Hester Mary Begadon

William and Helen met in the 1930s while William was still legally married, though separated. When their first child was born in 1931, he could not legally be registered with his father’s name and was therefore given Helen’s maiden surname. Raised in an Irish Catholic family, Helen felt deeply ashamed of the stigma surrounding illegitimacy. She therefore began using the surname Greaves, despite not being married to William, and their next two children were registered as Greaves with William named as their father - something that was not technically legal at the time. The couple lived as husband and wife for decades before finally marrying at the Registry Office after William’s first marriage was dissolved. Their children only discovered the marriage after William’s death in 1980.