Stockport's supergran
COULD this be Stockport’s biggest family? The latest arrival in the Burgess clan makes Joyce, 80, a grandma and great gran of FIFTY.
The City-mad family, who all live around the town, welcomed baby Aria Blue at Stepping Hill Hospital on Friday.
That means Joyce, who lives in Hazel Grove, is now a mum-of-nine, gran of 24 and great-grandma of 26.
She has to keep a book to remember each grandchild and great-grandchild’s date of birth to send birthday cards on time and her house is so full at Christmas people have to sit on the stairs.
But Joyce, a former civil servant who ironically was an only child herself, says she feels ‘lucky and blessed’ to have such a big family.
She said: “We see each other all the time, we’re all very close. I feel very blessed and very proud of them all.
“I do a big buffet for them all on Christmas Day night, they all come round to my house and I have two rooms downstairs and they all sort of mill around.
“But if I want to take a photo of the children I have to ask them all to sit on the stairs.
“I can remember practically all the birthdays but where I’m falling down now is how old they all are. So I have a big book to keep track of them and as soon as they’re born they go in the book.
“I’m grateful to have them all, they are all very fun and without them I would have really struggled when I was widowed.”
Joyce and late husband John, who passed away nine years ago, were married for nearly 50 years.
They had nine children but one, Geoffrey, sadly died at 20 months old.
Remaining children Julie, Angela, Diane, Mark, Neil, Michael, Jonathan and Martin then went on to have between two and nine children each, who are now having children of their own.
Joyce goes to every home game at the Etihad with youngest son Martin and each new addition to the family is bought a City shirt.
To keep in touch the Burgess family even have their own private website, where they post pictures of their many family get-togethers.
Rachel Burgess, 29, who is Joyce’s fifth grandchild and a mum-of-two herself, said: “When we all get together you just feel dead happy.
“Joyce is a super-cool gran, everyone would say so. She’s amazing, kind, funny and always cheers you up.”