Journals of a Time Traveller

Back to the Future: Time Travel and Haplogroup Index

The convergence of genetic evidence and documentary research has brought a new level of precision to my recorded genealogy, allowing me to trace the odyssey of my paternal lineage: yDNA haplogroup L-SK1414 > FGC51040 > FGC51036.

In the mid-18th century, my Brooker ancestors emerge from the shadows of surviving parish records. On November 1, 1746, my 6 x great-grandparents, John Brooker and Mary Gardiner, were married at St John’s College, Oxford. They were not scholars; rather, John was a copyhold tenant of the College. At the time, the vicar of St Mary’s in Long Wittenham was non-resident, living in Oxford. It was more practical and cost-effective for the couple to travel to Oxford for the ceremony than to pay the fees required to entice the vicar back to their home parish.

The marriage register identifies both John and Mary as residents of Long Wittenham, Berkshire. In 1746, the parish was primarily held by two landowners, including St John’s College. As tenants on this manor, John and Mary would have practiced communal farming within an open-field system—a landscape defined by individual strips allocated to various tenants, a practice that persisted long after the medieval period.

While Mary was born and raised in the nearby parish of East Hagbourne, identifying John’s origins has proven more elusive. I once hypothesized that he belonged to the Brooker family of East Hagbourne; however, rigorous genealogical research—utilizing a process of elimination to rule out other John Brookers of similar age and nomenclature in neighboring Berkshire parishes—disproved that theory. Consequently, the specific birthplace of my 6 x great-grandfather remains a mystery, as he first appears in the historical record in 1746.

My 6 x great grandfather John Brooker? As visualised by Google Gemini AI.

While there is no definitive documentary record of John Brooker’s origins, the evidence suggests a clear migratory pattern. Based on yDNA STR markers that indicate a shared paternal lineage with the Chandler family of Basingstoke, I hypothesize that my Brooker ancestors migrated northwards across the North Wessex Downs of Hampshire and Berkshire between the 16th and 18th centuries. As explored in Act 9, I suspect that the wool trade and sheep farming may have provided a catalyst for this movement. I have mapped this target area below to illustrate the potential path of this migration.

Source ©  OpenStreetMaps Modified by myself.

There are several parishes within that target zone, where I see both Brooker and Chandler entries in the same registers, even on the same page. STR comparisons of our yDNA suggests a convergence between 1540 and 1600 CE.

The story of John does not end in 1746. John and Mary had at least six children baptized at St Mary’s between 1749 and 1763, including my 5 x great-grandfather, Edward Brooker, in 1757. Edward witnessed the parliamentary enclosure of Long Wittenham's open fields in 1809. It was his son, John Brooker Jr., who—like many others dispossessed of land tenure—fell into the poverty of the agricultural laboring class. He eventually drifted landless across the river and eastward through Oxfordshire in search of work.

Our yDNA lineage—descended from Ice Age ibex hunters in the Zagros Mountains, Early Neolithic goat herders, and Chalcolithic priests—has traversed millennia. It has survived the rise of the Ur III civilization, the era of Hurrian merchants in the Mitanni Empire, and the bustle of Phoenician temples. From Levantine mariners on 15th-century Italian galleys to Tudor wool merchants in Basingstoke, our ancestors have occupied every stratum of history. Now, they toiled in the soils of Oxfordshire for others.

GO TO NEXT ACT - Royal Field Artillery. Western Front. 1916 CE.

Back to the Future: Time Travel and Haplogroup Index

Back to the Future: Time Travel and Haplogroup Index

My working hypothesis is that the yDNA lineage L-SK1414 > FGC51040 > FGC51036 first reached Hampshire soil via a Levantine mariner serving aboard a Venetian galley. While he could have absconded upon reaching Southampton, I suspect a different path: a brief encounter with a local Hampshire woman before he returned to the sea.

