Family tree in a single column
The 'family tree' is turned upside down with your parents at the top and a plus symbol + for each generation above your mother or father. The generations extend downwards, not upwards as they do in a traditional family tree. This format allows a complicated family tree to be put on a website and viewed on small devices such as mobile phones.
Example 1: mother's side, back 3 generations from yours
Grandmother and grandfather are split to allow for great grandparents (who are shown together as partners with grey background).
- Mother: Name (lifespan)
- Mother's siblings: names
- + Grandmother 1/2: Name (lifespan)
- ++ Great grandmother 1/4: Name (lifespan)
- ++ Great grandfather 1/4: Name (lifespan)
- + Grandfather 1/2: Name (lifespan)
- ++ Great grandmother 2/4: Name (lifespan)
- ++ Great grandfather 2/4: Name (lifespan)
Example 2: father's side, back 4 generations from yours
Great grandparents are also split to allow for 2 x great grandparents (who are shown together as partners with grey background). Great grandparents who were partners are highlighted with the green side border, once under grandfather then again under grandmother.
- Father: Name (lifespan)
- Father's siblings: names
- + Grandfather 1/2: Name (lifespan)
- ++ Great grandfather 1/4: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandfather 1/8: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandmother 1/8: Name (lifespan)
- ++ Great grandmother 1/4: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandfather 2/8: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandmother 2/8: Name (lifespan)
- + Grandmother 1/2: Name (lifespan)
- ++ Great grandfather 2/4: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandfather 3/8: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandmother 3/8: Name (lifespan)
- ++ Great grandmother 2/4: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandfather 4/8: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandmother 4/8: Name (lifespan)
Example 3: mother's side, back 5 generations from yours
As example 2 but on the mother's side, with 3 x great grandparents added for the first and fourth 2 x great grandparents, who are split and highlighted with the orange side border.
- Mother: Name (lifespan)
- Mother's siblings: names
- + Grandmother 1/2: Name (lifespan)
- ++ Great grandmother 1/4: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandmother 1/8: Name (lifespan)
- ++++ 3 x great grandmother 1/16: Name (lifespan)
- ++++ 3 x great grandfather 1/16: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandfather 1/8: Name (lifespan)
- ++++ 3 x great grandmother 2/16: Name (lifespan)
- ++++ 3 x great grandfather 2/16: Name (lifespan)
- ++ Great grandfather 1/4: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandmother 2/8: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandfather 2/8: Name (lifespan)
- + Grandfather 1/2: Name (lifespan)
- ++ Great grandmother 2/4: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandmother 3/8: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandfather 3/8: Name (lifespan)
- ++ Great grandfather 2/4: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandmother 4/8: Name (lifespan)
- ++++ 3 x great grandmother 7/16: Name (lifespan)
- ++++ 3 x great grandfather 7/16: Name (lifespan)
- +++ 2 x great grandfather 4/8: Name (lifespan)
- ++++ 3 x great grandmother 8/16: Name (lifespan)
- ++++ 3 x great grandfather 8/16: Name (lifespan)
The principle can be extended for many additional generations, always splitting partners where an ancestor is shown. Example »
The splitting of partners to allow for the first one's ancestors is necessary in a single-column list-style family tree. If the first one listed has a large number of ancestors it can sometimes mean they are listed quite far apart. If so, the second partner can be located lower down by looking for the next instance of the same number. For example if the first partner listed is your 3 x great grandmother followed by a number of ancestors, look lower down for your 3 x great grandfather (that's her partner).
The numbers in green allow for the fact that in each of the examples, only the mother's or father's side is shown, so 8/16, for example, would double to 16/16 if both sides are shown, because the number of 3 x great grandmothers is 16 in total. As for 10 x great grandmothers, you had 2048 of them.
System devised here on 7th March, 2020.
