A CHRISTENING gown worn over three centuries by generations of the same family will be used again this weekend for the latest ceremony.

At least 55 members of eight-week-old Jacob Glenn Nicholson’s family have worn the gown before him. His grandmother, Jacqui Evans, believes the figure could be much higher.

It is thought the gown was bought by Jacob’s great-great-great-great-great grandmother during the 1800s, when it was traditional to have a robe that would become a family heirloom.

Mrs Evans, 45, of Polperro Grove, Darlington, said: “I don’t think many people will have something as old as this, especially just a run-of-the-mill family like us.

“From all the pictures of family christenings, that gown is the only constant thing. Family members come and go, but the christening gown stays and gets passed on down.”

Mrs Evans said the fathers of the family had been known to object to their sons wearing the flowing dress, but the tradition has always been upheld.

She added: “You might have some kicking and screaming from the partner, because it’s a gown, but they come around in the end. We tend to get our own way.”

Jacob’s mother, Kimberley Evans, 22, of Coleridge Gardens, Darlington, said the gown has been a bond for the family.

“Jacob is the first of a new generation. Everyone in the whole family has been christened in it, and it feels like a link between Jacob and my great-grandmother, who died five years ago,” she said.

“My brother, my grandparents and great-grandparents, everyone has been christened in it, so Jacob is one of many, but the first of a generation.”

In 1963, the gown even got shipped to Malta for the christening of Angela Doherty.

Jacob’s great-grandmother, Joan Elliott, 65, of Thornaby, praised her late mother, Rose Allum, who looked after the gown until her death five years ago.

“It is incredible it has survived so well,” she said. “My mum would be so proud to see Jacob being christened in the gown. It’s a shame she can’t be there to enjoy the day.”

The christening ceremony is on Sunday, at St Mark’s Church, North Road, Darlington.