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How does it feel to discover a long-lost cousin? I can tell you – it feels fantastic. I discovered the first in DowlandChurch, when chatting to an elderly lady who was arranging the flowers for a wedding; she turned out to be my mother’s cousin. I discovered the next on the notice board at the Royal College of Music – well, it’s a long story. That was Geoffrey, my first cousin whom I had never met. And now, Geoffrey and I have discovered that we are closely linked to Kingsley Wheaton, descendant of Thomas, who married Mary Sheener in Brixham 300 years ago. And this time the proof lay in their DNA tests which showed a very close relationship – as Kelly puts it below:
In comparing Y-DNA25 markers, which show 0 mismatches, the probability that (237132) Mr. Kingsley Wheaton and (237133) Rev. Geoffrey Wheaton shared a common ancestor within the last…
4 generation is 61.17%
8 generations is 84.92%
12 generations is 94.15%
16 generations is 97.73%
20 generations is 99.12%
24 generations is 99/66%
From my researches, backed up by Jean, with such a close match, Kingsley’s ancestor has to be the Thomas who was born to Samuel Wheaton and baptised in WinkleighParishChurch on 29th August 1693. Although Samuel and Margaret ffarley, his wife, had three other children, all baptized in Winkleigh, we do not know what happened after that. Obviously, Thomas eventually ended up in Brixham, a distance of some 35-40 miles from Winkleigh.
Samuel was the elder brother of my ancestor Lewis, both sons of Nathaniel Wheaton, baptized in Coldridge on 14th June 1640. In turn, Nathaniel was the son of Nathaniel, born c. 1605, to Paul Wheaton and Joan Slee, and probably descended from Andrew Wheaton of Eggesford. Unfortunately, thanks to Adolf and his Baedeker raids, the wills and other documents for Andrew went up in smoke. But since Paul’s second son was named Andrew – not a common name in Wheaton circles, it is a pretty reasonable.bet.
We appear to have made the 11th generation: Paul, Nathaniel, Nathaniel, Lewis (and Samuel), Nathaniel, Thomas, John, William, William Bradford, Ernest and Edith, Geoffrey and Susan; if we cheekily add Andrew of Eggesford, then we are at the 94.15%. Get out the champagne. And for goodness sake, encourage any other Wheatons to get their DNA tested; somewhere there is buried treasure.
Wheaton Wood 
Thanks Susan for sharing this tremendous achievement in connecting two DEVON WHEATON Families both by paper and with DNA.
Kelly