Can you rub that crystal ball harder Merry please
No I can't find the parish records for Beal. I found the Whitley ones at Wakefield archives, but couldn't find the Beal ones. Don't think it will show anything anyway.
You're probably right Kiterunner, and I'll probably never find out for certain.
The only little glimmer of hope for me is the fact that my grandad remarried later on in life. Maybe his second marriage certificate shows his father, but I doubt it. I doubt that even he knew who his father was.
Thanks to you both for responding. I honestly didn't expect anyone to come up with anything, but it was worth a try. I just wondered if I had missed anything that was glaringly obvious to someone else.