Siblings

Line drawing courtesy Copilot

I thought I would look at numbers of siblings in families in my tree.

My grandmother told me that her 2nd great-grandmother, Janet FORSYTH (nee DEWAR) was last of 24 children in her family. I have not been able to prove this, (yet), but her parents David DEWAR and Euphan HONEYMAN were married 10 January 1741 in Kennoway, Fife, Scotland and Janet was baptised in 1757. There would have had to be several multiple births in the 16 years between, but so far I've only found 7 other baptisms, so that remains a Record to be proved.

I have 2 families which hold the current record, each with 16 children.

William Samuel COALES, brushmaker, and Lydia Elizabeth MILLER married 30 Aug 1858 at St Mary, Newington, Surrey, England, and had their last daughter in 1885. Amazingly only 2 didn't make it to adulthood, so those children grew up with 13 siblings. None of them produced anything like that number of children themselves.

Richard GRENFELL and Susan SAMPSON married 11 March 1856 in Penzance, Cornwall. Their last child was born in 1881. As far as I have found out, only 8 of them survived to adulthood, but it could well be less.

Families with 15 children:

• Thomas Joseph BYRON and Evenly SHARPLESS m 1919 New South Wales, Australia
• William BOLITHO and Ellen SHARD m 1882 Victoria, Australia
• Thomas WOOLLEY and Augusta JORDAN m 1867, New Zealand
• Francis HIBELL and Sarah PARTRIDGE m 1823 Worcestershire, England
• Richard James MICHELL and Ethel Harriett DANIEL m 1900 New South Wales, Australia
• Charles ADDINGTON and Rosozinnia Ann HALL m 1880 South Australia

Families with 14 children:

• William WALSH and Betty KAY m 1799 Lancashire, England
• Johann TROYAHN and August Wilhelmine Johanna HAGNOW m 1866 Queensland, Australia
• Phillip EBERT and Agnetis LAQUEI m 1688 Prussia
• Alexander BRAY and Louisa STEPHENS m 1869 South Australia
• George IVIL and Jane JORDAN m 1865 New Zealand
• Alfred Thomas STEPHENSEN and Ruby May WEINHEIMER m 1918 Queensland, Australia
• Thomas Parkins MILLAR and Mary Ann LAX m 1889 Queensland, Australia
• James Sweet UREN and Elizabeth Ann CUNDY m 1849New South Wales, Australia
• James WALKER and Eliza WRIGHT m 1845 Hertfordshire, England
• John O'CONNELL and Mary RIORDAN m 1867 Limerick, Ireland
• Thomas HIBBERD and Marion Amelia PENMAN m 1874 New South Wales, Australia
• Gordon HUNTER and Jean Mackenzie DROVER m 1937 Ontario, Canada
• Richard RENFREE and Amelia BRAY m 1863 Victoria, Australia
• Jacob HATFIELD and Laura Rosina MCPHAIL m 1892 Utah, United States of America
• Willian HANSCOMBE and Mary SMYTH m 1749 Hertfordshire, England
• William WALLS and Mary BOLITHO m 1839 Cornwall, England

If any of the links don't work, then go directly to my website https://www.chriswright.id.au/ and search for the names.