This 'dalliance' provides a more plausible explanation for how this specific DNA entered the regional gene pool during the transition from the late medieval period to the Tudor era. Naturally, much of this paternal odyssey remains rooted in conjecture. To bridge the gaps in the historical record, I have used Gemini AI to imagine the meeting between this distant ancestor and my 15th century great-grandmother in the bustling port of Southampton.

The Southampton priest appears disgruntled at the prospect of baptizing a child born out of wedlock, doesn’t he? Yet, I’ve directed Gemini AI to capture the mother’s joy—portraying her as an innocent soul, undeterred by the cleric's disapproval.

Perhaps I have let my imagination run a step ahead of the records, but the narrative is tempting. Forty years after that first arrival, I imagine the mariner’s son defying the period’s inherent prejudices to rise to the rank of a wool merchant. The lifeblood of Southampton was the highly valued wool of the surrounding counties, which acted as a magnet for foreign fleets. In this scene, I have asked Gemini AI to portray my ancestor as an entrepreneur, visiting the wool hall in Basingstoke.

There is a firm rationale for this setting. If my paternal lineage arrived in the late medieval or early Tudor era at Southampton, the line clearly drifted northward toward the Berkshire and Hampshire Downs. Basingstoke is the earliest known residence of the Chandler family, with whom I share a specific yDNA signature.

A comparison of my STR (Short Tandem Repeat) markers against the Basingstoke Chandlers suggests the following TMRCA (Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor):

Historical Correlation:

Assuming a standard genealogical generation of 30 years, this 14–16 generation gap places our common ancestor between 1540 and 1600 CE.

I recognize the hurdles of such a rapid ascent in 1540. The era was fraught with xenophobia and a profound suspicion of those with Mediterranean features or Catholic leanings. While the dating range is flexible—the DNA may have arrived earlier, taking several generations to migrate toward the Downs—I am using a degree of 'informed conjecture' to frame my AI-generated imagery. I believe the science of STR matching is most powerful when paired with a narrative. This is not just a data point; it is a 'could have been' for how my lineage took root in English soil.

Act 9 of the Odyssey: My yDNA has traversed the millennia—moving from an Ice Age ibex-hunter in the Zagros Mountains to a Proto-Neolithic goat herder, then onward through a priest-diviner on the Khorasan Highway. It has lived as a Bronze Age smith visiting the Great Sumerian civilizations, a Hurrian merchant reaching the Levant, and a temple accountant in Roman Phoenicia, before finally arriving as a mariner in Tudor England.

This concludes the division between the Early migration to Britain (Hypothesis A), and this Late migration to Britain hypothesis. Next, both streams meet as we arrive at the written record, where our Y-DNA L-FGC51036 meets the documented trail of genealogy.

GO TO NEXT ACT - John Brooker, 18th century copyhold tenant of Long Wittenham, Berkshire. 1746 CE.

Back to the Future: Time Travel and Haplogroup Index

Back to the Future: Time Travel and Haplogroup Index

If a man of my Asian paternal lineage was a mariner in the Venetian service in the late 1490s (Venetian sailors were often actually recruited from the Republic's colonies in the Levant or the Adriatic), his journey from the Levant to England would have been a two-stage odyssey. After serving on a Galea di Beirut to reach the Rialto, he would have transferred to the prestigious Galee di Fiandra (Flanders Galleys) for the trek to Southampton. This journey represented the pinnacle of medieval maritime logistics—a state-regulated convoy that connected the silk and spice hubs of the East to the wool markets of the North.

Source ©  OpenStreetMaps Modified by myself.

1. The Fleet: The "Great Galley" (Galea Grossa)

The mariner did not cross the seas in a small rowboat. He served aboard the Galea Grossa, the "jumbo jet" of the 15th century. These massive merchant vessels, roughly 40–50 meters in length, were the only ships legally permitted to carry the most precious "light goods"—spices, silks, and dyes—from the Levant to the North.

