diff --git a/src/lib/typed-counter.hpp b/src/lib/typed-counter.hpp
index 88e14fc07..fdd9100a7 100644
--- a/src/lib/typed-counter.hpp
+++ b/src/lib/typed-counter.hpp
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ namespace lib {
   
   
   /** 
-   * Helper providing a set of counters, each tied to a specific type.
+   * Utility providing a set of counters, each tied to a specific type.
    */
   class TypedCounter
     : public Sync<>
@@ -186,5 +186,43 @@ namespace lib {
   
   
   
+  /**
+   * Utility to produce member IDs
+   * for objects belonging to a "Family",
+   * as defined by a distinguishing type.
+   */
+  template<typename TY>
+  class FamilyMember
+    {
+      const size_t id_;
+      
+      /** member counter shared per template instance */
+      static size_t memberCounter;
+      
+      /** threadsafe allocation of member ID */
+      static size_t
+      allocateNextMember()
+        {
+          ClassLock<FamilyMember> synchronised;
+          return memberCounter++;
+        }
+      
+    public:
+      FamilyMember()
+        : id_{allocateNextMember()}
+        { }
+      
+      operator size_t()  const
+        {
+          return id_;
+        }
+    };
+  
+  /** allocate storage for the counter per type family */
+  template<typename TY>
+  size_t FamilyMember<TY>::memberCounter{0};
+  
+  
+  
 } // namespace lib
 #endif
diff --git a/tests/12metaprogramming.tests b/tests/12metaprogramming.tests
index e7d6f59f7..3ec9cfd3c 100644
--- a/tests/12metaprogramming.tests
+++ b/tests/12metaprogramming.tests
@@ -602,6 +602,11 @@ return: 0
 END
 
 
+TEST "Type-based family member IDs" TypedFamilyMemberID_test <<END
+return: 0
+END
+
+
 TEST "for-each operations" UtilForeach_test 10 <<END
 out: ---:check_foreach_plain
 out: :10:9:8:7:6:5:4:3:2:1
diff --git a/tests/basics/typed-counter-test.cpp b/tests/basics/typed-counter-test.cpp
index b34231e5d..cf424eb92 100644
--- a/tests/basics/typed-counter-test.cpp
+++ b/tests/basics/typed-counter-test.cpp
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
  ** this facility is to provide a context, in which type-IDs can be allocated. In the
  ** case of the TypedCounter, these type-IDs are used to index into a vector of counters,
  ** this way allowing to access a counter for a given type.
- ** <P>
+ ** 
  ** This test builds several "families", each sharing a TypedCounter. Each of these
  ** families runs a set of member threads, which concurrently access the TypedCounter of
  ** this family. After waiting for all threads to finish, we compare the checksum built
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ namespace test{
                                           */
       
       
-      /** 
+      /**
        * Interface to a family of dummy types
        */
       class DummyType
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ namespace test{
       
       
       
-      /** 
+      /**
        * Collection of target functions,
        * to be invoked during the test run
        */
@@ -224,14 +224,14 @@ namespace test{
           iterator end()   { return targets_.end();   }
         };
       
-      DummyTarget targetCollection; 
+      DummyTarget targetCollection;
       
       
       
       /**
        * Each single check runs in a separate thread
        * and performs a random sequence of increments
-       * and decrements on random targets. 
+       * and decrements on random targets.
        */
       class SingleCheck
         : ThreadJoinable
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ namespace test{
         };
       
       
-      /** 
+      /**
        * Family of individual checks, sharing
        * a common TypedCounter instance.
        */
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ namespace test{
     {
       
       void
-      run (Arg) 
+      run (Arg)
         {
           simpleUsageTest();
           tortureTest();
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ namespace test{
       
       
       void 
-      tortureTest () 
+      tortureTest ()
         {
           std::srand (::time (NULL));
           sum_TypedCounter_ = 0;
diff --git a/tests/basics/typed-family-member-id-test.cpp b/tests/basics/typed-family-member-id-test.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..39210e3d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/basics/typed-family-member-id-test.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+/*
+  TypedFamilyMemberID(Test)  -  verify type based member ID
+
+  Copyright (C)         Lumiera.org
+    2017,               Hermann Vosseler <Ichthyostega@web.de>
+
+  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+  modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+  published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
+  the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+
+  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+  GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+  Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
+
+* *****************************************************/
+
+
+/** @file typed-family-member-id-test.cpp
+ ** Unit test to verify generation of a Member ID within a type based family of objects.
+ */
+
+
+
+#include "lib/test/run.hpp"
+#include "lib/typed-counter.hpp"
+
+
+namespace lib {
+namespace test{
+  
+  
+  
+  
+  /*******************************************************************//**
+   * @test simplistic unit test to demonstrate generating _member IDs
+   *       within a family of objects delineated by type.
+   * @warning this test does not cover the thread safety,
+   *       because FamilyMember relies on lib::ClassLock,
+   *       which is assumed to be covered separately
+   * 
+   * @see SessionCommandFunction_test::perform_massivelyParallel
+   * @see typed-counter.hpp
+   */
+  class TypedFamilyMemberID_test : public Test
+    {
+      
+      void
+      run (Arg)
+        {
+          struct X { };
+          struct Y { };
+          struct Z { };
+          
+          CHECK (0 == FamilyMember<X>{});
+          CHECK (1 == FamilyMember<X>{});
+          CHECK (2 == FamilyMember<X>{});
+          
+          CHECK (0 == FamilyMember<Y>{});
+          CHECK (1 == FamilyMember<Y>{});
+          
+          CHECK (0 == FamilyMember<Z>{});
+          
+          CHECK (2 == FamilyMember<Y>{});
+          CHECK (3 == FamilyMember<Y>{});
+          
+          CHECK (1 == FamilyMember<Z>{});
+          CHECK (2 == FamilyMember<Z>{});
+          CHECK (3 == FamilyMember<Z>{});
+          CHECK (4 == FamilyMember<Z>{});
+          
+          CHECK (4 == FamilyMember<Y>{});
+          CHECK (5 == FamilyMember<Z>{});
+          CHECK (3 == FamilyMember<X>{});
+          CHECK (5 == FamilyMember<Y>{});
+          CHECK (4 == FamilyMember<X>{});
+        }
+    };
+  
+  
+  /** Register this test class... */
+  LAUNCHER (TypedFamilyMemberID_test, "unit common");
+  
+  
+}} // namespace lib::test