Hello. My 5th great-grandfather, John Lock was born about 1696 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Colony. His father is unknown at this time.

Y-DNA testing has confirmed that My Lock/Locke paternal line is directly related to another Lock/Locke family here in the USA whose ancestor, William Arthur Lock (b. July 21, 1807 Chittlehampton, Devon) migrated to the USA in 1870, although one of his sons, William Buckingham Lock migrated earlier in 1850.

William Arthur Lock's Father was William Lock, b. 4 Dec 1768 South Molton, Devon - d. 25 Jan 1842 Filleigh, Devon.

I have been attempting to identify our common paternal ancestor. There is at minimum 160 years separation in the records to search through. However, Big-Y DNA testing of both our families currently estimates that our common paternal ancestor was born about the year 1390, but more Y-DNA testing of Lock/Locke family descendants could refine that estimate to a more recent year.

I am beginning to look at records for the ports of Barnstaple and Bideford but I am ignorant of the record types that might be available (outside BMD records) which might help me search for our common ancestor. Any assistance in suggesting which record groups might help me will be greatly appreciated. I realize that there are more Lock males in Devon records than in most other locations of the UK, so it seems a daunting task, but I've been working on this line for almost 30 years now so I am definitely in it for the long haul.

With gratitude for any assistance received,
-geo
George F. Locke
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.