It has been suggested that beneath the sunny personality and enormous productivity of Sir William Osler (1849–1919) lurked a deep sorrow. A longstanding rumor suggests this sorrow was a prolonged affair with an older first cousin, Marian Osler (Bath) Francis (1841–1915), which resulted in Osler’s paternity of William Willoughby Francis (1878–1959). Osler treated W.W. Francis like a son. Francis after Osler’s death devoted the rest of his life to preserving Osler’s memory. Osler’s great-great niece Anne Wilkinson (1910–1961) strongly endorses this rumor; Osler scholar George T. Harrell (1908–1999) strongly suggests its truth, while Osler biographer Michael Bliss (1941–2017) dismisses it. Evidence supporting the rumor includes ample opportunities for mating, biographical details, and phenotypic resemblances that are hard to explain otherwise. Barring a DNA-based family study, the truth will probably never be known.

中文翻译：

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威廉·奥斯勒爵士 (1849–1919) 和威廉·威洛比·弗朗西斯 (1878–1959) 的父亲：证据审查

有人认为，在威廉·奥斯勒爵士 (1849-1919) 阳光明媚的性格和巨大的生产力之下，隐藏着深深的悲伤。一个长期存在的谣言表明，这种悲伤是与一位年长的堂兄玛丽安·奥斯勒 (巴斯) 弗朗西斯 (1841–1915) 的长期婚外情，这导致了奥斯勒与威廉·威洛比·弗朗西斯 (1878–1959) 的亲子关系。奥斯勒像对待儿子一样对待 WW Francis。奥斯勒死后，弗朗西斯将他的余生都奉献给了保存奥斯勒的记忆。奥斯勒的曾曾侄女安妮·威尔金森 (1910–1961) 强烈支持这一传言；Osler 学者 George T. Harrell (1908–1999) 强烈暗示其真实性，而 Osler 传记作者 Michael Bliss (1941–2017) 则驳回了它。支持谣言的证据包括大量的交配机会、传记细节和难以解释的表型相似性。