En masse, it is hard to ignore the Barrett family. There’s enough of them to throw a party without the need for any guests. With nine children aged between five and 27, the arrival of Ann and William Barrett’s ‘tribe’ can make even a large room suddenly seem a little crowded.

No surprise then that mornings in the Barrett household often resemble rush hour and at dinner time no one can get a word in edgeways. ‘Sometimes, looking at all our children together I think “how did that happen?”’ says Ann, 51, who had her first child at 23 and her youngest at 46.

‘I always wanted a large family, but I never imagined it would end up this big. When we go out for meals, I can see other diners giving us sidelong glances and secretly counting all the children.

Meet the Barretts: Ann and William with (back, from left) Oliver, 21, Kitty, 18, Florence, 23, Matilde, 19, Livvy, 27 and (front) Louis, 13, Bessie, seven, Johnboy, five, and Malachy, 15

‘Sometimes we feel like celebrities, with people coming up to me and asking “are you the mum with nine children?”’

As for husband William, apart from one incident when a football ricocheted off his head as he was driving the family down the M1 in a people carrier, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

‘If we’d had a bit more money, we probably would have had ten or 11,’ says William, also 51, with a chuckle. He can remember every child’s birthday and birth weight off the top of his head. Besides, he adds: ‘It’s too late to go back now.’

People often wrongly assume that they are a ‘blended family’ and their nine children are the result of a complex web of current and previous relationships.

Sometimes they make the mistake of thinking the youngest two, Bessie, seven, and Johnboy, five, are Ann and William’s grandchildren and one of their adult daughters is their mother.

But, a rarity these days, all nine children have the same very happily married mum and dad, who both work to support their family without relying on any state benefits.

The Barretts make parenting look ridiculously easy - producing nine incredibly polite, well-behaved children. All the girls from left to righ: Florence 23, Maitilde 19, Livvy 27, Kitty 18 and Bessie, seven

What’s more, not only do the Barretts make parenting look ridiculously easy - producing nine incredibly polite, well-behaved children - they make it sound like a non-stop barrel of laughs. Well, most of the time.

William, only half-joking, says: ‘When the children argue, we divide them into two gangs and just let them fight among themselves.’

Ann adds: ‘Some of the kids are more precious about their things than others. Once one of them got hold of another’s iPad and changed the homescreen wallpaper, causing the biggest fight. You just try your best to help them all see the other’s point of view.’

With nine children aged between five and 27, the arrival of Ann and William Barrett’s ‘tribe’ can make even a large room suddenly seem a little crowded. Married in 1987, the couple’s eldest child Livvy, 27, was a honeymoon baby while the youngest, Johnboy, was a late surprise

Married in 1987, the couple’s eldest child Livvy, 27, was a honeymoon baby while the youngest, Johnboy, was a late surprise for Ann who thought her baby-making days were behind her.

He was conceived, a super-fertile Ann says, in the blink of an eye, as were Florence, 23, Oliver, 21, Matilde, 19, Kitty, 18, Malachy, 15, Louis, 13, and seven-year-old Bessie.

Ann, who runs a pre-nursery in Notting Hill, West London, breastfed them all for at least a year, sometimes two, and claims to have been barely troubled by sleepless nights or crying. She has never read a parenting book and admits to loving the hustle and bustle of a big, noisy family and says she wouldn’t be able to cope with the ‘peace of quiet of two or three kids’.

Ann and William, an IT consultant, still live in the four-bedroom terrace house in Wembley, North London, they bought as a young married couple - extending it over the years to accommodate their large brood, above

‘It’s a running joke in our family that whenever William and I have time alone together, which isn’t often, the result is another baby,’ says Ann, herself the eldest of six children.

‘We were on a camping holiday in France when I found out I was expecting Johnboy. I was still breast-feeding Bessie, who was a year old, and I had a familiar feeling I might be pregnant again. I thought: “How can I be pregnant at 45?”

‘I couldn’t believe it when the pregnancy test came back positive. My last child was a complete shock. William took the news just as he did every pregnancy. He kissed me and was incredibly pleased.

The boys: left to right, Oliver 21, Louis 13, Malachy 15 & John Boy five

‘He’s never been the type to rub my back or bring me glasses of water when I’m pregnant, but he’s always been delighted with every child. He’s incredibly laidback. We just take it all in our stride.’

Ann and William, an IT consultant, still live in the four-bedroom terrace house in Wembley, North London, they bought as a young married couple - extending it over the years to accommodate their brood.

York University graduate Livvy, now a social worker whose job involves supporting foster families, has moved out to live with her partner, but eight children remain at home. Three work and five are at school.

Ann, who runs a pre-nursery in Notting Hill, West London, breastfed them all for at least a year, sometimes two, and claims to have been barely troubled by sleepless nights or crying. She enjoys the bustle of a large family

Florence is employed by London Ambulance Service as an emergency call dispatcher, Oliver is in marketing, and Matilde is working as a receptionist during her gap year before going to university to study drama.

Other mothers often ask Ann how she manages, imagining a von Trapp family scenario from The Sound Of Music with children - summoned by a loud whistle - standing to attention like little soldiers.

‘People are always asking if I run our home with military precision, but it’s the opposite. It’s more like organised chaos,’ says Ann. ‘William and I are both very relaxed. We’ve never sat down, drawn up a budget and asked ourselves “can we afford another child?” They just come along and we manage.

Husband William wouldn’t have it any other way

‘We’ve never claimed any benefits, not even child benefit for some of them, as I’m not good at chasing things up. We prefer camping to expensive holidays. We pitch up and the kids can go off and have fun. It’s all very free-range.

