Battles of Dunbar and Worcester by Don Munro
I am sure you know that the Scots supporting Charles II were defeated at the battle of Dunbar in 1650 and the battle of Worcester in 1651 both on the 3rd of September, exactly one year apart. After the battle, many of the Scots prisoners were transported to the American colonies and among them were Munros of the Foulis Line.
They were a pretty unlucky lot, for what happened next was the American War of Independence and most of them supported Britain – so they finished up on the wrong side once again! This of course made them pretty unpopular in America so a lot of them trecked North to Canada, where they made their home.
The reason I am telling you this is that there must be thousands of these Munro descendants now in Canada and among them must be descendants of the Foulis line. Not too many Canadians have had their DNA tested and there is a good chance that Munros of the Foulis line are out there just waiting for the good news.
Margaret Bardin mbardin731@comcast.net and DeAnn Steely dsteely@yahoo.com will point you in the right direction and would love to hear from you
The Munros of my ancestral line, however (in Lexington, Massachusetts), fought against the British during the Revolutionary War. Some of that history remains memorialized in the Munro Tavern in Lexington to this day.
It’s great to have that history. Do you know where they came from in Scotland?
William Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts, was one of the prisoners of war sent to the colonies by Oliver Cromwell following the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. William was born in Scotland in 1625. The records show that he was one of four Scottish prisoners named Munrow aboard the “John and Sarah” (John Greene, master) — Robert, John, Hugh and one other whose first name is obliterated by time. Their names were recorded at Boston on 13 May 1652 as having been consigned to one Thomas Kemble who’d come to Massachusetts from London on 11 November 1651.
As far as William Munro’s connection to the current Clan Munro of Foulis is concerned, his father was Robert Munro of Aldie, near Tain in Ross-shire, who belonged to the Coul and Balconie family and was the fifth in descent from George Munro of Foulis (who died in 1452). From multiple attestations in historical documents, we believe that our ancestor, this William Munroe (who died in 1717 at age 92,) was descended from the Munros of Foulis, Chiefs of the Clan in Scotland, and shipped to America as a political prisoner. Nothing has been found to contradict these statements, but we don’t have what would be considered by genealogists as “absolute proof.” Again, all of this is documented in our book “History and Genealogy of the Lexington, Massachusetts Munroes” compiled by Richard S. Munroe of Florence, Massachusetts. My brothers and I are the 10th generation of this line of the Clan Munro.
Does DNA testing give you the proof that you need?
I’ve no idea whether or not DNA testing would give our family “the proof” that you speak of. I don’t know of anyone within our line (of the Lexington, Massachusetts Munros) that has undergone DNA testing.
Then why don’t you try it. You could share the cost between your family members and you will definitely find if your family history is correct – if that is what you want.
287 Munros worldwide have taken the Y-DNA test. 44 of them are of Foulis-Munro descent. We would love for that number to grow!
Perhaps they are checking the Y- DNA of these folk: https://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/europe/pg-skeletons/find/
See also: http://scottishprisonersofwar.com
John Munro of Bristol, Rhode Island, is said to be of 4 Munros exiled on the John and Sara after the battle Worcester, and is ancestor to many American Monroes.
Although on paper of the Foulis line , the DNA results of four men said to be descended from William Munro of Lexington MA in the Munro DNA project (Group 08) are of the common Western European Haplogroup R1b, whereas the Foulis line in Group 11 is the rare Haplogroup I2a, meaning the common male ancestor of both lived ~50,000 years ago. If the 4 men descend from William by different lines, William must have been Haplogroup R too. If they are more recently related one can only be sure about the common ancestor, and William could still be of the Foulis line. In any case only one of these men has tested to 37 markers and even that is insufficient to find matches in Haplogroup R1b, because there is a lot of overlap between many similar haplotypes.
William’s fellow passenger on the John & Sara, John Munro of Bristol, RI, has many descendants who have tested (Group 06) and a consistent Haplogroup R1b result, though of a particular branch (R-S5488) recently related to Group 08. He does seem to have Scots ancestry, being related to Munros left behind and some men name Bean or Bayne.
Two other of William’s relatives have been posting on the “Activty Forum” on the project blog. There is certainly a need for more participation by William’s male line descendants to try to confirm the Haplogroup, define it in more detail and find relatives. Extended testing to 67 or more markers may help identify related men, whether they turn out to be Scots or not.