Parentage problems!

[Sloe Gin]

What I don't understand is, why not register the birth giving the mother's name as Ellen if she was the mother? (particularly if the registrar was a stranger .... why fib?)

Because they didn't want John to find out that Amelia and her husband weren't his parents?

[Gan Yam]

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The other detail is that Amelia married about 5 months after John’s birth. I have to question why they did not marry before John was born...unless Amelia wasn’t the mother.

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There could be lots of reasons for not marrying before the baby was born.
Under age of consent and his/her parents wouldn't give consent. He was working away from home. They intended to get married sooner and it just didn't happen - illness, money, or he wasn't the father and was wavering over marrying!

Are there any records from school available to show that Ellen wasn't attending? or had left the school.

How long before baby no2 arrived for Amelia - was there enough time between the two babies ?

[Sloe Gin]

If Mary Jane was married at the time of John's birth, it would be more likely that she (for the sake of decency) would take him on than another unmarried sister.

Why would an unmarried sister take on the child when there was a married one? 

Robert has told us that Mary Jane was not married at the time of John's birth.

[itsrobert]

I had a look into school records but unfortunately it seems that the local record office doesn't hold them. Not sure where they would be now after over 100 years!

Sorry, I neglected to mention that there was another sister, Ann, who had married well before John was born. So I think the question is regarding why Ann didn't raise the baby (or their mother)? Why would Amelia have stepped forward if she wasn't the actual mother?

One thing regarding Amela's husband - he is not to be found in the local area in the census before John is born. The closest I can find is that he is at an army barracks. This could make sense because I know his brother was also in the army at this time and actually died in South Africa during the Boer War. So I guess that could explain why his marriage to Amelia was delayed after John's birth. Maybe he was away in the army at the time?

So many questions and possibilities!

[Ruskie]

Presumably you have checked for any bastardy documents for John? 

[itsrobert]

Presumably you have checked for any bastardy documents for John? 

No that's not something I am familiar with, so that sounds interesting. Do you know where I should start looking for those?

[rosie99]

I wonder if Amelias husband was Johns father.  Who was he named after 

She had other sons named after her husband, her father and father in law

[Ruskie]

It's not something I have ever researched (though plenty of others have and will be able to point you in the right direction).

Maybe try a google of the county or parish and see if anything comes up?

Some general information here though there will be tons more on the internet:

https://www.genguide.co.uk/source/bastardy-documents-parish-poor-law/140/

[itsrobert]

I wonder if Amelias husband was Johns father.  Who was he named after 

She had other sons named after her husband, her father and father in law

Well that's the strange thing, there was the odd John here and there in the family but most of them died as infants. There weren't any notable John's kicking about.