Remember that ¡°Jones¡± as a surname was first recorded in the late 1200¡¯s in England and not in Wales.
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Even today there are more than double the number of Jones in England than Wales, and it was the second most numerous surname in England in 2021. How many of those are originally Welsh I¡¯m not sure.
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I would be interested to know the TMRCA of the ¡°Jones¡± contingent, but also TMRCA of any subgroup made up of ¡°Welsh¡± surnames. If it¡¯s 1500-1800¡¯s then it could easily be a lone individual from Ireland, Scotland etc. 1200-1500 and I¡¯d have thought a solider in Edward¡¯s army, either ¡°English¡± or Scottish.
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What would also be interesting is if we knew solid locations of the last record ¡°Welsh¡± ancestor; North Wales and an older TMRCA than 1280¡¯s and it would give more credibility to a Welsh location
- unless you believe the origin myth of North Wales¡¯ dynasties; first from Scotland in the 300-400s and then through a daughter and a King of the Isle of Mann around the 800s. Although that dynasty (both branches) did always seek refuge n Ireland whenever they were temporally overthrown-
A South Wales location would need an older TMRCA to give a solid Welsh decent due to the earlier colonisation.
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I¡¯ve come across too many FTDNA users who assume that they ¡°are¡± from whatever country their family oral history says, often based on surname, with no actual evidence when I¡¯ve asked them or done a little digging and found other accounts online- eg people only being able to trace ancestors to the USA but putting Ireland as where their last known ancestor was from ¡°because I¡¯m CTS4466¡±¡ when their other subclaude matches have a better papertrail and can prove that their common ancestor sailed from Scotland for instance!
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GJ
