My thoughts on Ernest's parentage due to the list of people who shared accommodation is that one of the Irish men was Ernest's father due to the DNA showing 29.1% Irish Scottish, and Welsh DNA the rest is English 50% and Scandinavian the remainder. If there is Irish DNA in it to that extent then somewhere he had strong Irish origins and seeing the races involved in the people in that house I would go for one of them as the father. But what of the claim she was married to Austin before my grandfather Ernest or the youngest Ann or Arthur were born.
To surmise, the situation looks very dubious, she seems to be drifting between men, and I imagine a sort of um an unstable person, who had children accidentally, or based on trust of one of these men. It would be different if she had one but three!!!! she must have thought that man was going to hang around unless she was truly fickle. Then hiding behind this man Austin after she had three children, after all who put her name down in that census saying the father was Austin, was he in fact always the father, but wouldn't commit. I don't think so, I think more likely its one of the Irish men, who let her down. Then, Austin didn't want to take them on Ernest, Arthur and Anne, and they ended up boarding in Birmingham and then in the workhouse.
Has anyone ever considered they might be the by product of an Itinerant Irishman?? has anyone looked up the records if there are any on that basis.
Based on the DNA we think that Wilson is the father, because the amount of Irish DNA in my match would have to be accounted for by Ernest's father most likely being Irish and as they said in the records Scottish also, which is stated. All the Scandinavian names have son on the end
The DNA was 18% Scandinavian so Wilson for the Irish Scottish reference and the son on the end of his name, it fits. Maybe a search about him would come up with something.
The other thing which puzzles me is Anne what happened to her, did she die, did she marry have children if so her predecessors must be out there somewhere. ( my husband as you will gather from the name Mahoney is Irish and put together these proposals incidentally). There has to be a lot of Irish Scottish Welsh blood in Ernest and Arthur for the percentage to come out so high.