Consecutive sons (or daughters) being born

[Keith Sherwood]

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

[janan]

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

[janan]

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!

[Geoff of Devon]

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!!! 

[Keith Sherwood]

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

[D ap D]

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. 

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.

[JillJ]

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

[suttontrust]

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.

[Anjo]

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!!!!!!!!