Hi Margaret,
Thanks for your helpful advice.
This is why our research into this question is ongoing (it's been about 15 years now) and we have no proof either way, which is why there has always been a blank for Eliza's father - I always want two pieces of evidence before forming a conclusion. I have a separate tree for these people where I am accumulating every scrap of conflicting data I ever find in order to one day make sense of it all.
The original basis for researching William Butfoy as the father of Eliza Butfoy was her marriage, with him named as her father.
We do know that Charlotte Everett, William's wife, spent a large part of her life in and out of the Bethnal Green workhouse, where she gave birth to 4 children, including a son named William.
Other people have based their trees on the two other daughters being definite children of William Butfoy, though again, they have no proof, having never located births for them.
All of Charlotte's children appear to have started life named Everett, then changed to using Butfoy, and all were born before her marriage. There may have been more (I am yet to find them) though rh negative blood has come down through that branch of our family, possibly causing multiple miscarriages and stillbirths in previous generations.
Charlotte married William Butfoy as a spinster, and he was a bachelor, but I tend to take this information lightly, having at least one bigamist in my tree! We have asked all the usual questions - did he have a wife already, was he unable to marry her for some other reason etc... He also disappeared into thin air after her death.
If I could see poor law examinations for Bethnal Green in this period it could answer our questions about her and her admissions to the workhouse. Apparently some are available at the LMA but only from 1839, and you can only view by visiting, which is a little tricky from New Zealand.
I am not looking to prove anything with DNA, more to see if any fresh DNA tests match other people who believe they are descendants through another of the three sisters, or better still through another line, like BeckyNZ who is a descendant of William Butfoy's brother. I don't expect her to match me, or any of my cousins, but if she does it will be an interesting exercise to see who else she matches in common. I also appreciate the matches will be diluted, as you say, it's a long way back.
Joining to do research does bring fresh eyes to the job though, so hopefully some more potential descendants will come out of the woodwork!
Thanks for your interest,
Caroline.