Author Topic: Consecutive sons (or daughters) being born  (Read 3010 times)

Offline Keith Sherwood

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Consecutive sons (or daughters) being born
« on: Friday 17 December 04 08:42 GMT (UK) »
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

Offline janan

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Re: Consecutive sons (or daughters) being born
« Reply #1 on: Friday 17 December 04 10:10 GMT (UK) »
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
ALL CENSUS DATA INCLUDED IN POSTINGS IS CROWN COPYRIGHT, FROM  www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

bedfordshire - farr, carver,handley, godfrey, newell, bird, emmerton, underwood,ancell
buckinghamshire- pain
cambridgeshire- bird, carver
hertfordshire- conisbee, bean, saunders, quick,godfrey
derbyshire- allsop, noon
devon - griffin, love, rapsey
dorset- rendall, gale
somerset- rendall, churchill
surrey/middlesex - douglas, conisbee, childs, lyon groombridge

Offline janan

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Re: Consecutive sons (or daughters) being born
« Reply #2 on: Friday 17 December 04 10:11 GMT (UK) »
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! ???
ALL CENSUS DATA INCLUDED IN POSTINGS IS CROWN COPYRIGHT, FROM  www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

bedfordshire - farr, carver,handley, godfrey, newell, bird, emmerton, underwood,ancell
buckinghamshire- pain
cambridgeshire- bird, carver
hertfordshire- conisbee, bean, saunders, quick,godfrey
derbyshire- allsop, noon
devon - griffin, love, rapsey
dorset- rendall, gale
somerset- rendall, churchill
surrey/middlesex - douglas, conisbee, childs, lyon groombridge

Offline Geoff of Devon

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Re: Consecutive sons (or daughters) being born
« Reply #3 on: Friday 17 December 04 10:40 GMT (UK) »
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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Offline Keith Sherwood

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Re: Consecutive sons (or daughters) being born
« Reply #4 on: Friday 17 December 04 11:11 GMT (UK) »
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

Offline D ap D

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Re: Consecutive sons (or daughters) being born
« Reply #5 on: Friday 17 December 04 11:29 GMT (UK) »
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.
Stuck with:
William Williams of Llanllyfni
John Jones in Llanelli
Evan Evans in Caio
David Davies of Llansanffraid
Evans: Caio/Carms
Jones: CDG, DEN

Census Information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

"Nor do I think that any other nation than this of Wales, or any other tongue, whatever may hereafter come to pass, shall on the day of the great reckoning before the Most High Judge, answer for this corner of the earth": The Old Man of Pencader to Henry II

Offline JillJ

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Re: Consecutive sons (or daughters) being born
« Reply #6 on: Friday 17 December 04 12:06 GMT (UK) »
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
Jowett & Broadbent in Leeds.
Perry, Hartshorn/e & Wilkes in Birmingham & Dudley. Walker and Dabill in Sheffield & Notts.
Farrar in Darlington & Leeds.
Kidd & Taylor in Hartlepool & Teesside
Census information is crown copyright from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline suttontrust

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Re: Consecutive sons (or daughters) being born
« Reply #7 on: Friday 17 December 04 13:31 GMT (UK) »
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.
Godden in East Sussex, mainly Hastings area.
Richards in Lea, Gloucestershire, then London.
Williamson in Leith, Vickers in Nottingham.
Webb in Bildeston and Colchester.
Wesbroom in Kirby le Soken.
Ellington in Harwich.
Park, Palmer, Segar and Peartree in Kersey.

Offline Anjo

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Re: Consecutive sons (or daughters) being born
« Reply #8 on: Friday 17 December 04 18:04 GMT (UK) »
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!!!!!!!!