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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Keith Sherwood on Friday 17 December 04 08:42 GMT (UK)
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Hi, Everyone,
I have always known that in my grandfather John Charles SHERWOOD's generation, his mother produced NINE consecutive sons between 1878 and 1897 in Eastbourne, before the first daughter arrived.
Now, doing some research for a friend in the village of Ickleton, Cambs, where my mother's family originate from, I have come across a sequence of EIGHT straight births of BAYNES sons to the same couple between 1878 and 1891 before, at last, a daughter appears.
Does the mathematics of this defy belief, or is there usually some kind of genetic reason for such a sequence? Anyway, this might give people a forum to air other, even more astonishing statistics on this subject concerning their own families.
Or was there just something odd in the drinking water between 1878 and the 1890's...?
Very best wishes,
Keith
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Hi Keith,
Don't know anything about genetics but mathematically there is no problem. Someone could go on producing boys ad infinitum as each event is unaffected by previous events: the chances of conceiving a boy are always fifty- fifty regardless of how many you've previously conceived. It does FEEL astonishing though! ;) Jan
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Hi Keith,
Don't know anything about genetics but mathematically there is no problem. Someone could go on producing boys ad infinitum as each event is unaffected by previous events: the chances of conceiving a boy are always fifty- fifty regardless of how many you've previously conceived. It does FEEL astonishing though! ;) Jan Sorry I seem to have got two for the price of one here! ???
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I was at junior school with two strange families:
The Rudolphy family had seven boys, then a girl.
The Lowe family had six girls, then a boy.
It just shows you have to keep on trying!! From memory the Rudlophy's were catholics and the Lowe's protestants, so God plays tricks on both equally!!! ;)
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Hi,
Thanks for putting me right on the Mathematics - I was never much good at it while at school; however, I hope my grades in Family History are continuing to improve!
Keith
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Can't top that, but I have 3 consecutive children (not mine) called Richard (not uncommon for the 1790s), so obviously the family wasn't very imaginitive when it came to names.
When son No 7 came along, he was name Septimus, No, 8 was Octavius, 9 - Nonus and 10 Decimus. Altogether they had 16 children. :o
This was (nearly) repeated in the following 2 generations. The progenitor (my 6x ggf, born ca 1750) has got well over 1000 direct descendants! And I've managed to trace about 10 of them who are living. A get together is being organised for sometime next year.
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I was always told that my grandmother was one of 13 girls and there were two sets of twins in this total. I have so far managed to trace 9 of them, but no twins yet - which is strange because when I started I only knew the names of five of them and two of those five were twins!
Jill
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When I was a child there were two families in the same block, one of which had 8 boys and no girls, the other 6 girls and no boys. Everybody joked that they should do a swap.
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My Grandfather was from a family of eight boys and 1 girl, he married a girl from a family of 8 girls and 1 boy. The one boy became a priest!!!!!!!!
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Assuming that it is exactly a 50:50 chance each time of having a boy the chances of an only child being a boy is 1 in 2.
The chances of two children both being boys is 1 in (2x2) = 1 in 4.
The chances of three children all being boys is 1 in (2x2x2) = 1 in 8
The chances of four children all being boys is 1 in (2x2x2x2) = 1 in 16
5 children = 1 in 32
6 children = 1 in 64
7 children = 1 in 128
8 children = 1 in 256
9 children = 1 in 512
10 children = 1 in 1028
and so on. So, if you can find 1028 families with ten children, statistically the chances are that one family will have all boys, one family all girls and the others will have all the other possible combinations of boys and girls.
My 3xgt grandmother had 7 boys and no girls before dying at only 34 years of age.
BrendaP
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Hi
All my families have a fair mix of girls and boys
But I did some genetics as part of my degree and there are in fact more boys born than girls but as boys tend to be more accident prone in the young years, so the numbers of boys veruses girls even up in the later years.
Tara
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I am personally mathematically challenged but I do know a wee bit about biology.
There is evidence to show that some men will have a propensity to produce one of the genders over the other.
Henry VIII is oft cited, as it was probably his own genetics that meant he would have difficulty siring a boy.
There is also evidence that the egg will be produced to be more receptive to the X or Y sperm under certain environmental factors. This hasn't been shown in humans but in marsh turkeys. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference lol.
Pam
;D
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I know this isnt as impressive as 9 sons before finally a girl!
But my grandmother had 5 boys hoping for a girl from child 2.
After the fifth boy, its been told she said thats it! If i cant have a girl then ill have no more boys!!
i look on the bright side, at least theres plenty to carry on the name! ;)
BC :)
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I've found the various accounts on this topic entertaining and extremely amusing in many cases. I'm actually quite surprised that nobody has so far trumped the 9 consecutive sons - there's usually always someone out there who knows of some even greater statistic.
The strange thing is that although 9 male Sherwoods were born - the eldest, Albert, b.1878, a "milk boy", died at the age of 25 in 1903; poor Samson Sherwood went down with his ship "The Queen Mary", and about 1000 other men at the Battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916 at the age of 21; and John Charles Sherwood, b. 1883 was my grand-father - but I have never come across any other descendants from the other six brothers, and I've really searched hard!
Keith
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my next door neighbours, have 9 girls no boys, and there is still time for more, but 3 of the girls have had babies this year, all boys! my granny, my dads mum, had 5 boys 1 girl, i also had 5 boys 1 girl, god bless them every one, regards nora ::)
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Nora, at last! A matching sequence of 9, and good that it's the daughters in the spotlight this time. I hope they all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!
Keith (Someone please tell me have to put these Father Xmas emoticons on my messages - everyone's managing it but me!)
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I cannot compete with 8 or 9 consequetive, but I am always amazed that my brother has 3 boys and I have 4 girls.
c w
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hi keith,thanks for the reply, and watch this space, it could be ten,or more they have still got time!and i also wish them , andyou a very happy christmas, and a peaceful new year, nora ::)
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Nora - Wouldn't it be a frustration if the tenth child turned out at last to be a boy, and your neighbours couldn't claim the outright prize for for most consecutive same-sex children on this site! I wonder how the mother and father feel about the prospect - I bet the father would LOVE to suddenly not be the only male in the household. And he could at last have someone else to kick his football around in the back garden with (not that some daughters do not like a bit of soccer themselves).
I'm wondering whether the Guinness Book of Records has an entry under this category - I'm afraid I don't own a copy myself.
Keith
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it would break the chain if they had more and they were boys,the eldest is about 20 and the youngest about 8/9 months old, but the mother says she knows, she is having girls, even when she has scans, and they say do you want to knowthe sex , she says,{i can tell you it is a girl] and she is always right! very odd! but good luck to em, thanks for reply keith, best wishes.nora ::)
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My ex-mother-in-law had 6 boys before having a girl then had another boy. If she had kept on I wonder if she would have had a string of boys Again?! A girlfriend of mine has 4 daus., 2 by husband 1 and 2 by husband 2. She had said she was going to keep trying for a boy but after the 4th girl w/2 different father's she has decided it is all Her fault she can't make boys and is giving up. Thank goodness, she has enough! Leagen