Henry numbering system

There was not a great variety of names used by the Ward family in the ninteenth century. The Henry Numbering System has been used on the Ward Family Website to provide a useful way of distinguishing our ancestors and being able to readily identify their positioning within the family tree.

The starting person is given the number 1. For this purpose William Ward, who is known to be the grandfather of Michael (the Michael born in 1835 in Ireland), is assigned the number 1.

The Henry number can be used as a subscript, such as William₁, where it is unclear on a page who is being referred to.

William’s₁ first child is numbered 11, his second child is 12, his third child is 13, and so on. Michael’s father John was probably the second child of William₁, hence he is John₁₂.

John’s₁₂ children are then numbered 121, 122, 123, and so on. Michael was the fifth child so he is 125, thus Michael₁₂₅.

Each person’s number starts with his or her parent’s number and adds a digit to represent his or her position in the family. If there are more than 9 children in a family the numbering continues on with capital letters in the alphabet, where A is 10, B is 11, C is 12, and so on.

Spouses and partners of a Ward descendant will receive the Henry number of their Ward descendant partner and have the letter p affixed to distinguish them.