An Ahnentafel is an ancestor table, a way of identifying each of a person's direct ancestors with a number. The starting point is the subject, or proband, of the tree and that person is given the number 1. His or her father is numbered 2 and mother is numbered 3. Following the sequence, paternal grandfather is numbered 4, paternal grandmother, 5, maternal grandfather 6 and maternal grandmother 7. The numbering continues in this way back through the generations.

It becomes more interesting when the numbers are converted from decimal to their binary equivalent, as in the following example.

If you read back the binary number, left to right, substituting the inital figure "1" with the subject's name and continue along the number substituting father('s) for the "0"s and mother('s) for the "1"s, you are able to see the exact relationship between the subject and the ancestor.

The maternal grandmother, given the binary number 111, can be read back as the subject's mother's mother.

Similarly, as my Johnson Ahnentafel below shows, William Rutherford, decimal number 56 and binary number 111000, is the subject's, mother's, mother's, father's, father's, father.

	Decimal Number	Name	Date of Birth/Baptism	Date of Death/Burial	Binary Number
1st GENERATION - SUBJECT
	1	JOHNSON,			1
2nd GENERATION - PARENTS
	2	JOHNSON,			10
	3	HAYMAN,			11
3rd GENERATION - GRANDPARENTS
	4	JOHNSON, James	13 Nov 1909	15 Feb 1969	100
	5	MASON, Phyllis Violet	20 Oct 1918	21 Oct 1986	101
	6	HAYMAN,			110
	7	RUTHERFORD,			111
4th GENERATION - GREAT GRANDPARENTS
	8	JOHNSON, William Horace	15 Sep 1869	06 May 1945	1000
	9	BUCKLE, Clara Louise	04 Apr 1877	26 Oct 1956	1001
	10	MASON, Harry Holdsworth,	23 Mar 1879	01 Apr 1954	1010
	11	EMERY, Amy Sarah,	24 Aug 1888	07 Nov 1970	1011
	12	HAYMAN, George	23 Sep 1871	07 Dec 1902	1100
	13	PIPE, Alice	02 Dec 1869	06 Sep 1940	1101
	14	RUTHERFORD, William Louis,	18 Feb 1869	24 Dec 1936	1110
	15	DISCOMBE, Claress Rosina,	08 Sep 1874	21 Nov 1944	1111
5th GENERATION - GREAT, GREAT GRANDPARENTS
	16	JOHNSON, William,	18 Apr 1843	aft. 1928	10000
	17	HOLDAWAY, Caroline,	14 Apr 1846	aft. 1881	10001
	18	BUCKLE, John,	15 Oct 1844	aft. 1901	10010
	19	GREEN, Mary Ann,	abt 1845		10011
	20	MASON, Godfrey Holdsworth,	16 Dec 1843	02 Sep 1914	10100
	21	TURNER, Jessie Sterry,	18 Sep 1846	25 Nov 1921	10101
	22	EMERY, George Henry,	30 May 1847	abt 1941	10110
	23	MURRELL, Eliza Ann,	abt 1852		10111
	24	HAYMAN, George	15 Oct 1823	aft 1901	11000
	25	MELEADY, Catherine,	abt 1835		11001
	26	PIPE, Henry,			11010
	27	TOZER, Mary,	17 Jun 1838	30 Nov 1934	11011
	28	RUTHERFORD, William Alfred,	21 Feb 1827	23 Feb 1880	11100
	29	JOHNSON, Emma Eliza,	18 Mar 1836	18 Dec 1896	11101
	30	DISCOMBE, John,	abt 1833	abt Jun 1885	11110
	31	FIGGEST, Claress,	15 Aug 1844	abt Mar 1896	11111
6th GENERATION
	32	JOHNSON, John,	abt Oct 1797	bef 1881	100000
	33	HOW, Sarah,	abt Jun 1801	abt 1881	100001
	34	HOLDAWAY, John,	27 Feb 1820	bef 1871	100010
	35	JARRETT, Caroline,	abt 1823		100011
	36	BUCKLE, Robert,	28 Oct 1821		100100
	37	GOULD, Catherine,	20 Nov 1825		100101
