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.
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).
1 Generation Back -
My father, Bede William, and his brother, my Uncle Reginald Frederick (known as Reggie) Connors.
They were sons of George Connors and Grace Brown, my grandparents (common ancestors).
My 2nd cousins once removed, Joan Margaret and John William Connors - children of Edward Thomas Connors and his wife Lily Emily Insull.
They are great grandchildren of 2x great grandparents, William Connor (Connors) and Eleanor (Ellen) Hickey (common ancestors), through their son Michael.
2 Generations Back -
My 1st cousins 2x removed, Harold John Charles and Eliza Violet Cusack, children of James Cusack and Mary Ann Catherine Davies.
They were grandchildren of my 2x great grandparents, Patrick Cusack and Eliza Exton (common ancestors), through their son James.
My 2nd cousins 2x removed, Martha Hannah and James John Thomas, children of Andrew Thomas and his wife Harriett Matilda Wright.
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.
3 Generations Back -
My 1st cousins 3x removed, Alice and Ellen Murphy, children of Patrick Murphy (aka Maguire) and Bridgit Hickey.
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.
My 1st cousins 3x removed, James, Jane Caroline, Francis, Joseph, Matthew, Thomas, Arthur George and Sarah Wright, children of James Wright and Hannah Browning.
Yes, you're seeing correctly ... 4 sets of twins born to the same parents!
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.
My Great Grandaunts, Eleanor Sabina and Cassandra Elizabeth Hukins, children of Adolphus Hukins and Mary Ann Farley.
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)!
Maternal
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 1st cousins 2x removed, Myreen Catherine and Laurine Florence Farrell, children of Michael Farrell and Hannah Hynes.
They were the grandchildren of my 2x great grandparents Michael Farrell and Susan Downey (common ancestors), through their son Michael.
4 Generations Back
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.
The subject of this post was sparked by a very recent discovery linked to my maternal line and to one of Australia's worst peacetime maritime disasters - the sinking of the SS Yongala - near my home town of Townsville in Queensland.
The reference to the Titanic was used in the title of a book about the sinking of the SS Yongala. Author: Max Gleeson Published: 2000
The mysterious disappearance of the SS Yongala happened a year before the sinking of the Titanic, but in the decade or so after the tragic event, newspapers dubbed the disaster, "Townsville's Titanic", and turned the whole tragic story into a homemade version of that famous disastrous sinking.
The wreck of the SS Yongala is not far from where I live, and is now considered one of Australia's best wreck dives. The sinking of this ship is a familiar story to all who live here in the city of Townsville, north Queensland, and whilst I have heard the stories over and over again since I moved here many moons ago, I had no idea of any personal connection to that event until just a couple of days ago. This is exactly why I love my time spent on family tree research ... you can uncover the most amazing stories!
SS Yongala Creator unknown., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
One hundred and ten years ago, the steam ship SS Yongala sank in a cyclone off Cape Bowling Green, near Townsville. The Yongala was a passenger and cargo ship that was en route from Melbourne to Cairns when she steamed straight into a cyclone and sank off the coast south of Townsville. All lives were lost and the wreck of the ship lay undiscovered for nearly 50 years!
The Yongala was named after a tiny pastoral town in South Australia, and its name meant "broad water" in the local Ngadjuri language. The ship had spent its lifetime ferrying cargo and travellers around Australia. Its last fateful voyage was its 99th run, begun on March 14th, 1911, at the port of Melbourne, in Victoria. By the time it left Mackay central Queensland, it was carrying 49 passengers, 73 crew members and a race horse named Moonshine, and was headed to Townsville.
One of the passengers aboard that fateful voyage was the husband of my maternal great grand-aunt, Helen Ann Davies nee Farrell (my Grandmother Sarah McCane nee Farrell's aunty). Helen Ann (known as Annie most of her life) had married David Davies in Charters Towers in 1890. She was aged 19 and David (who had been born in Victoria) was 28 years old.
David Davies had been born in 1861, the son of David Davies and Catherine Jones. At the age of 21, he had moved to New South Wales, presumably in search of work, and then when he was about 25 years old he moved to Charters Towers in Queensland. He was an iron moulder by trade, like his father before him, but had moved to Charters Towers to work in the gold mining industry which was booming at that time.
