My g-grandfather had sixteen children (well! my g-grandmother had them, actually), five of whom died at birth or shortly afterwards. The first was born in 1852 and the last was born in 1873. There were seven surviving females and four surviving males. There were two sets of twins, one of whom died in each set. My grandfather was the survivor of one set and was the youngest male in the family, being born in 1872.

My g-grandfather was manager of Wem gasworks in Shropshire and all of his sons followed him into the trade. The eldest son, Tom Edwin(who was born number six in the family), became manager at Leighton, by Welshpool in Montgomeryshire (Wales); Fred, the next brother, became manager at Ellesmere in Shropshire; Robert, the next surviving male, followed his father as manager at Wem; and Harry, my grandfather, was manager at Malpas in Cheshire. Fred's son, Alan, succeeded him at Ellesmere and Tom's son, Jack, became manager at Dolgellau in Wales. An interesting social view of life at the turn of the last century.