• The Crew: A single galley carried approximately 200 oarsmen. In the 1490s, they employed the alla sensile method: three men shared a single bench, but each pulled his own individual oar. This required a rhythmic, highly skilled labor that took years of practice to master without tangling.

• The Hybrid Power: These ships were marvels of engineering. While they utilized three massive lateen sails for the open sea, they relied on the raw power of the oarsmen for maneuvering in tight ports, navigating narrow channels, or escaping pirates during a dead calm.

2. The Route: The "Muda" System

The journey was a state-regulated convoy system known as the Muda. It was not a direct shot but a series of calculated "hops" across the known world.

Phase 1: The Levant to Venice

The first leg was a voyage from the ports of the Levant (such as Beirut) to the heart of the Republic.

• The Hub: The Piazzetta in Venice served as the mandatory layover. The mariner wouldn't just stay on the ship; he would live in the city for weeks or months, exchanging Syrian dirhams for Venetian ducats.

• The Arsenal: These vessels were not private property; the Galea Grossa was a state-owned vessel built in the Arsenal—the world's first industrial factory. The Republic built them, and wealthy merchants merely rented them for the voyage.

Phase 2: Venice to the Atlantic

Once refitted, the "Flanders Convoy" began the long trek west.

• The "Stop-and-Shop": The fleet stopped at Malaga on the Spanish leg to take on "fruits of the sun"—raisins and almonds—which were highly prized luxuries in England.

• The Bay of Biscay: This was the most feared stretch of the journey. Because the galleys were low-slung, they were at constant risk of being swamped by massive Atlantic "rollers." During these storms, the oarsmen usually huddled below deck or assisted with the sails, praying for the safety of the hull.

Phase 3: The Arrival in Southampton

• The Galley Quay: Upon reaching England, the fleet docked at Southampton’s West Quay. The medieval walls that stand today are the same stones these men walked past as they sought out local taverns and markets.

• The Return: The journey was a circle. The return trip was just as vital, as the mariners loaded heavy sacks of English wool and "cloth of tin" to carry back to the looms and markets of the Mediterranean.

3. Life as a "Merchant-Oarsman"

If an ancestor was on the bench in 1498, his life was a unique blend of grueling labor and entrepreneurial opportunity.

• The Portata: Unlike the galley slaves of later centuries, these were free men. A unique Venetian tradition allowed sailors to carry a small amount of their own cargo tax-free, known as the portata. An oarsman could tuck a bundle of silk or a bag of saffron under his bench to trade privately in Southampton, potentially earning more from this "luggage allowance" than from his actual wages.

• Social Mixing: By law, every galley carried a contingent of noble youth serving as crossbowmen (balestrieri). A common mariner would have worked and lived alongside these young Venetian aristocrats as they learned the family trade.

• The Turning Point: The year 1498 was a tipping point in history. While the mariner kept a sharp eye out for rival Genoese privateers, the world was changing. This was the last generation to enjoy the Venetian monopoly on spices; the first Portuguese voyages to India were already underway, and the center of gravity for global trade was about to shift forever from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.

Back to the Future: Time Travel and Haplogroup Index

The Guardian of the Lady’s Ledger: 64 BCE

The air in the inner sanctum of the Temple of Baalat Gebal is heavy with the scent of age-old incense and the sharp, resinous tang of fresh cedar. Outside, the Mediterranean sun beats down on the harbor of Byblos, but here, behind thick limestone walls, it is cool and quiet.

The Treasurer sits at a heavy table of polished cedar. He is a man of precise movements and quiet authority. He does not wear the armor of the Roman legions now marching through the streets, nor the tattered silks of the dying Seleucid court. He wears the fine, pleated linen of a high-ranking Phoenician administrator, secured with a signet ring of carnelian that has been in his family for generations.

