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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1999-04 > 0922987002


From: Denis Beauregard< >
Subject: Re: What is the largest family tree ?
Date: Thu, 01 Apr 1999 17:16:42 GMT


On 1 Apr 1999 07:48:28 -0800, (Leo van de Pas)
wrote in soc.genealogy.medieval:
Le 1 Apr 1999 07:48:28 -0800, (Leo van de Pas)
écrivait dans soc.genealogy.medieval:

>At 01:47 PM 4/1/99 GMT, you wrote:
>>Is there a Guinness (or equivalent) record for the ancestors'
>>tree with the highest number of different proven ancestors ?
>
>For Prince William of Wales I have over 30,000 individual ancestors. Taking
>into account the intermarriages of his ancestry this means that we have in
>the millions of 'theoretical' ancestors when using a huge ancestor list.
>For instance, someone in Queensland is working on the number of lines
>between Prince William of Wales and William the Conqueror and at present is
>talking of about one-and-a-half million lines between those two.

Fascinating... I was thinking the intermarriages were large enough
to reduce largely this number.

>>I understand a descendant tree can easily include millions of
>>names
>.......I would guess not too easily, depending on the fertility of a
>family. If one person has ten children, and they all grow up and have ten
>children in turn and those children have ten children and so on, it would
>take only six generations or so to reach one million, but how many families
> would be as fertile as this? Possibly intermarriage and infant mortality
>would reduce those numbers drastically.
>
>(i.e. take Jean Guyon or Zacharie Cloutier in Quebec,
>>pioneers who had over 2000 descendants in 1730).
>............What do you mean? When lived Jean Guyon or Zacharie Cloutier to
>have over 2000 descendants in 1730?
>Or do you mean they lived in 1730 and have now 2000 descendants?

First of all, a short presentation of Quebec sources.

There is a database with all vital records before 1800, called PRDH
(from the university organism that made it). Some years ago, when
all families before 1730 were linked together (I think it is now
all families to 1765), someone published the list of the 12 pioneers
with the largest number of descendants 31-12-1729. I am not sure what
is defined as a "descendant", so I presume the number of persons
linked to the pioneer, living or not in 1729.

At the top of the list were:
Jean GUYON m 1615 Mathurine ROBIN (2150 desc.)
Zacharie CLOUTIER m 1616 Sainte DUPONT (2090 desc.)

This on a population of 35 297 persons (same source and same
context). This means 6% of population of 1729. We may
presume that 6% figure will grow for each generation so that
in a long run, nearly all descendants of the original French
descends from both couples. This is estimated to roughly
14 millions in all (all persons living today and descendant
from French colonists of New France). So, it is probable
that Jean Guyon for example has over 10 millions living
descendants (if it is not over 12 or 13), which could
mean about 20 millions of descendants in all (taking into
account demographical growth is very low since the 1960s).

> So, I am
>>thinking about ancestors of someone.
>>
>>So, how large can grow a genealogy tree (with different persons) ?
>>
>>My guess is for someone in North America, with great-grand-
>>parents from 8 different cultures or area each with nearly
>>complete records until the 1600s, and before that, many
>>lines in the nobility toward some kings and then Charlemagne.
>>
>I think anyone anywhere, with or without eight cultures,
>has enormous numbers of ancestors (theoretical and actual)
>and we all must have a way to Charlemagne. However, the records are not
>available for many but, obviously, for many they are.
>I think it is a bit of a waste of time thinking of who has the biggest tree
>because, in my opinion, there is only one tree, the tree of mankind, and we
>are all part of it.

I was thinking to the number of "proven" ancestors. On this aspect,
not every European is descending from Charlemagne.

Denis

--
0 Denis Beauregard
/\/ Le genealogiste en action
|\ http://genealogie.com
/ | Liste des pionniers du Quebec venus de France
oo oo par chaque departement avant 1825

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