Estimates of cousin marriage and mean inbreeding in the United Kingdom from 'birth briefs'

Smith, M.T.

doi:10.1017/s0021932001000554

Estimates of cousin marriage and mean inbreeding in the United Kingdom from 'birth briefs'

Smith, M.T.

Authors

M.T. Smith

Abstract

From 626 ascendant genealogies, known as 'birth briefs', deposited by members of the Society of Genealogists in their London library, rates of consanguineous marriage and coefficients of mean inbreeding () of offspring were estimated for cohorts of marriages contracted in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The rate of first cousin marriage in the generation estimated to have married during the 1920s was 0·32%, with no marriages between second cousins. The mean inbreeding coefficient for the offspring of these marriages was estimated as 0·0002. In the previous generation 1·12% of the marriages were between first cousins, and the estimate of mean inbreeding was 0·0007. Comparison with data taken from the published literature suggests that the levels of cousin marriage observed are consistent with a secular decline during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Citation

Smith, M. (2001). Estimates of cousin marriage and mean inbreeding in the United Kingdom from 'birth briefs'. Journal of Biosocial Science, 33(1), 55-66. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021932001000554

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	2001
Deposit Date	Jul 3, 2008
Publicly Available Date	Jul 3, 2008
Journal	Journal of Biosocial Science
Print ISSN	0021-9320
Electronic ISSN	1469-7599
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	33
Issue	1
Pages	55-66
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021932001000554
Keywords	Genealogies, Consanguineous marriage.