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« on: Sunday 19 May 19 17:15 BST (UK) »
Update - Brickwall knocked down
Just came across this old post of mine and thought I'd post an update. It took another 2 1/2 years but I finally got to the bottom of the mystery and proved my suspicions to be correct.
I decided to look back at the other Cunningham family living in the same small village as my great grandparents. The family that had a William Cunningham who was a blacksmith but was too young to be my great grandmother's father. On looking at them again I realised that they had a 'son ' listed as living with them called Robert Watson Cunningham. This seemed like another remarkable coincidence as my great grandfather was named Watson Oliver Thornton, the Watson and Oliver coming from great grandparents surnames.
Based on a hunch that all these coincidences must amount to something I checked the GRO records and only a Robert Cunningham matched, no mother's name given meaning he was illegitimate, strange for a couple who by this stage had been married for years. I then hunted out a baptism record for Robert Watson Cunningham and there clear as day was a father listed as Watson Oliver Thornton!
The rest fell into place, realising that Robert Watson was actually the Cunninghams grandson it became clear that my great grandmother referred to her stepfather as her father on her marriage details. I then checked the GRO records for the other Cunningham children and the mothers maiden name was listed as Jones. This led me to a Scottish birth registered for my great grandmother as Janet Jones, illegitmate. Baptismal records and date of birth matched to the 1939 census. Tracing back her mother's line led me to the family names of Easton and Campbell. Now DNA has finally proved my brick wall has crumbled.
Sorry for the long winded post just was excited to be able to update.