	38	GREEN, William,	abt 1827		100110
	40	MASON, Richard,	14 Aug 1803		101000
	41	TURNER, Lydia,	abt 1818		101001
	42	TURNER, William Macdonald,	abt 1813	bef 1871	101010
	43	STERRY, Lucy Anne,	abt 1815	abt 1881	101011
	44	EMERY, George,	17 Oct 1824	bef 1897	101100
	45	BRAGG, Sarah Ann,	abt 1826		101101
	46	MURRELL, Edward,	abt 1810		101110
	47	FAIRCHILD, Anna Sophia,	abt 1820		101111
	48	BARRY,	abt 1800		110000
	49	HAYMAN, Hannah,	03 Jun 1805	09 Jun 1879	110001
	50	MELEADY, Matthew,	abt 1794	17 Dec 1871	110010
	51	?, Amelia,	abt 1795	25 Dec 1874	110011
	55	TOZER, Mary,	abt 1800	aft 1881	110111
	56	RUTHERFORD, William,	abt 1795		111000
	57	?, Elizabeth,	abt 1795		111001
	58	JOHNSON, John,	abt 1799	01 Apr 1846	111010
	59	SLADE, Mary Elizabeth,	09 Mar 1803	05 Nov 1890	111011
	60	DISCOMBE, John,	28 Jan 1800	24 June 1871	111100
	61	SHAW, Margaret,	abt 1802		111101
	62	FIGGEST, Edward,	14 Aug 1791	abt Sep 1845	111110
	63	PYOTT, Jane Anne,	abt 1813	abt Mar 1888	111111
7th GENERATION
	64	JOHNSON, Richard,	abt 1771		1000000
	65	QUINNAL, Frances,	abt Jan 1773		1000001
	66	HOW, Nicholas,	25 Apr 1762		1000010
	67	VAUGHAN, Elizabeth,	3 Mar 1770		1000011
	68	HOLDAWAY, James,	abt Feb 1791	abt Jun 1871	1000100
	69	WIGGINS, Susanna,	abt 1793	19 Feb 1865	1000101
	70	JARRETT, George,	abt 1800		1000110
	72	BUCKLE, George,	10 Mar 1792		1001000
	73	VINCENT, Mary,	13 Dec 1790	bef 1861	1001001
	74	GOULD, William,	abt 1791		1001010
	75	TAYLOR, Elizabeth,	abt 1791		1001011
	80	MASON, William,	abt 1772		1010000
	81	?, Susannah,	abt 1774		1010001
	82	TURNER, Edward Holdsworth,	14 Dec 1788	21 Feb 1851	1010010
	83	MORSE, Eliza	abt 1787	25 Aug 1851	1010011
	84	TURNER, Thomas,	abt 1790		1010100
	86	STERRY, George,	14 May 1793	abt Oct 1856	1010110
	87	?, Mary Ann,	abt 1794		1010111
	88	MEYERS, Henry,	abt 1806		1011000
	89	EMERY, Isabella,	22 May 1808		1011001
	90	BRAGG, Thomas,	abt 1800		1011010
	92	MURRELL, Edward,	abt 1788		1011100
	93	?, Ann,	abt 1788		1011101
	94	FAIRCHILD, John,	abt 1800		1011110
	98	HAYMAN, George,	abt 1769	07 Oct 1836	1100010
	99	?, Lucy,	abt 1771	13 Dec 1829	1100011
	110	TOZER, Samuel,	abt 1770	bef 1844	1101110
	112	RUTHERFORD, William,	abt 1773		1110000
	118	SLADE, James,	22 Jan 1761		1110110
	119	DAVIS, Ann,	abt 1763		1110111
	120	DISCOMBE, Thomas,	abt 1770		1111000
	121	?, Ann,	abt 1772		1111001
	124	FIGGES, John,	abt 1756		1111100
	125	ROWE, Elizabeth,	abt 1756	15 Dec 1833	1111101
8th GENERATION
	130	QUINNAL, Michael,	abt 1746		10000010
	131	HOLDER, Ann,	abt 1746		10000011
	132	HOW, Thomas,	16 May 1725		10000100
	133	?, Ann,			10000101
	134	VAUGHAN, William,	abt Jan 1743/44		10000110
	135	DOWNS, Mary,	abt 1749		10000111
	136	HOLDAWAY, William,	abt Jun 1746	bef 1871	10001000
	137	MARTIN, Elizabeth,	abt 1748		10001001
	144	BUCKLE, George,	28 Dec 1765		10010000
	145	DURRANT, Mary,	26 Dec 1764		10010001
	146	VINCENT, John,	abt 1770		10010010
	147	WADE, Mary,	22 May 1768		10010011
	160	MASON, Richard	abt 1750		10100000
	164	TURNER, Joseph	25 July 1746	05 June 1802	10100100
	165	WOLLSTONECRAFT, Lydia	26 Sep 1762	26 Apr 1833	10100101