After their marriage in August of 1890, Helen Ann and David went on to have 9 children over a period of 18 years. By the time their 7th child was born however, they were living in Cairns, north Queensland, presumably because David found work that could better support his large family. Unfortunately David had to move once more for work, but this time, he was on his own. By early 1911, then aged 49, David was living and working in Brisbane, whilst his wife Helen Ann (Annie) and their eight children remained in Cairns. Sadly their 7th child had died soon after her birth, back in 1903.
Argus, Saturday, March 18, 1911 p19.
According to a newspaper article (written a month or so after the tragic event and included at the bottom of this post), it seems that David had likely read newspaper reports, such as this one on the left, of a severe cyclone that had hit Cairns earlier, on March 16th.
The cyclone had actually made landfall at Port Douglas, to the north of Cairns, but had impacted the coastal area including Mossman and Cairns.
David would have read that it had caused widespread damage, leaving around 100 people homeless in Cairns and two fatalities and it seems that David had also read a statement containing a spelling error, which resulted in a catastrophic change to the life of his family.
It appears that David had read that the house the 'Davies' family lived in had been completely destroyed. He was likely convinced this was the house of his own family. Instead, it was actually the house of the 'Davis' family and there had been an error in the spelling of the published family name.
As a result of this error, David decided to purchase a ticket and make the trip home to Cairns from Brisbane, instead of just sending his pay cheque, which is what should have happened. He boarded the ship, intending to go home and check on his family, but he never arrived in Cairns.
The SS Yongala left Mackay for Townsville on the afternoon of March the 23rd. Other ships had sighted flag signals or received wireless signals from a signal station just outside Mackay about a cyclone that was brewing between Mackay and Townsville, and took shelter at Mackay or nearby. Unfortunately, the Yongala did not see the signal flags and had no wireless equipment. It was last sighted by the lighthouse keeper at Dent Island, five hours after departing Mackay, still heading north into badly deteriorating weather. It never reached Townsville, let alone Cairns.
The lack of Yongala's arrival in Townsville did not immediately cause concern,with the assumption that the ship had taken shelter from the cyclone.After three other ships arrived in Townsville, Yongala was listed as missing on 26 March, with the note that she may have been lost as early as 23 March.
Queensland Premier Digby Denham turned all of the state's resources over to search efforts, including seven vessels operated by the public service, police and shipping.Wreckage was found washed up on beaches from Hinchinbrook Island to Bowen, but there was no sign of the ship or those aboard.The only body found was of the racehorse Moonshine, which washed up at the mouth of Gordon Creek. A £1,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of the ship was offered by the Queensland government, but this was withdrawn after no useful information came forward.
Several theories were offered for the ship's disappearance. Somespeculated that Yongala had fallen victim to the cyclone; the high winds would have come from perpendicular to the ship's course and overpowered the vessel.Othersthought she had grounded on a submerged reef between Flinders Passage and Keeper Reef, run into Nares Rock or struck Cape Upstart.
SS Yongala at Fremantle in the 1900s
The Marine Board of Queensland investigated the loss of Yongala from 8 to 20 June 1911. With no witnesses to the ship's fate, the inquiry considered the ship's stability, equipment and seaworthiness, together with consideration of Captain William Knight's capabilities as a ship's master.
After finding no fault with the condition of the ship (based on design specifications supplied by the Adelaide Steamship Company, along with data from sea trials and seven years of uneventful operation) or with Knight's abilities (his reputation as one of Adelaide Steamship Company's most capable men, and 14 years' service without incident) the Board concluded that "the fate of the Yongala passes beyond human ken into the realms of conjecture, to add one more to the mysteries of the sea".
The Board did note the increased risk of navigating the Great Barrier Reef during tropical cyclone season was risky, and that the safest option was to secure the best anchorage available and ride the storm out.
A "Yongala distress fund" was set up in March 1911, with money raised used for the relief of families of those aboard.The fund was closed on 30 September 1914, with the £900 remaining credited to the Queensland Shipwreck Society.
The ship's disappearance remained a mystery for decades. I can't imagine how this uncertainty played on my great aunt Helen Ann or her children. How do you live with never knowing what happened to your husband / father? No body was ever found or buried. No answers were found until after Helen Ann (Annie) had died, and seven of her children were well into their 50s or 60s.
