March family celebrates arrival of fifth generation with birth of baby River Green

A March family had plenty to celebrate at a recent get together at the town's Two-Ten restaurant.

Not only were they celebrating a 70th birthday, but also an upcoming 50th wedding anniversary, and the arrival of a fifth generation member.

And the family's matriarch, Joyce Carroll will be 90 in September. Joyce and her family: daughter Sheila Tegerdine, granddaughter Marion Whitehead, great granddaughter Natalie Green and great great granddaughter River Green, are the second Fenland family this year to celebrate five generations.

In January Chatteris woman Frances Moult turned 100 with a family celebration that included her daughter, four granddaughters, eight great grandchildren and three great great grandchildren.

But as Joyce's daughter, Sheila, who now lives in Snettisham, points out families with five generations are likely to become rarer with the passing years as couples start having children later.

She said: "My mum had me when she was 20, I had my daughter when I was 20 and she had Natalie when she was 20/21, where as Natalie is 26 and having her first child.

"Interestingly we are five generations of women, and we are all first born with the exception of my mum who was the youngest of five. It is an achievement to have five generations and it was lovely to all be together.

"We have a lot to celebrate this year and the party at Two-Ten was for my husband Stanley's 70th, my grandson-in-law Lee Green's 30th and of course for the arrival of River, who was just five weeks old. We are also celebrating our golden wedding in June and we are having a lot of mini-celebrations for that too."