	172	STERRY, George	abt 1771		10101100
	173	?, Lucy	abt 1773		10101101
	176	MEYERS, Henri	abt 1782		10110000
	178	EMERY, John Allen	06 Feb 1763		10110010
	179	BELL, Mary	abt 1765		10110011
	236	SLADE, William			11101100
	237	?, Jane			11101101
9th GENERATION
	264	HOW, Thomas	Apr 1699		100001000
	265	?, Jane			100001001
	268	VAUGHAN, Richard	abt 1720		100001101
	269	?, Sarah	abt 1720		100001110
	272	HOLDAWAY, Thomas			100010000
	273	?, Sarah			100010001
	288	BUCKLE, George	1741	07 Mar 1833	100100000
	289	SMITH, Mary	abt 1745	12 May 1832	100100001
	290	DURRANT, John	abt 1737		100100010
	291	?, Mary	abt 1744		100100011
	294	WADE, Robert	abt 1748		100100110
	295	?, Mary	abt 1748		100100111
	328	TURNER, Richard	abt 1714	30 May 1789	101001000
	329	MASON, Susanna	abt 1719	01 Nov 1802	101001001
	330	WOLLSTONECRAFT, Edward Bland	29 Feb 1735/36	31 Jul 1795	101001010
	331	COOKE, Lydia	29 Mar 1741	27 Jan 1785	101001011
	356	EMERY, George	25 Nov 1735		101100100
	357	ALLEN, Katherine	11 Sep 1738	17 Jun 1782	101100101
10th GENERATION
	528	HOW, Willelmus			1000010000
	529	PERIGOE, Margaret			1000010001
	536	VAUGHAN	abt 1700		1000011000
	658	MASON, John	6 Jul 1684	bef 1762	1010010010
	659	HOLDSWORTH, Ann	03 Jan 1685/86	aft 1762	1010010011
	660	WOLLSTONECRAFT, Charles	22 Aug 1715	abt 1750	1010010100
	661	WOOD, Britannia	abt 1715	10 Nov 1740	1010010101
	662	COOKE, Osmond	abt 1720		1010010110
	712	EMERY, John	20 Oct 1700	06 Apr 1765	1011001000
	713	?, Martha	abt 1714	07 May 1769	1011001001
	714	ALLEN, John			1011001010
	715	?, Mary			1011001011
11th GENERATION
	1072	VAUGHAN, John	04 Dec 1680		10000110000
	1316	MASON, Humphrey	abt 1653	07 Oct 1705	10100100100
	1317	THORNGATE, Susanna	abt 1655	03 Mar 1692/93	10100100101
	1318	HOLDSWORTH, Thomas	Oct 1649	30 Aug 1714	10100100110
	1319	WINCH, Ann	01 Dec 1654	06 Nov 1704	10100100111
	1320	WOLLSTONECRAFT, Edward	24 Jun 1688	24 Jan 1765	10100101000
	1321	MASON, Jane	abt 1685	24 Jan 1732/33	10100101001
	1322	WOOD,			10100101010
	1323	BLAND, Rebecca	abt 1688		10100101011
	1424	EMERY, George	abt 1660	abt 1713	10110010000
	1425	?, Elizabeth	abt 1662	21 Aug 1749	10110010001
12th GENERATION
	2144	VAUGHAN, Thome			100001100000
	2636	HOLDSWORTH, John	03 Jul 1614	bef 1664	101001001100
	2637	MAYNARD, Philadelphia	30 Apr 1618		101001001101
	2638	WINCH, Richard	abt 1630		101001001110
	2639	?, Mary	abt 1632		101001001111
	2640	WOOLSTONECRAFT, Arnold	abt 1650		101001010000
	2641	WILLIASON, Martha	abt 1646	04 Jan 1714/15	101001010001
	2646	BLAND, Thomas			101001010110
	2848	EMERY, Richard	abt 1642	21 Jan 1690/91	101100100000
13th GENERATION
	5272	HOLDSWORTH, Robert	12 May 1583	08 Dec 1632	1010010011000
	5273	NEWMAN, Mary	abt 1585	25 Dec 1665	1010010011001
	5274	MAYNARD, John	abt 1598		1010010011010
	5696	EMERY, George	abt 1620		1011001000000
	5697	?, Eleanor			1011001000001
14th GENERATION
	10544	HOLDSWORTH, John	25 Mar 1547	abt 1620	10100100110000
	10545	SAVILE, Elizabeth	abt 1550	abt 1629	10100100110001
15th GENERATION
	21088	HOLDSWORTH, John	abt 1520	10 Apr 1570	101001001100000
