Do twins run in families? I've made a recent discovery about twins in my family tree and it certainly does seem that twins do indeed run in my family.
I am the daughter of a twin. My Dad had a twin brother and both were born in the early 1920s to George Thomas Connors and Grace Olive Brown.
This photo shows those twin brothers, my Uncle Reggie and my Dad, when they were quite young.
While some have said they were similar in looks when they were young, I did not see that when, as a child/teenager/young adult, I knew them as men in their 40s and 50s. They had their own quite distinctive looks, personalities and traits.
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I also have twin grandchildren, who are not at all similar in looks and most definitely have their very own personality and traits.
Over the last year, I've become quite interested in finding out just how many sets of twins there are in my family tree.
Of course, the extent of my family tree research so far means I will not get to a definitive answer to this question. I haven't gone down all the various branches and twigs of my family tree, so there could still be more twin discoveries to stumble upon.
So far though, I have found 22 pairs of twins.
In this post however, I'm going to leave out my grandchildren and only list the other 21 sets of twins, starting with those of my own generation and then going back 4 more generations.
The majority are definitely on my paternal side, but I have found a few sets on my mother's side as well. Interestingly, I've found twins in every generation on my Dad's side going back four generations so far. On my Mum's side, I've found twins in all but one of the generations as I went back four generations from my own.
One really noticeable fact as I went back through the generations was the decreasing survival rate the further back I went. As I looked back into twins born in the early to mid 1800s, there were sadly a number of twins that appear to have been stillborn or at least only survived a couple of hours or weeks. Of course, in those days the mothers would have been giving birth at home, with no assistance from any medical professional, and complications no doubt arose with heartbreaking consequences.
So, here is the record of twin births in my family tree at this point in my research:
Paternal:
My own generation -
My 1st cousins, Ruth Adeline and Phyllis Connors, daughters of my father's brother Colin Connors and his wife Ruth May.
They are granddaughters of my grandparents, George Connors and Grace Brown (common ancestors).
Great grandchildren of my 3x great grandparents, William Henry Browning and Anne Littlejohns (common ancestors), through their daughter Hannah Browning.
My 2nd cousins 2x removed, Hector Patrick and Harold Michael Cusack, children of James Cusack and his wife Hannah Sutton.
Great grandchildren of my 3x great grandparents, Michael Cusask and Mary Green (common ancestors), through their son John Cusack.
They were grandchildren of my 3x great grandparents, James Hickey and Margaret McNamara (common ancestors), through their daughter Bridgit Hickey.
I have not done much research about either Alice or Ellen as yet, hence the lack of a date for their death.
They were grandchildren of my 3x great grandparents, William Henry Browning and Anne Littlejohns (common ancestors), through their daughter Hannah Browning.
It's quite confronting when you realise that two sets of these twins did not survive their birth. How heartbreaking that would have been for their parents.
My 1st cousins 3x removed, George Henry and Peter Browning, children of John Thomas Browning and Margaret Redmond.
They were grandchildren of my 3x great grandparents, William Henry Browning and Anne Littlejohns (common ancestors), through their son John Thomas.
My 1st cousins 3x removed, Mary Ann and William Matthew Browning, children of James Francis Browning and Eliza Kennewell.
They were grandchildren of my 3x great grandparents, William Henry Browning and Anne Littlejohns (common ancestors), through their son James Francis.
They were daughters of my 2x great grandparents, Adolphus Hukins and Mary Ann Farley (common ancestors).
My 1st cousins 3x removed John and Thomas Hickey, children of Patrick Hickey and Julia Hawley.
They were grandchildren of 3x great grandparents, James Hickey and Margaret McNamara (common ancestors), through their son Patrick.
Sadly, one of the twins died at birth and the other died before he reached his second birthday.
4 Generations Back
My 2x great granduncles, Thomas and John Hickey, children of James Hickey and Margaret McNamara.
They were the sons of 3x great grandparents, James Hickey and Margaret McNamara (common ancestors).
You might notice the match in names between these twin sons of my 3x great grandparents and their twin grandsons (listed above)!
1 Generation Back -
My 2nd cousins once removed, David (Davey) and Robert Edward (Bobby) O'Donnell, children of John O'Donnell and Catherine O'Connor.
They were the great grandchildren of my 2x great grandparents, John O'Donnell and Catherine Joy (common ancestors), through their son Michael.
2 Generations Back -
My 2nd cousins 2x removed, Daniel and Thomas Prendergast, children of Thomas Prendergast and Mary Shea.
They were the great grandchildren of my 3x great grandparents, Patrick O'Donnell and Margaret Rafter (common ancestors), through their daughter Brigid.
My 1st cousins 2x removed, Helen Ann and Margaret Lillian (Madge) Davies, children of David Davies and Helen Ann Farrell. Helen Ann Davies was also known as Sister Mary Francis as she became a Sister of Mercy in her adult years.
They were grandchildren of my 2x great grandparents, Michael Farrell and Susan Downey (common ancestors), through their daughter Helen Ann.
My 2nd Great Grand Aunt and Uncle, John and Mary O'Donnell, children of Patrick O'Donnell and Mary Rafter.
They were children of 3x great grandparents, Patrick O'Donnell and Margaret Rafter (common ancestors).
The twins I've known in my family - my father and my uncle, and my grandchildren - were/are not identical, and are therefore known as fraternal (dizygotic) twins.
It's a known fact that fraternal twins are the most common type of twin and they run in families. I think I'm probably correct in assuming that the majority of the twins in my family tree are fraternal.
Some interesting facts about fraternal twins to finish off this post:
- fraternal twins come from two different eggs
- they each have their own placenta
- they can be either the same gender or a combination genders
- the highest rate of fraternal twins occurs in Africa
- fraternal twins are the result of hyperovulation
- they share half of their genes just like their brothers and sisters.