Interestingly, mention was made of Helen Ann and her children in a newspaper article in the Cairns Post, related to the "Yongala distress fund", dated April 10th, 1911. Previously, I mentioned this article because it had provided some detail about why David was on the Yongala. Whether or not the information is totally correct is of course almost impossible to prove, but I am hopeful that the reporter had indeed respectfully spoken to Helen Ann and published a true account of the details of the final day or so of David's life.
Ironically, the family name Davies was misspelt in this article as Davis!
Cairns Post, Monday April 10, 1911 p4.
Transcript of that article:
Cairns Post (Qld.: 1909 - 1954), Monday 10 April 1911, page 4
THE POST
MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1910.
FOR the Widow and Orphans
Cairns Yongala Fund.
It is an old saying that charity should begin at home, and it will be
admitted that the community should consider it a paramount duty to relieve,
primarily, the distress existing in its midst, without in any way interfering
with wider or more general movements of a similar nature. This is the opinion
of several residents of Cairns, business men and others, who have been
considering the case of Mrs. David Davis (surname misspelt!), whose husband was lost on the
Yongala, and who has been made a widow and her children orphans by that
terrible tragedy of the sea. The matter was mentioned to the "Post"
last week, and this Paper has made full inquiries into the circumstances, with
the result that it today, with the approbation of the residents above
mentioned and the consent of Mrs. Davis and her children; opens a special
subscription list in order to provide a sum which will in some measure help to
compensate the bereaved ones for the loss of their -------(print was unreadable)------- relieve them, and ensure them against
suffering and destitution in the future.
Personal inquiries made by the editor of this paper revealed the following
facts - Mrs. Davis resides with her family in a small cottage, which she rents,
in Lumley Street. She has eight children, two of whom, a boy and a girl, are
apprenticed, earning between them £2 per week. The boy is not in robust health,
and the sudden shock following the loss of his father, to whom he was devotedly
attached, has not tended to mend matters. The remaining six children are of
tender years, the youngest being a little toddler. The husband and father who
by trade an iron-moulder. Not being able to get constant work here, he left
some little time ago for Brisbane, and his family were delighted to know that
he was at last earning good money. He told them he was forwarding a remittance
by the mail that would have come probably by the Yongala, but to their surprise
he wired them that he was returning to Cairns by that steamer. It is surmised
that he read the account of the Cairns cyclone in the Brisbane papers, and as
it was mentioned that the house of a Mr. Davis had been blown down in Lumley Street,
be naturally thought it was the house in which his family resided, whereas it was
the house of another person of the same name.
So that poor David Davis was hurrying back to the relief of his family
when he met his death. His arrival was expected on the Sunday and the family
dinner was prepared with extra care, the mother and children looking forward to
the return of the husband and father with affectionate and pleasurable anticipations.
Then came the news that the Yongala was missing, and later the list of the
second-class passengers, which included the name of Mr. David Davis.
The sad circumstances surrounding the loss sustained by Mrs. Davis and
her family have appealed to many; and after consulting with some of those who
sympathise with the widow and orphans, the "Post" today makes an
appeal for contributions and opens a subscription list, apart altogether from,
and entirely independent of, any movement that may be decided upon in regard to
a general relief fund—which will be drawn from the whole of Australia. After
personal investigation of the circumstances, the "Post," to whom Mrs.
Davis and her family, previously were strangers, assures the public that the
object for which this fund is opened is, in the truest sense, deserving. It may
be mentioned that already a number of subscriptions are promised but in order
that the response may be truly spontaneous and voluntary; these amounts are not
mentioned today, the "Post" simply opening the list formally.
Subscriptions will be received at this office and the full list will be
published daily until it is finally closed, when it is hoped a sufficient sum
will be obtained to provide a permanent and comfortable home for Mrs. Davis and
her children, the total amount being vested in trustees to be used to the best
advantage on behalf of the widow and orphans.
The SS Yongala lay undiscovered until it was finally positively identified in 1958.
It has since become a world famous dive site, now covered in coral and home to hundreds of species of marine animals. It is the largest, at 110 metres in length, and one of the most intact historic shipwrecks in Australian waters.
David Davies' death was registered by his wife Helen Ann two months after the tragic sinking, and his date of death was recorded as the 23rd of March, 1911.
Details on his death certificate state that he died "in wreck of S.S. Yongala near Townsville", aged 49 years and 5 months, and his body was "not recovered" for burial.
