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===Pontifex family===
====First generation====
* "Old" John Pontifex (16 August 1727 – 8 February 1812)
** Ruth Pontifex (13 October 1727 – 10 January 1811; wife of Old Pontifex; married 1750).

====Second generation====
* George Pontifex (c. 1765–1838; son of Old John and Ruth Pontifex; married c. 1797 to unnamed woman who died 1805)

====Third generation====
* Eliza (1798–18??; George Pontifex's eldest child; never marries)
* Maria (1799–18??; George's second child; never marries)
* John (c. 1801–18??; George's third child; marries and has unnamed son early 1837)
* Theobald (1802–1881; George's fourth child; marries Christina Allaby July 1831; has 3 children)
** Christina Pontifex, née Allaby (wife of Theobald Pontifex; married July 1831; died c. 1863)
* Alethea (1805–1850; George's fifth child; loves Overton but never marries him)

====Fourth generation====
* Ernest, the central character (born 6 September 1835; eldest child of Theobald and Christina Pontifex)
** Ellen, Ernest's wife (born c. 1831; housemaid of Theobald and Christina; likely pregnant by John the coachman, whom she wed in 1851; separated; married bigamously to Ernest late 1850s; annulled 1862)
* Joseph (born 1836; second child of Theobald and Christina; married between 1875 and 1876)
* Charlotte (born 1837; third child of Theobald and Christina; married between 1876 and 1882)

====Fifth generation====
* Alice (born September 1860; illegitimate daughter of Ellen and Ernest; married Jack Rollings (born 1855) at age 38 and has son)
* Georgie (born late 1861; illegitimate son of Ernest and Ellen; marries and has children)