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NEWS! -  DNA Link to Muncaster Castle found with the Mulcaster and Heard families in Ontario.

I was contacted by the Pennington Research Association for a second time in 2015 regarding DNA research and information regarding a Robert Heard and his connection to the Penningtons of Muncaster and the close DNA relationship to Mulcaster.  The number of markers was increased to 67 in the DNA test done by our male Mulcaster volunteer in order to determine a more definitive result.  The results did prove quite exciting - at least for the Heard and Mulcaster family.




DNA testing (67 Markers) of a male Mulcaster descended from Edward Mulcaster and Esther Cottrell showed strong ancestral connections to England, Scotland and Norway.
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The connection to Mr. Heard and therefore Muncaster Castle and Gamel de Pennington and then the connection to Norway seems to further link the Mulcaster family to the Penningtons.  Gamel which is an old Norse common name is said to have married that daughter of Ulf, a prominent Norse landholder. In the Domesday Book there are four landholding men with the name Gamel (or Gamal) recorded, including a father and son with considerable holdings. All of them held property in middle England, mostly to the west.   
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