Five generations of girls have posed for a rare family portrait not many get the chance to treasure – marking a “very special” moment in their lives.
News of (another) baby girl did not startle the tight-knit Suffolk family, who say they are extremely proud to have five generations of women alive at the same time.
The eldest member of the group, 88-year-old Stella Darton, is delighted to be a great-great grandmother, according to her daughter Meryl Falvey, who is 62.
Stella, who lives in Ipswich, said she feels lucky to have been able to meet little Isabella, who was born just 13 days ago on September 2.
Benhall Primary School teacher Kirsty Johnston completes the third generation of the family.
The 39-year-old, who lives in Aldeburgh, has become a grandmother after her daughter Katie Swan Brown, an Ipswich based teaching assistant, gave birth to little Isabella just over a fortnight ago.
A photograph capturing the moment all five were united for the first time was taken in Stella’s back garden.
Meryl, who is the only member of the group to live outside Suffolk in the Norfolk village of Pulham Market, said: “It is something really special I think, and we are so happy to have welcomed Isabella into our family – she is ever so beautiful.
“It is really exciting, and my mum is so pleased she has been able to become a great-great grandmother.
“Mum has lived in Ipswich for about 62 years, she and dad moved into their home when I was just six weeks old and they love living there.
“Mum used to work at the Phillips and Piper clothes factory which was then in Back Hamlet – she’s spent her life and career in the town so it’s great for her to have her great-great grandaughter just down the road.
She added: “Katie was a teaching assistant before she had Isabella and her mum Kirsty is a teacher at Benhall Primary School in Saxmundham.
“I think it’s great that the family stretches across Suffolk and now has crept into Norfolk slightly.
“We run a bed and breakfast here but didn’t want to stray too far away from Suffolk to be close to the family.
“We are very proud of our family of girls and hope that Isabella grows up to be proud of being a fifth generation of ladies in our family too.”
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