Relatives meet at family union (From Keighley News)

Relatives meet at family union

10:00am Friday 17th August 2012 in Keighley By David Knights

A genealogy enthusiast from Cowling who has spent almost 30 years researching his family tree is preparing to meet up to 100 distant relatives from across the globe.

Matthew Godfrey, 46, has arranged a family union to mark 130 years since the marriage of his great-great-grandparents.

Five generations of descendants of John Mackin and Mary Ann Coyles, who married in Whitehaven in 1882, will meet at Shipley Social Club this Saturday (August 18).

The gathering will include distant cousins from Canada as well as the UK.

Mr Godfrey, who has created a 14-metre-long family tree containing 350 names for the event, became interested in genealogy at the age of 18 when he discovered an old family photograph.

After researching his mother’s side of the family, he started looking into his paternal grandmother’s family, who originally came from Whitehaven.

Mr Godfrey said: “When I found people I wrote to them, asking if they would like to get in touch. It just snowballed.

“It’s like a drug. I got more excited by the challenge of finding people.

“You do find some interesting tales.

“I am bringing the Mackin family together to meet each other 130 years after our common ancestors married.

“We are all first, second and third cousins.”