Acknowledgement given to the Townsville Maritime Museum for this list of all passengers and crew, from SS Yongala who died on the 23rd, of March 1911. No one survived.
First class saloon for Townsville.
1. Mr Matthew Rooney 2. Mrs Katherine Rooney 3. Miss Lizzie Rooney 4. Miss Ethel Amy Uhr, Matron, Townsville hospital 5. Miss Jean Buxton, Nurse, Townsville hospital 6. Mr John James Elsdale 7. Mrs Annie Eileen Elsdale 8. Mr Rudolph August Stach 9. Mr Francis Fothergill Viney 10. Miss Mary Josephine Carroll 11. Miss Mona Kathleen Shannon 12. Mr Willie Lin 13. Ms Emily Ada Davis 14. Mr John Campbell 15. Mr Ernest Greenfield 16. Mr Clifford James Hardin O'Brien
For Cairns
17. Mrs Charlotte Louisa Davids 18. Mrs Alice Minna Murray 19. Master Ian Sheppard Murray 20. Miss Alister Sheppard Murray 21. Miss Jean Alexander Murray 22. Miss Ailsa Mary Murray (Infant) 23. Mrs Mary Ann Linedale (Maid) 24. Mr Stephen Symons Reath 25. Mrs Margaret Frances Reath 26. Mr William James Fulton 27. Mr Albert Sutherland Dette 28. Mr T Parton 29. Mr S Manwaring 30. Miss Mary Annie Woodward 31. Mrs Hanora Gertrude Magee
Second class for Townsville
32. Mr O F Thompson 33. Mr Charles Manbey 34. Mrs Mary Ann Manbey 35. Mr W Barklay 36. Mr Octagavina Carrasco 37. Mr Jose Sareras 38. Mr Walter Francis Breckenridge 39. Mr Ernst Schneider 40. Mr Richard Thomas Coade 41. Mr Walter George Coade 42. Mr James John Sutherland 43. Mr Fraser Sutherland 44. Mr William Smith
For Cairns
45. Mr James Dempsey Jolly 46.Mr David Davies 47. Mr Pianta, Antonia 48. Mr W H Griffiths 49. Mr E E Parkhurst
CREW
50. Mr William Knight 51. Mr Richard Williams 52. Mr Harry Harden 53. Mr D Cameron 54. Mr George H Jarvis 55. Mr A F Hamilton 56. Mr John Donaldson 57. Mr Claude Miller 58. Mr A Lawrance 59. Mr E Mawby 60. Mr G A Harris 61. Mr W D Millar 62. Mr E McKenzie 63. Mr J Roberts 64. Mr S W H Emerson 65. Ms A S English 66. Ms M Lambrick 67. Ms S Andrew 68. Ms A Rentoul 69. Mr J H Shipton 70. Mr G H Reid 71. Mr J Elliott 72. Mr V Cross 73. Mr D Morrison 74. Mr J W Sullivan 75. Mr J Ward 76. Mr J Craig 77. Mr J Finlay 78. Mr A O Armstrong 79. Mr J E Costello 80. Mr F J Wingrove 81. Mr R W Cooks 82. Mr A P W Gordon 83. Mr G H Fox 84. Mr J West 85. Mr R Robertson 86. Mr W H McPherson 87. Mr J Gemmell 88. Mr P McAdle 89. Mr P Rankin 90. Mr T Howard 91. Mr W Houston 92. Mr W D Murray 93. Mr F E Voight 94. Mr A Uggddahl 95. Mr H Todd 96. Mr F Medcalf 97. Mr J Diamond 98. Mr J Grumbledon 99. Mr J Narrie 100. Mr C A Davison 101. Mr A Lillico 102. Mr J F Gallagher 103. Mr E A Rickson 104. Mr J A Reich 105. Mr G Goldsmith 106. Mr J Calvin 107. Mr O V Nelson 108. Mr J McGinnis 109. Mr E O Jones 110. Mr W Boylan 111. Mr R Woods 112. Mr H C Gale 113. Mr E H Freeston 114. Mr P Walsh 115. Mr J Johnston 116. Mr J MacDonald 117. Mr V R McDougall 118. Mr W Paton 119. Mr J L McNamara 120. Mr C S Doyle 121 Mr H Lewis 122 Mr S Donachie
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