The St. John Genealogy Project
Origin and Ancestry DNA Database & Electronic Archive
Warning: STOP MYTHEALOGY! DO NOT COPY FULL PAGES. USE A LINK. THIS IS AN ONGOING PROJECT!
This site will stop publishing publicly online if I continue to find full outdated pages copied to Ancestry, et al. Don't ruin the ability for others to find this project.
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[Last Updated 18 Jul 2021 by Suzanne St. John - profile.]
Mythealogy: 'Mythology + Genealogy' 1) the use of myths to perpetuate ridiculous genealogical claims that continue more to fulfill an emotional need than to reconstruct factual and historical information. 2) the refusal to update genealogical information by holding onto outdated or mythical claims. 3) the illegal and unethical scraping of data from a website and pasting it into a publicly available site and making it appear to be your data. 4) cutting the copyright and back-link information off of images produced by this project, rather than linking back to this site, so others cannot find our updated work. Usage Don't be a Mythealogist! St. John Origin & AncestryThe St. John Genealogy Newsletter Est. 2018HistoryThis Ancestry and DNA project was initiated by the descendants of Thomas St. John (1564-1625) of Highlight Abbey, Glamorgan, Wales beginning in 2001. Following King Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, in the 16th century, Highlight Abbey had been shut down and the village gradually depopulated. Highlight Abbey had been a Knights Hospitaller Abbey of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Depopulation of Highlight can be seen in various records that have survived into today. As part of this depopulation event the St. Johns and their nearest kin moved to London to join Parliamentary affairs and ultimately following the first Anglo-Spanish War, where in June 1605 a peace treaty was signed, Colonial America. The financial gains, the British acquired from this war, financed the expeditions of the Virginia Company of London (Jamestown) and of Plymouth (Popham). The sons of Christopher St. John, Esquire of Highlight (1547-1616) provide the most information for how the St. Johns, descendants of Knights Hospitallers, founded and relocated to what has become America. Acreage acquired by these Adventurers were passed down to their descendants following the hereditary customs of being from an aristocratic and gentry social class of St. Johns in Normandy, England, Wales, and Ireland. These descendants, of Thomas St. John, who later helped found the Connecticut Colony were classified as freemen, who had citizenship and land ownership rights based on their birthright. Thomas was the Master on the Popham Colony's ship, The Richard, that was taken captive by the Spanish off the coast of Florida. He bribed a guard for his freedom and returned to London a year later. His brother, Sir William St. John, Knight was a founder of the Jamestown Colony, 1st English Governor of the African Colony, and a Vice Admiral in the English Royal Navy. Two other brothers, Captain Nicholas St. John and Lt. Alexander St. John were killed at St. Lucia Island while trying to colonize it for England. These brothers were direct male descendants of Sir John St. John, Knight and 1st Baron St. John of Lageham, who descended from the first St. John, Ralph, of St. John at the end of the sea in Normandy.
In 2020, the identity and origin of Ralph of St. John (c. 1036-1122) was discovered. Ralph descends paternally from the nephew of Rollo the Viking. Descendants of Mathias St. John 1601-1669 and his uncle Mathew St. John 1590-1671 have primary records for every generation proving their descent from Ralph of St. John by way of the St. John family of Highlight, Glamorgan, Wales. Historians have merged the St. John family of Highlight with the de Port-St. John family of Fonmon and corrupted their ancestry.
Ralph, son of Wimund II, Seigneur de Haye-Pensel (Paynel) assumed the St. John surname by 1054. Ralph became the 'man' of St.John at the end of the sea near Mont St. Michel in Normandy, France but he is more prominently known as Ralph de Brehal and Ralph Paynel, the Domesday Tenant, [a merge with his son Ralph Paynel, Jr.]. Another son, Thomas of St. John, is remembered in the renaming of the village to St. Jean-le-Thomas. Ralph St. John-Paynel married the sister of Gilbert d'Lacy of Stantone in Domesday, Emma de Lacy.
One of Ralph's younger sons, John St. John, I of Stanton-St. John married the daughter of Hugh Plugenet of Headington and founded the St. John family of Stanton-St. John, Lageham, Instow, Barton, Godstow, and Swallowfield in England. He is the ancestor of the St. Johns of Uchel-olau (High-light), Glamorgan, Wales, Weobley Castle in Swansea and the American Immigrants: (brothers) Mathias St. John (1601-1669), Thomas St. John (1613-1698), and Nicholas St. John (1617-1689) and their paternal uncle, Mathew St. John (1590-1671). He is also the ancestor of the descendants of James St. John and Thomas St. John from St. Johnstown, Tipperary, Ireland.
The St. John Ancestor Project at Gedmatch brought together test subjects from various testing companies. We were able to bring them into a single project and compare their DNA against each other using 1cM up. We knew their matches to one another were likely not coincidental, so we could rely on these small segments if the matching was consistent. Thanks to the use of this Gedmatch project and the discovery of a missing link between Tipperary, Ireland and Longford, Ireland/Argentina St. Johns, we were able to prove the Mathew St. John at St. Johnstown Castle in 1608 was Thomas St. John of the Popham Colony's son Mathew St. John 1590-1671, of Windsor and Norwalk, Connecticut! Then we identified descendants of James St. John son of William St. John 1500-1563 of Highlight Abbey. James and his nephew, Thomas St. John, Gent., were granted several Fiants to land in Mortlestown (St. Johnstown), Tipperary, Ireland by Queen Elizabeth I. This led to Mathew St. John, Gent., son of Thomas to be at St. Johnstown, Tipperary, Ireland as the proprietor representing Fethard in 1608. Now we can confirm our DNA back to William St. John d. 1563 and his wife Jane Mathew. is an English polygenetic surname: a surname that has more than one source or origin. Our St. John surname, however, comes from a village in Normandy formerly known as “Saint John at the end of the sea,” making it a toponymical surname because it is a surname derived from a place name. These surnames originated as non-hereditary personal by-names, and only subsequently came to be family names. For the nobility of St. John, it became a marker of their social status. St. John originally included the article, ‘de,’ in French, to mean ‘of’ [the village] Saint John [at the end of the sea].
Several secondary St. John surnames have been created through the years including: St. John-Paynel, de Port-St. John, Mewes-St. John, Poynings-St. John, Mildmay-St. John, and possibly others. While this project's main goal focuses on the original St. John lineage, it does include those other paternal families that share the St. John surname. There are many false claims regarding persons of the St. John surname. Historians have confounded specific individuals with others. Articles and books often describe confusing and conflicting claims. Unsubstantiated theories have been added to research sites as legitimate records. This site attempts to fix these issues with primary records and DNA testing by identifying as many living descendants and their direct lineages as possible. We have two DNA projects at FTDNA We can also review your AncestryDNA results if you share them with member 'thepoetz' According to the College of Arms, any person who descends from a legitimate male descendant of Sir John St. John, 1st Baron St. John of Lageham inherit the right to his arms. Contact Us
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If you have any questions or comments about the information on this site, please 
inherited by his legitimate heirs-at-law
Helpful Sites
New York Public Library St. John Digital Collection
Transcription Services Ltd
Suzanne's Ancestry Tree (research only)
Glamorgan Family History Society
