A Hastings family had cause for a double celebration last December after they welcomed baby Beau into their fold as this latest edition has boosted their family tree to five generations.
The story began back in 1944 when Ivy and Vic Hayward married. Ivy and Vic were distant relatives and were married for almost 46 years before Vic passed away in 1989. They had six children, all of whom are still alive and well and all are over 60 years of age.
After Vic died, Ivy went to live with youngest daughter Gill Buckley and her family. Gill says her parents were the foundation of what was to become a vary large family. She said: “Dad served in the army and mum worked in a war factory before they married. Mum mainly stayed at home raising the family as was the trend at that time. Dad was a French polisher and this remained his profession until he retired.”
With the arrival of baby Beau on December 17, 2014, Ivy, 92, is now a great-great-grandmother who also proudly boasts 18 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren. Ivy says having such a large family is a joy. She said: “I think it’s wonderful that I was one of three children that has produced so many offspring.
“It was incredibly hard work raising six children but it was a joy.”
Gill, 60, has four children, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild and says for her and husband Dave becoming great-grandparents was a bit of a surprise. She said: “Following the initial shock that at such a young age we were going to become great-grandparents, we are extremely proud.”
Gill says with such a large family it does get expensive at Christmas and Ivy still insists on buying all her six children and their partners a personal gift along with a family gift, adding: “We are a very large family, there are members who I have never met. Even so, we are a very close family and not any one of us could imagine being part of a smaller family.”