If you have grandparents still alive and well, you are lucky. You’re even luckier if you have great grandparents. Six generations alive in one family? Now that’s almost unheard of! According to the Edinburgh Evening News, this Scottish woman recently became a great, great, great grandmother, making her the only woman in Scotland to hold that title.
Woman Becomes Scotland’s Only Great, Great, Great Grandmother
For those of us who plan on having children, we probably also expect to one day be a grandparent. When Mary Marshall had her eight children, however, she probably didn’t expect that one day she would become a great, great, great grandmother. With the recent birth of baby Nyla Ferguson, however, that’s exactly what has happened.
“I’m a lucky woman, to be honest with you. It’s great to have such a big family. There’s always someone there looking out for you. I’m incredibly happy.” says 86-year-old Marshall the BBC.
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A Family 6 Generations Strong
Mary Marshal, the family’s matriarch, began having her eight children when she was quite young, around 18 years old. Her oldest daughter Rose, now 68, also had the first of her four children at 18. Rose’s daughter Chyrel, now 50, had her first daughter Carrie at just 15 years old. Carrie, now 35, had her daughter Toni-Leigh at 18. Toni-Leigh, now 17 years old, recently gave birth to her first child, baby Nyla. The birth of Nyla on May 25, 2021, now means that their family has six living generations and made Marshal a great, great, great grandmother.
“When we found out I was pregnant, we did make a joke about us breaking some sort of record,” says new mom Toni-Leigh. “Then we started looking into it, and it doesn’t look like anyone else has our family set-up.”
Source: BBC
A Close-Knit Family
Marshal now has 90 grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, and great-great-great-grandchildren. The family is close, both included in the physical sense. They all live within a 10-15 minutes drive from one another. They see each other frequently and mention that family get-togethers are always quite loud and boisterous.
“Now we’re pretty big. I haven’t heard of any other family of this size in Scotland,” says Rose, of the second generation. “Whenever we get together, there’s always fun and laughs. There’s always someone there for you.”
Source: BBC
The family is the only one in Scotland to span six generations, however, the Guinness World Record for the number of generations alive in one family is seven.
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Sources
- “Baby Nyla arrival makes Scots woman nation’s only great-great-great-gran.” Edinburgh News. Olive Loveridge-Greene. June 15, 2021
- “Woman overjoyed at birth of great-great-great-grandchild in Edinburgh.” BBC. June 15, 2021.
- Guinness World Records