Rita Sculley, 97, has become a great-great-great-grandmother, with six generations of women alive at once. She met the newest family member, Harmony Gibbs, born on July 20.
Six Generations of Women
Harmony is the daughter of 18-year-old Corryn Cook, granddaughter of 35-year-old Kimberly Brewer, great-granddaughter of Tina Hibberd, 53, great-great-granddaughter of Patricia Keen, 70, and great-great-great-granddaughter of Rita. The family, from Swindon, is one of only a few in the UK to span six generations.
Rita, born in 1929, is 97 years older than Harmony. The family gathers every Sunday at Rita's home near Aldbourne, enjoying time together in the garden.
Rare Family Achievement
Having six generations alive is rare in the UK. The world record for most generations is seven, set by an American family in 1989 when 109-year-old Augusta Bunge met her great-great-great-great-grandson.
Great-granddaughter Tina said: "It's amazing. Words can't really describe it. It's filled with love because I just love them all. I couldn't imagine life without them."
Baby's Arrival
Harmony was born at 2.09am on July 20 at Great Western Hospital in Swindon, weighing 8lb. Corryn gave birth without pain relief and returned home the same morning. Tina waited up all night for the call.
Tina said: "Eighteen years ago we had five generations together, and now, all these years later, we've got six. It's incredible. I was up all night waiting for the call, I couldn't sleep. Then my daughter rang to say 'She's here, and she's healthy!'"
Family's Joy
Kimberly, Harmony's gran, said: "It's domination of women isn't it. It's obviously really special, that's why we wanted to get everyone together. I think it's brought me and my daughter even closer."
Corryn lives at home with her mum and daughter. Kimberly added: "It is chaos! But it's nice I can help her. I can show her and tell her it's going to be okay. Some people can't even say they've got a nan. So to have a great-nan and a great-great-nan, you don't see it. It's really special. Especially for my nan, she just kept saying 'this is so lovely!"