He could be the carrier of my L-FGC51036 line—a lineage that has always thrived in the spaces between empires. His ancestors were the Hurrians who followed the gods of the mountains to the sea; he is the result of their survival. He is a man of two worlds: he speaks the local Phoenician tongue of his neighbors, the Greek of the educated elite, and is already learning the harsh, rhythmic Latin of the newcomers.

Physical Description and Presence

• The Face of the Levant: He possesses the features of a true Levantine crossroads—deep-set, observant eyes that have calculated the weight of a thousand silver shekels, and a neatly trimmed beard in the Phoenician style. His hands are calloused not from the sword, but from years of handling clay tablets, papyrus scrolls, and the rough bark of the timber that built the world.

• The Weight of Office: He is the man who oversees the "Lady’s" wealth—the vast stores of grain, the jars of precious oil, and most importantly, the timber contracts.

• The Negotiator: As he looks up from his ledgers, his expression is one of calm calculation. He is currently watching the transfer of power to Rome not with fear, but as a logistical challenge. To him, the Roman General Pompey is simply a new, formidable "customer" for the Temple's cedar.

Source ©  OpenStreetMaps Modified by myself.

His Mission at the Gateway

In this moment of 64 BCE, he is the anchor of our lineage. As the Seleucid Empire collapses into anarchy, he ensures that the Temple—and by extension, his family’s status—remains indispensable. He is currently overseeing a massive shipment of cedar beams destined for the Roman shipyards, ensuring the paperwork is flawless so that when the Roman tax collectors arrive, the Temple's ancient privileges remain untouched.

He is the "Ghost" made manifest: a rare genetic signature that has survived by being smarter, more organized, and more essential than the warriors who fight over the soil above him. He represents the moment my DNA became woven into the very administrative fabric of the Roman Mediterranean.

The temple Balaat Gebal in 64 BCE as visualised by Google Gemini AI.

And so, my ghost yDNA lineage has settled along the Levantine coast. There it may stay for centuries. A rare variant inherited from Ice Age ibex hunters of the Zagros. Ancient survivor.

Which Act Next?

Here, you have a choice in hypotheses. You may follow the early route to Britain via the Roman Empire (Option A), or

You may follow the late route to Britain via Late Medieval Venetian Galleys (Option B).

GO TO EARLY ROUTE OPTION A - Act Severan Roman bureaucrat in Londinium. 220 CE.

or

GO TO LATE ROUTE  OPTION B - Act Late Medieval Venetian Galley Merchant, Southampton. 1490 CE

Back to the Future: Time Travel and Haplogroup Index

The Hurrian’s Homecoming

The dust of the Syrian steppe clings to the merchant’s woolên robes as his caravan crests the final ridge. Below him sits Aleppo, a city of white stone dominated by the massive Temple of Hadad.

A century ago, a man of his kin—a Hurrian from the Zagros foothills—would have approached these gates with trepidation. The old Amorite kings of Yamhad were masters here, and a mountain-man from the east was a foreigner, or a mercenary at best. But the world has turned. The Hittite storms from the north shattered the old walls, and in the vacuum, the Mitanni have risen.

As he reaches the gate, the guards do not sneer. They call out in a dialect of Hurrian that tastes of home. There is a ritual to the entry—the weighing of silver, the checking of seals, and yes, a small "gift" of fine Zagros tin to the captain of the guard to ensure his donkeys find the best stalls. He isn't an outsider anymore; he is the economic lifeblood of an empire. He carries more than just goods; he carries the gods of the mountains to the plains of the Levant.

Could this merchant be my direct ancestor? Does he carry an earlier genetic signature of the paternal yDNA haplogroup L-FGC51036—that I carry today?

Source ©  OpenStreetMaps Modified by myself.

Mitanni charioteers. The new power. Suddenly the mountain cultures of the west replace the Amorite power of Syria.

Rationale

I have chosen this Hurrian merchant entering Aleppo as the representation of my paternal line’s westward movement for several specific historical and genetic reasons.

