Genealogy Chat

Technically OC it did. Both cousins carried the faulty gene that was masked... if they'd married others who didn't have the faulty gene they'd have been fine. However, they put two unhealthy genes together. That said, they weren't to know, I guess. And the mixing could have happened anyway in a couple of generations time. These things happen all the time even when people aren't related. You're right it's not nature punishing because it's incapable of thought or retribution, but it is an example of why you shouldn't marry close relatives.

Gerri The eye defect didnt arise BECAUSE first cousins married, it must have already been in the family, but masked by a healthy gene. Nature doesnt punish you for marrying close kin, nature doesnt care WHO you breed with. OC

My partner is Irish(as it happens) and is one of the 7 dwarfs and they have 1 sister. ....Snow White? lol Family have owned the farm for God knows how long (his great great grandfather was born there) I think I have this right........(still trying to remember partners name! theres so many of them! lol) His grandparents(or maybe G.grandparents) were 1st cousins. Hence all 8 children have eye defects and are under Morefields Hospital London. 3 are now registered as blind. This is all because those 1st Cousins married. Over the hill and far away was a LONG way away!!!! (as the old saying goes) So YES Peter, it went on alot. No buses,no trains,no TVs, no Radio (unless you were rich) no telephones,no cell phones, no text messages....no dating agencies, NO COMPUTORS even!!! Just remembered...partners name..... Niall lol Gerri x

Lol Maggie!!

Peter Oh yes, this is nothing compared to my lot! At one point in this branch of tha family, where there should be 32 great great grandparents, there are only 19, and the previous generation for that 19, only have 13 parents between them! They all lived extremely long, and I presume healthy, lives and had hordes of children. I can go back to 1480 in this village, and I am related to everyone who ever lived there, in some degree or other. Mine were mostly farmers, and farmers tend to want to keep farms in the family, which may explain some of it. Lack of opportunity for meeting strangers explains the rest. OC

Don't tell anyone Peter, but in rural Hampshire, my grand daughter's father's family have lived in the same village for generations - there's even a display case dedicated to them in the local museum. When my grand daughter was born I jokingly said 'Thank goodness we've got a varied background our side, and she hasn't got webbed feet'. Grand daughter's dad replied 'Two of my cousin's have'!!!!! The floor suddenly semed very interesting!!!! maggie

This sounds like my husbands lot in Warwickshire, I kid you not. In the small villages, it was 'normal' for some families. My own lot did it but in much more moderation. (Im amazed my hubby hasnt got 2 heads lol.) In the small hamlets, it wasnt frowned upon I don't think. A nightmare putting it all on this site, as Genes can't cope with that!

In one branch of my family (in rural Suffolk, as it happens) there is the following sequence over 3 generations: 1) Two brothers marry two sisters, 2) their children, who are cousins twice over, marry, 3) and their son marries his cousin, the daughter of his mother's sister. The result is that that their daughter (4th generation) has only 8 distinct gt-gt-grandparents instead of the usual 16. Has anyone else found similar patterns of relationships? Peter

See below: In one branch of my family (in rural Suffolk, as it happens) there is the following sequence over 3 generations: 1) Two brothers marry two sisters, 2) their children, who are cousins twice over, marry, 3) and their son marries his cousin, the daughter of his mother's sister. The result is that that their daughter (4th generation) has only 8 distinct gt-gt-grandparents instead of the usual 16. Has anyone else found similar patterns of relationships? Peter