	21089	LACY, Alice	1525	29 Feb 1599/1600	101001001100001
	21090	SAVILE, Henry		13 Oct 1566	101001001100010
	21091	RAMSDEN, Elizabeth	1531	02 Mar 1595/96	101001001100011
16th GENERATION
	42176	HOLDSWORTH, Richard	abt 1490	01 Jun 1543	1010010011000000
	42177	?, Margaret	abt 1495	aft 1545	1010010011000001
	42178	LACY, Hugh	abt 1500		1010010011000010
	42180	SAVILE, John	abt 1540		1010010011000100
	42181	GLEDHILL, Margery			1010010011000101
	42182	RAMSDEN, Robert	1505		1010010011000110
17th GENERATION
	84352	HOLDSWORTH, John	abt 1460	abt 1523	10100100110000000
	84353	?, Alice	abt 1470	04 Apr 1563	10100100110000001
	84360	SAVILE, Nicholas			10100100110001000
	84361	WILKINSON, Margaret			10100100110001001
	84362	GLEDHILL, John			10100100110001010
18th GENERATION
	168704	HALDESWORTH, John	abt 1430	1495	101001001100000000
	168705	?, Cicely	abt 1435		101001001100000001
	168720	SAVILE, Thomas			101001001100010000
	168721	STANSFELD, Anne			101001001100010001
	168722	WILKINSON, William			101001001100010010
19th GENERATION
	337408	HALDESWORTH, Richard	abt 1396	19 Apr 1463	1010010011000000000
	337440	SAVILE, Henry			1010010011000100000
	337441	COPLEY, Helene			1010010011000100001
	337442	STANSFELD, John			1010010011000100010
20th GENERATION
	674816	de HALDESWORTH, John	abt 1370	29 Oct 1423	10100100110000000000
	674880	SAVILE, Henry	1355		10100100110001000000
	674881	THORNHILL, Elizabeth	1357		10100100110001000001
	674882	COPLEY, Thomas			10100100110001000010
21st GENERATION
	1349632	de HALDESWORTH, John	Aft 1343	16 Oct 1392	101001001100000000000
	1349633	?, Sibella	aft 1345	1399	101001001100000000001
	1349760	SAVILE, John	1329		101001001100010000000
	1349761	ELAND, Isabel	1331		101001001100010000001
	1349762	THORNHILL, Symon			101001001100010000010
22nd GENERATION
	2699264	de HALDESWORTH, Richard	abt 1310	19 Nov 1364	1010010011000000000000
	2699265	?, Juliana	abt 1320	aft 1364	1010010011000000000001
	2699520	SAVILE, John	abt 1300		1010010011000100000000
	2699521	RISHWORTH, Margery			1010010011000100000001
	2699522	ELAND, Thomas			1010010011000100000010
	2699524	THORNHILL, Brian			1010010011000100000100
	2699525	?, Elizabeth			1010010011000100000101
23rd GENERATION
	5398528	de HALDESWORTH, John	abt 1280	02 Jan 1351/52	10100100110000000000000
	5398529	?, Alice	abt 1280	aft 1363	10100100110000000000001
	5399040	SAVILE, Peter	abt 1270		10100100110001000000000
	5399042	RISHWORTH, Henry			10100100110001000000010
24th GENERATION
	10797056	de HALDESWORTH, John	abt 1250	aft 1316	101001001100000000000000
	10797057	?, Olive	abt 1260	aft 1316	101001001100000000000001
	10798080	SAVILE, John	abt 1240		101001001100010000000000
	10798081	GOWTHLAKER, Ann			101001001100010000000001
25th GENERATION
	21596160	SAVILE, John,	abt 1210		1010010011000100000000000

So John Savile must be the subject's, father's, mother's, father's, father's, mother's, father's, father's, mother's, mother's, father's, father's, father's, mother's, father's, father's, father's, father's, father's, father's, father's, father's, father's, father's, father.

Web site created by Daphne Johnson