About the Seton family
It has been suggested that the ancestry of the Seton family was originally Flemish. However, it is certain that the family settled in Lothian, with Alexander de Seton holding land there in the middle of the 12th century, probably granted to him by King David I.
Genetically the Seton family is part of the R1b grouping.
Alexander Seton, son of the Alexander who had become a firm supporter of King Robert Bruce, left no sons, but his daughter Margaret married Alan de Wyntoun, who was very likely a Seton by descent. From them, there are many male line descendants living today.
Due to changes of surname connected with inheritance, there is some complexity in the lines of descent, which in some ways assists genetic genealogy research into these lines. All Setons and Gordons who are genetically Setons, but took on the surname of Gordon, carry the SNP FGC15048.
However, some Gordons also carry the SNP FT211058 while others do not. The conclusion based on current evidence is that FT211058 indicates descent from the Gordon descendants of, Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Huntly (d 1470), although, as indicated on the accompanying chart, not all of them will carry it.
Interestingly, there is now a reasonable body of evidence supporting previous claims of descents (probably through an illegitimate child) from George Seton, 5th and last of the Seton Earls of Winton (d ca 1749). Autosomal DNA testing shows DNA matching between a Seton and the mother of Philip Stead, a postgraduate student on the University of Strathclyde’s Genealogical Studies course, who has documentary evidence of her descent.