Family fortunes: The hunt for the firm with the longest line of lawyers from the same family has taken a giant leap forward. Until now, the record was held by Paul Grimwood-Taylor of Derby firm Taylor Simpson & Mosley, who has been 'reliably informed' that he is the great-great-great grandson of Samuel Taylor, who practised law in London in 1794, and the great-great-grandson of William Grimwood-Taylor, who moved to Derby in 1857.


This prompted Ian Rothera of Nottingham firm Rothera Dowson to come forward. He is the fifth generation of Rothera in the firm, and the good news is that his daughter, Amy, is the sixth.



Mr Rothera also happens to be the sixth member of the family who - uninterrupted - have held the post of coroner or deputy coroner in Nottinghamshire since his great-great-grandfather George Bell Rothera (he was admitted in 1845).



But Mr Rothera very graciously points us in the direction of 'the Backhouse Boys', twins James and Jonathon (pictured, James is on the left), who are the seventh generation from the Backhouse family at Backhouse Jones in Clitheroe.



Jonathon tells us that the firm - now specialising in transport and commercial law - can be traced to Richard Backhouse (pictured in the portrait), who began his articles in 1819 and qualified in 1825. They still have the original parchment from Queen Victoria, allowing him to practise. The family is steeped in legal tradition - a great-uncle, a barrister, was a prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials.



The twin brothers have two young children each, so there's a good chance that this record-breaking lineage could continue. Surely, then, we have our winners - if not, email gazette-editorial@lawsociety.org.uk.