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Yorkshireman found to share DNA with African tribes
Last updated at 22:52pm on 27.01.07
Top: Astonished Yorkshireman, John Revis. Below: Revis and wife.
John Revis has always considered himself a true Yorkshireman who was proud of his ancestry.
But he has been forced to confront an entirely different heritage - after scientists uncovered that he has exactly the same DNA imprint as a tribe of African warriors.
Scientists last week announced the discovery of the first proof that slaves brought to Britain by the Romans left behind a distinct genetic heritage.
This strand was revealed to exist among just seven men with a particular surname hailing from the North of England.
However, the academics refused to disclose the identities of any of those men included in the study.
Now The Mail on Sunday has discovered that all of those with the African lineage have the surname Revis.
Last night, John, 75, a retired surveyor living in Leicester, said: "I started looking into my family history and traced my ancestors back to the mid-1700s.
"One line went to the States and became very successful while my immediate line stayed in the North of England and were mostly bakers. There was nothing to suggest that I was African."
John responded to a newspaper advert by Leicester University asking for people who have traced their ancestry to give DNA samples for a study on world populations.
He said: "The scientists took some of my DNA away for analysis and then one day they called me up and were very excited. They said I had a Y-chromosome that was extremely rare. I was flabbergasted. I had no idea that I was so culturally unique. But I am not going to start eating couscous and riding a camel."
John is attempting to take the discovery in his stride. He added: "It was a shock to find out that, because I was so blond and blue-eyed when I was younger, people thought I was Nordic or German.
"But the researchers said that if my DNA were examined then people would assume they were looking at a North African man.
"I suspect there must have been some big Berber tribesman who came to Britain with the Romans and spread his seed all over Yorkshire."
John is married with three children and six grandchildren. The news shocked his friends at Brookfield Bowls Club in Leicester.
He added: "It is a very white establishment which can be a little awkward in a multi-racial place such as Leicester.
"At least now they can say they have got one more ethnic-minority member but I doubt anyone would be able to pick me out. His wife Marlene was also taken aback."
She said: "I can hardly believe it. John has always seemed very English to me. He likes his roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday. He has never asked me to cook anything unusual. My friends think our news is hilarious.
"The closest John ever came to the traditional Berber life was when he went camping with the Scouts. I don't think we've been in a tent since we got married.'
Scientists from Leicester University made the finding during research sponsored by The Wellcome Trust. They were examining the relationship between the male, or Y, chromosome and surnames.
Like surnames, the Y-chromosome is passed from father to son, virtually unchanged through generations.
Professor Mark Jobling said: "We found John was in the A1 group of Y-chromosomes, which is very rare and highly west African-specific.
"This study has shown what it means to be British is complicated and always has been. Human migration history is very complex, particularly for an island nation such as ours. This study further debunks the idea that there are simple and distinct populations or races."
Over time, the Y-chromosome accumulates small changes in DNA sequence, allowing scientists to study the relationships between different male lineages.
The surname Revis is believed to derive from Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire. Berber comes from the Latin word for Barbarian.
Fellow researcher Turi King said: "Our findings represent the first genetic evidence of Africans among 'indigenous' British people."
She added that Africans were first recorded in northern England 1,800 years ago, brought by the Romans to help defend Hadrian's Wall.
Ms King said: "The slave trade was responsible for the influx of Africans in the 16th and 17th Centuries. By the last third of the 18th Century there were 10,000 black people in Britain.
Previous studies of British genetic diversity had found no evidence of African Y-chromosome lineages."
Reader views (10)
No surprise...All people of the world can trace their DNA back to "Lucy", the 1.5 million year old skeleton found in Ethiopia. So what's the big deal, we all descended from Noah and his sons. Can't we accept the fact that we're one big family. The "Human" family. We had to start somewhere!
- Jean Stern, Dallas, TX
You guys need to hit the books ... Just cuz someone has african dna doesn't meen he or she should act like they do ... Just like I have irish in me but I don't talk like one. ... So stop being such dumbass's
- Dylan Revis, simpsonville, sc, usa
Professor Mark Jobling said: "We found John was in the A1 group of Y-chromosomes, which is very rare and highly west African-specific".
And then the researchers add that John has a Berber origin, from northern Africa. Can they be more specific. Is there a corrollation between the Berbers and west African?
- Rene Koffi, Walnut creek, california
I am really shoked to see these people think that if you have North African DNA you should need to eat couscous and act in a strange manner. If a baby boy from england is raised in Africa with absolutly no contact with his original culture do you expect from him to ask for a cup of tea at five o'clock???
- Mustapha, Montreal, Canada
North Africans are just that AFRICANS they are not white people contrary to popular belief. All over Africa there were (and still are) great civilizations, universities, towns, cities, and empires, as well as people who live(d) in "huts" for the lack of a better word. Africa is such a large continent full of a diversity of ethnic people who naturally have blonde, red, brunette, and black hair with blue, green, hazel, brown, black and every other eye color in between. So please people learn more about Africa before we start making those 'assumptions' again, we all know how dangerous that can be...
- Jasmyn, USA
We are the great people of north Africa.
- Afilal, Agadir, Morocco
Blondes among northern Berbers are frequent. Such is the case in my family and in the Kabyle area I come from. May I remind some people that Herodutus was the first chronicler to report on the beauty of the blondes Lybic (as the berbers were then called) women. On the murals depicting RamsesII victory over the Lybic - and the people of the sea-many of the defeated ancestors of the berbers were depicted as blonde and ginger. That's nearly 5,000 years ago. Recently, a little blonde girl from the Berber Rif in Morroco was mistaken for the unfortunate Madeleine McCann.
- B.Amadal, Bromley, London
First, Berbers of North Africa are white people and blonde hair and blue eyes are not uncommon among them. Second, Berbers don’t ride camels and are not savages living in tents eating bugs. They have theirs towns and cities from the old days and they built their own great civilizations, read some history first.
- Hassan, Jijel, Algeria
Who faked these test results? I demand a retrial! NOW!
- Ian Revis, York, England
I've always felt that I was African. How do I get tested?
- Layla Revis, Los Angeles, CA
