyman Jagger was a daughter-in-law of William & Martha Wilkinson Jagger. Mary’s sister Betty Hardyman married Benjamin Aaron, whose shoe shop in Halifax has subsequently enjoyed a continuous existence for over 2 centuries. www.baaron-son.co.uk/

Randy’s yDNA indicates Haplogroup I1-M253. Values on key STR markers are consistent with Clan AABA, at www.goggo.com/terry/HaplogroupI1/ This particular clan is notably found in Wales and England. Note at this site that most of the Mesolithic ancestry (I-M253) is said to have arrived from Scandinavia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_history_of_the_British_Isles West Yorkshire had a substantial Mesolithic era presence. Future research may shed more light upon our Walker/Jagger deep ancestry.