A war veteran has been identified as the closest living relative of Eleanor Rigby - the woman immortalised in song by The Beatles - and he has told how she was a muscian.
Thomas E. Rigby, 88, had had no idea that he was a relative of THE Eleanor Rigby buried in the graveyard at St Peter's Church, Woolton, until Beatles researchers found him.
But after scouring birth, death and marriage records categorical proof was traced showing that Thomas is a first cousin of Eleanor who died, aged 44, in 1939.
And when he cast his mind back Thomas Rigby remembered that the cousin he knew from childhood as Eleanor (Rigby) Whitfield was a keen musician who played the piano.
The hunt for Rigby relatives was launched after Annie Mawson revealed that she has a 1911 salary record for scullerymaid "E Rigby" that was sent to her by Paul McCartney as a charity donation.
The full identity of the "E Rigby" on the salary ledger is unknown but it is thought that it must have been sent to McCartney at by a wellwisher. It raised £110,000 at auction.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney met at a fete held at St Peter's Church and even sunbathed in the churchyard where the "Eleanor Rigby" headstone stands.
Beatles experts say the name Eleanor Rigby may have been planted in McCartney's memory and inspired him when he wrote the 1966 hit "All the Lonely People".
Retired accounts clerk Thomas E Rigby was born in Liverpool in 1920, the son of William Rigby who was the brother of Mary Elizabeth Rigby, who was Eleanor's mother.
Mary Elizabeth Rigby married railway foreman Arthur Whitfield and they had one daughter named "Eleanor Rigby Whitfield".
They lived in a workman's cottage in Vale Road, Woolton, where Eleanor's father died when she was child.
Her mother remarried and Eleanor had two half-sisters - Edith and Hanna Heatley - who both died childless in 2001.
At the age of 35, Eleanor Rigby Whitfield married Thomas Woods and it is under the name Eleanor Rigby Woods, wife of Thomas Woods, that she is buried in Liverpool.
The grave with its huge headstone bearing the name Eleanor Rigby has been a place of pilgrimage for Beatles fans from all over the world since it was traced in the 1980s.
When told about his connection to the famous Eleanor Rigby her cousin Thomas was astounded but confessed: "I have often wondered. People have asked me in the past whether I am related and I always said 'no', but it seems I was wrong."
At his home in Allerton, Liverpool, bachelor Thomas added: "When I was a child I remember visiting various members of the family in Vale Road.
"I can't remember exactly who they were. I was very young then. I'd be about 8 or 9.
"I did have a cousin Eleanor, but I only ever knew her as Eleanor Whitfield.
"I can't recall meeting her and I didn't realise that it was her grave that bears this famous name Eleanor Rigby."
But Thomas does remember childhood visits to the grandmother that he and Eleanor Rigby Whitfield shared.
She was Frances Rigby who, records show living at 8 Vale Road, the house where Eleanor Rigby Whitfield died.
Thomas added: "When I was a boy we would walk to Woolton and I remember enjoying the trips to see my grandma Frances Rigby.
"I was aware of my cousins Edith and Hannah Heatley but we didn't keep in touch.
"My do remember that my dad spoke about Eleanor Whitfield when I was a boy.
"He had been very fond of her and told how she was very musical and said he had paid for her piano lessons.
"But I'm afraid The Beatles never were my type of music. I didn't like them.
"Proper ballroom dancing was what I liked, not these pop bands."
"I suppose when people ask me from now on whether I am related to the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby I will have to say 'Yes'. It's quite amazing."
Review: The Smiths Indeed - Live 12/3/10
(Sun 14/03)
Review: Agnes - On & On
(Sat 13/03)
Dream sculpture win top Civic Trust Award
(Sat 13/03)
Review: Hadouken! - Mic Check
(Sat 13/03)
Deborah Poole, Woolton, Liverpool around 5 months ago