Welsh are the true Britons, study finds

The Welsh were here first and are therefore the "true" Britons, genetic research published today indicates.

While many post-war historians thought the Anglo-Saxon influence on England may have been limited to political and commercial elites, the new analysis reinforces the more traditional idea of an invasion of Germanic tribes.

Scientists from University College London found a stark difference between the men they tested in England and those in Wales. The genetic make-up of the Englishmen was almost identical to people in an area of the Netherlands where some Anglo-Saxons are thought to have originated.

The researchers concluded that the "foreigners" invaded the area now covered by England, wiping out between 50 and 100 per cent of the indigenous population, but failing to move into Wales.

Analysts from UCL tested the Y chromosome – usually inherited unchanged from father to son – and looked for certain genetic markers.

They chose seven market towns in England and Wales mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and compared the data with samples from Friesland, now a northern province of the Netherlands.

Mark Thomas, of the Centre for Genetic Anthropology at UCL, said it appeared that England was "ethnically cleansed" by people moving from the Continent after the Romans left.