A genealogy enthusiast who has spent almost 30 years researching his family tree is preparing to meet up to 100 distant relatives from across the globe.

Matthew Godfrey, 46, has arranged a family union to mark 130 years since the marriage of his great-great-grandparents.

Five generations of descendants of John Mackin and Mary Ann Coyles, who married in Whitehaven in 1882, will meet at Shipley Social Club in Saltaire Road on Saturday.

The gathering will include distant cousins from Canada as well as other parts of the UK.

Mr Godfrey, who has created a 14-metre long family tree containing 350 names for the event, became interested in genealogy aged 18 when he discovered an old family photograph.

After researching his mother’s side of the family, he started looking into his paternal grandmother’s family, who originally came from Whitehaven.

Mr Godfrey, of Cowling , Keighley , who grew up in Baildon , said: “When I found people I wrote to them, asking if they would like to get in touch. It just snowballed.

“It’s like a drug. I got more excited by the challenge of finding people. You do find some interesting tales. If there’s a bit of a puzzle and you are trying to find someone, you get a buzz from that.

“I have got a real interest in the past and genealogy was just an extension of that. There are some sad things, people who fought and died in the First World War and stillborn babies.

“I am bringing the Mackin family together to meet each other, 130 years after our common ancestors married.”