My yDNA haplogroup L-SK1414 > FGC51040 > FGC51036 is a "ghost" lineage—rare and low-frequency throughout history. This suggests to me that my ancestors did not arrive in a massive, anonymous wave of migration, but likely persisted through a specific social or professional niche, such as a merchant family, moving along established trade corridors.

I know that for several hundred years leading up to 1500 BCE, there was a westward spread of people, DNA, beliefs, and agricultural practices identified as Hurrian. This expansion originated in the Caucasus and northern Zagros and moved into the Khabur River Triangle and Northern Syria, fundamentally changing the genetic signature of the local population.

The timing of 1500 BCE is crucial to my choice. Under the previous Amorite Kingdom of Yamhad, a Hurrian ancestor of mine would have been a linguistic and cultural outsider. However, with the rise of the Mitanni—a Hurrian-led superpower—the status of my ancestor would have shifted from "foreigner" to "imperial partner."

I chose Aleppo because it was a holy city and a strategic gateway. It represents the pivot point where my lineage transitioned from the eastern highlands into the Levant. By placing my ancestor here at this moment, I am capturing the likely point of entry where my specific genetic signature established itself in the region, bridging the gap between my Zagros origins and my Levantine history.

GO TO THE NEXT ACT - Temple of Baalat Gebal, Byblos. 64 BCE

Back to the Future: Time Travel and Haplogroup Index

Back to the Future: Time Travel and Haplogroup Index

My hypothetical ancestor traverses the Pa-yi-Tak Pass, where the limestone escarpments of the Zagros drop away in a dramatic, vertical plunge toward the Mesopotamian alluvials. As he descends into the Diyala River basin, he leaves behind the cool, familiar air of his highland home for a world defined by sun-baked silt and endless irrigation channels.

Beyond the Wall of Martu, he enters the territory of the Ur III Empire—a civilization that feels alien and structured compared to the mountain passes. Here, he is viewed as a "Lullubian," a barbaric outsider from the fringes of the known world. Yet, the prejudice of the lowlanders ends at the mouth of his forge. To the city-states, he is the master of a rare and essential magic: the secret of Bronze.

The smith enters Eshnunna through the dust of the Great Khorasan Road. This is the gateway to the Tigris—the threshold of Mesopotamian civilization. He finds himself in a dense urban square, a labyrinth of sun-dried mud brick where the air hangs heavy, a stifling mix of yellow desert silt and the cloying blue smoke of temple incense. Looming over the chaos is the E-sikil, the great ziggurat of Tishpak, a multi-tiered mountain of brick that asserts the suffocating bureaucratic and religious weight of the Ur III Empire.

The city is mid-rite, caught in the fervor of a religious festival. A procession for Tishpak, the patron god, snakes through the streets. Cult statues sway atop ornate litters, accompanied by the rhythmic drone of reed pipes and the sharp pluck of lyres. Amidst a sea of bleached Sumerian linen and urban clamor, the smith stands as a pillar of the rugged Zagros. Clad in heavy mountain wool and a sweat-stained leather apron, he is a figure carved from a different world.

Beside him, his pack animals are laden with the true wealth of the age: high-purity bronze ingots and master-forged tools. His presence is purely, starkly functional. He is here to barter the "magic" of the highlands—the metal that tips their spears and shears their grain—for the surplus of the plains: textiles, silver, and barley.

Source ©  OpenStreetMaps Modified by myself.

He is a high-status outsider, tolerated but never truly integrated. As the citizens of Eshnunna chant to their divine protectors, the smith looks toward the horizon. He yearns for the thin air and familiar peaks of Bakr Awa. He is a man of the heights, but as he watches the city bustle, the thought lingers: how long before his descendants descend from the Zagros not as traders, but as heirs to these very plains?

GO TO THE NEXT ACT - The Hurrian in Aleppo. 1,500 BCE

Back to the Future: Time Travel and Haplogroup Index