‘William never, ever, misses work. One year it snowed so heavily, no one could get into work, but William walked for hours and hours to get in. That’s the kind of man he is.

‘I was lucky to have the kind of career which allowed me to take the children to work with me, so we didn’t have childcare bills, and we sent them to state schools,’ says Ann who works part-time in the morning at her nursery, and devotes the afternoons to her family.

‘Perhaps it’s my Yorkshire upbringing, but each child had one pair of school shoes and one pair of trainers. They didn’t need any more than that and I’m amazed when other parents spend money on multiple pairs of shoes and expensive clothes children will grow out of.’

William adds: ‘People think it takes millions to bring up nine children, but it doesn’t. It isn’t the cost of one multiplied by nine.’

Born in Yorkshire to former semi-professional footballer John Hurley, who later ran the family grocery store with his wife of 52 years, Patsy, Ann was working as a nanny in West London when she met William through a friend from a local Catholic church.

‘I’ve always been very maternal,’ says Ann, who is still in touch with the 18-month-old girl she was nanny for - now a 35-year-old woman.

‘I was eight when my youngest sister was born. I remember my mum putting her in my arms and asking me to give her a cuddle while she got the others ready. Some might have resented that, but I loved it. I just adored babies and by the time I married William when I was 23, I was feeling very broody.’

Livvy, conceived on their honeymoon to Italy, was born a month prematurely weighing just over 5 lb. On the advice of her mother, Ann decided to delay having a second so she could really enjoy first-time motherhood.

Ann was working as a nanny in West London when she met William through a friend from a local church

Florence arrived four years later, and since then life for Ann has been a non-stop round of breastfeeding, weaning, nappies, potty-training, school drop-offs, pick-ups, cooking and homework.

Ann says she thought her family was complete after seven children, and believed the chances of falling pregnant well into her 40s were pretty slim. Bessie and Johnboy proved her wrong.

Yet Ann says she never wearies of it all - and she looks remarkably youthful. She does, though, admit it’s more tiring at 51 to be mum to young children than in her 20s.

We’ve never claimed any benefits, not even child benefit for some of them, as I’m not good at chasing things up. We prefer camping to expensive holidays

‘With each child I’ve hardly taken any time off work, unless it was the school holidays and the nursery was closed,’ says Ann, who delivered all nine babies naturally after largely problem-free pregnancies.

‘With Bessie I felt fantastic and worked right up to the birth. I went into the nursery that morning, gave birth that afternoon and I think I was back at work a couple of days later. I’m the opposite of the Gina Ford mum. I don’t do routine, I don’t do structured feeding or controlled crying, I am just instinctive.

‘I breastfed them as and when and quickly worked out that if you gave them a feed before they woke up properly and started crying, they were much happier,’ says Ann. ‘I don’t remember any problems with teething or sleepless nights. I just remember it being lovely and really fulfilling.

‘I’ve always loved the baby stage, so for me having so many children it’s a bit like having the same gorgeous baby over and over again. Babies are so alive and lovely, so to be able to repeat that is a privilege.

‘When I was expecting Johnboy, it was like Christmas had arrived early in our house. Everyone was so excited, it was like waiting to open the best ever present.’

Nurses at the hospital went pale when the Barretts turned up to see the new addition. Taking one look at the crowd, a nurse said ‘Immediate family only’ and was stunned to hear: ‘We all are’.

Ann says she has always been very maternal, but hardly had any time of work with each child

Ann and William clearly love having a big family and Ann says: ‘I just feel so lucky. I’m a compassionate soul and I feel very sad for women who want but can’t have children. That would have been awful if it had happened to me.’

But what about the children? Do they crave their own bedrooms, total silence or a bit of space?

Livvy, who had three brothers and three sisters when she left to go to university and returned to four brothers and four sisters, says: ‘The first thing people ask when they find out I have eight siblings is “All the same parents?” and when I say yes, they find it incredible. All my friends love it because it’s so quirky.

With each child I’ve hardly taken any time off work, unless it was the school holidays and the nursery was closed

‘Matilde and I crave some quiet times alone sometimes, but we also crave being together. If one person is missing, we really feel it.’

Florence adds: ‘There is always someone there for you, but we do argue over what’s on TV or make-up being borrowed without asking.’

Oliver says: ‘There’s never a quiet moment, which can be good and bad. There’s always something going on. I imagine I would be a different kind of person if I’d had just one sibling, less patient.’

‘It’s a lot of fun, especially at Christmas, but sometimes it’s hard to concentrate when you are trying to do homework with all the noise,’ says Kitty, while Malachy adds: ‘It’s hard to surprise our parents, because everything’s been done already before by the older ones.’

Louis says he likes the fact that ‘You are never alone’ while Bessie and Johnboy agree it is ‘fun’ having so many older siblings.

‘All the children have different characters. Some are more laid-back than others, but we love them all exactly the same,’ says Ann.

Ann breastfed her children as and doesn't remember any problems with teething or sleepless nights

‘They love to tease each other and one year, round the Christmas table, I told them all “say one nice thing about each other”.

‘Obviously, they didn’t say anything nice at all. It was hysterical and I was doubled over laughing and then they came to me and I thought: “Argh, I can’t complain because I started it.”’

Needless to say, they are all looking forward to the festive season. Florence turns 24 on December 20 and a party is planned followed by a mammoth Christmas dinner round the table, with something meat-free for vegetarian William.