It would seem that someone in the family tree was brought up to believe that their unknown father was a man in the household where the mother was in service, who had raped her. Certainly the mother was in service at this time (pre First World War) according to census info. No maiden name appears on the child’s birth certificate.
All of the individuals concerned are now deceased, some more than a century ago. The child was brought up in the home of its grandparents, at least for some years, and apparently the grandmother was very kind to her grandchild. The mother later married, and the child’s stepfather was also kind, but the mother was not, and disliked the child.
Quite late in life it seems that the child learned from a sister of the child’s mother (possibly during an argument) that the truth was that her father was in fact her grandfather. It would seem to be a very strange thing to say if not true.
The child was badly shaken by the revelation and revised its opinion of the grandmother (dead long before). However, when these events took place the mother must have been away from home and in service for quite some time.
What to believe?
