Hullo List I have been pondering the generation issue. My grandson is a 7th generation Australian. The normal or average time between a generations is about 35 years. This gives him 245 years of Aussie relatives. So he would have 128 direct Australian ancestors. Which is correct that takes him back to 1763, the birth of my first convict. If we went back 14 generations that is 490 years ago that would give us about 16 thousand main relatives. Given that some of our ancestors appear in our family trees more than once. Convict transport ceased in NSW in October 1850 WA in 1863. The most amount of convicts you can have? If your first arrival was 1788. He/she married another convict. There are your first two. Their child marries a convict. Now 3 convicts. Remember that the first child is colonial born not a convict.1st generation Australian. Colonial born child's in laws are both convicts. There are your first 5 convicts. You can have a good many convicts if your convicts were arriving right up until the last ship. Between 1791 and 1846 I have 9 direct convicts but am related to 12. With the early deaths of some, the remarriages were to other convicts, which bore more children. So a marriage in 1788 can produce a child in 1789. Wait 16 years then the next generation is born 1805. They wait 20 years1825 they wait 18 years 1843 then another 16 years 1859. A young convict arriving on that last ship say he's 17 years old, he does not get married for another 16 years but marries the girl born in 1859 in 1875. He's 33 she is 16. That is nearly 100 years later. If your convicts married only convicts that is how many you can have? I know how many that is, who else can work it out? Jen.