Ancestors in the Attic: week 5

To the list of misleading if not simply incorrect statements perpetrated by this series we can add another. The senior genealogist claimed that he was a cousin three times removed of the host by virtue of a marriage between their respective great grandfather's cousins.

The terminology "removed" relates to the number of generations different two people are from a common ancestor. If anything these two people are of the same generation, not three times removed. However, the point is moot as there is no common ancestor -- no genetic relationship. They are only cousins to the extent that a remote link by marriage makes them so.

Several web sites explain this, try here.