I'm collating the English, Scottish, Irish, American and other overseas Vances in the hope of finally sorting out the connection between them and my family of Vans of Barnbarroch. Many or all of the American Vances are convinced, by family tradition and through a book by William Balbirnie, that they are descended from Vans of Barnbarroch through an immigration from Scotland to Ireland round about 1600 - and genetic tests seems to indicate that this could be true of at least one group of these overseas Vances. You may be familiar with the work I have already done on the Scottish side of the family which can be found at http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~vfarch and with my published paper, "The Origin of the Irish Vances".

My aim is to collect every (!) recorded Vance family and try to piece together the entire picture, using all the available sources and taking into account the genetic data.

I'd really appreciate any further information you have about any Vances (a gedcom would be ideal as it saves re-typing) and particularly any ideas, legends, or better still, knowledge, about their origins.

Best wishes,

Jamie.
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~vfarch