User:Samsonsol/EDorsey

Edward Darcy-Dorsey I (1619 – 2 August 1659), also known as Edward The Boatright or The Immigrant, was an early settler in the American colony of Virginia, who, along with other Puritans, left Virginia to open a new settlement in Maryland. The Dorsey family became one of the most important families in Maryland, and has evolved to become one of the more prolific family trees in America.

Early Life
Very little is known about Edward the Boatright prior to his arrival in the Virginia colony. Genealogists have long maintained that Edward was either descended from the original Norman D'Arcy family, or from the Thomas, Lord D'Arcy family. However, recent DNA testing has ruled out any relation to Lord D'Arcy. Moreover, the DNA project revealed markers in his descendants that his origin is most likely Irish. There is some credible documentation to link Edward to the Normans in that the "Dorsey" surname is a variant spelling of "D'Arcy", which is an Anglo-Norman family that emigrated to Ireland from England in the 14th century. In the end, the question of Edward's ancestry is not the focus of this article.