Perth.
In Wanley's _Wonders of the Little Moral World_ (London, 1806), vol. i.
p. 76., will be found several instances of numerous families by one
mother; in one case (No. 27.) fifty-seven children; and in another (No.
6.), no less than seventy-three! Your correspondent can refer to the
authorities, which are also given. The authenticity of one of the cases
mentioned (No. 23.) will probably be easily ascertained, as it is said
to be the copy of an inscription in the churchyard of Heydon in
Yorkshire, to the following effect:--
"Here lieth the body of William Strutton of Padrington, buried the
18th of May, 1734, aged ninety-seven, who had by his first wife
twenty-eight children, and by a second wife seventeen; was father
to forty-five, grandfather to eighty-six, great-grandfather to
ninety-seven, and great-great-grandfather to twenty-three--in all
251."--_Gent. Mag. Aug. 1731._
There appears to be some mistake in the reference, and I may mention
that I have not been able to find the epitaph in Mr. Urban's pages with
the assistance of the general index.[8]