At Maisie's funeral, Janine told EJW that she was surprised to find that she had been adopted by the Davalls. Her birth mother was Ethel K Parkinson, who was housekeeper to a jockey named Morbey who was known locally as the "King of Soham" because of his financial contributions to the town, including building a house at the grammar school. Ethel may given birth to two children fathered by her employer, both of whom were adopted. Her employer gave significant sums of money to the family. There is a photo of the employer's funeral with Ethel and two children standing off to one side.
Do I have this right? I must have missed a generation here, surely.
There's a great webpage here:
http://www.sohamgrammar.org.uk/JarmanA-talk-Dinner09.htm
and here
http://www.sohamroots.co.uk/genealogy/morbey.html