This is just to announce that I have just set up a DNA study based on the name Creer.

The earliest surviving written records show that in around 1511 there were about 7 or 8 Creer families (at that time named McCrere) living in the central part of the IOM, in the parishes of Braddan and Michael.
The fact that there were so few Creers in 1511 has lead me to develop two hypotheses about the origins of the Creers of today.

Firstly - the growth and distribution of Creer families since 1511 is such that all the present day Creer families, most probably, are all descended from these early 7 or 8 families - and if that is true
Secondly – it is conceivable that these early 7 or 8 families were all the descendants of one single McCrere male who existed on the Isle of Man perhaps around 1400.

Unfortunately the lack of surviving documentary records in the Isle of Man from such a long time ago, makes it very difficult to prove or disprove these hypotheses by conventional genealogical research and so the new technique of Y chromosome analysis may provide some answers here.

The purpose of this posting is to ask board members to alert any Creer males they may know about this study to seek their participation. More information is available - and I can be contacted via the study website at www.creer.co.uk The more participants there are, then the more meaningful this exercise will be.

Many thanks - John Creer