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Ah well, the mystery continues! Thank you for all the searching. And perhaps the birth Certificate will yeild something. Though as I said in my first post my grandmother was sure it was an adoption from within the family so perhaps even the birth certificate name could be a coincidence, but it's definitely worth looking into further. Thanks again

Hi there... so I came across this thread while trying to solve a mystery of my own in my family tree and strangely I can fill in some of the gaps here particularly concerning Charlotte Clare and James Mellows McDonald. The following is direct quote from a journal on family history my grandmother wrote:

"In 1929 I was born - my father registered my birth completely forgetting the names both my parents had picked out and named me Gertrude Ruth McNeil the same as my mother.
My mother's mother's maiden name was Clare (Her Christian name was Charlotte) She came to N. Z. when she was 3 1/2 yrs old. They (her parents + siblings landed in Lyttleton & settled in Christchurch where her father worked for the council.
A story granny told us of her girlhood - her father was very strict but every-so-often he had to work the night cart shift. When this happened her mother let granny & her sisters go to a dance without him knowing about it.
On the way home they saw the night cart - all the men were collecting the night-soil cans. So the girls shut the lids and hid behind a hedge.
Their father came out and emptied the can not noticing the lid was shut, jamming his fingers. He swore and put his fingers in his mouth & then started spitting.
The girls crept home thoroughly pleased with themselves.

Granny married a Scotsman who had jumped ship in Lyttleton & when it became obvious that granny wasn't going to have children they adopted my mother. But from some things Granny said I suspect she was really one of the family. (these things were well hidden in 1900) They remove to the McKenzie Country & after a few years they came to Hawkes Bay."

The story above is about Charlotte Clare her parents Charlotte Elizabeth Clare (nee. Seabrook) and Henry Clare (with the night cart), her husband James Mellows McDonald and their daughter, my great grandmother (who was adopted) Gertrude Ruth McNeil (nee. McDonald - later married a Beeson). I was able to confirm the connection from my great grandmother to Charlotte Clare and James Mellows McDonald from NZ electoral rolls that clearly show both James and Charlotte living in the same address in Hawkes Bay that Gertrude Ruth Beeson lived in once they had both passed. All my family come from Hawke's Bay in New Zealand. The mystery for me was who my great grandmothers real parents were... I haven't done any kinda of DNA research and am not sure which would be best... I am open to suggestions. Also was so happy to find this thread which has already helped me patch a few gaps in my own family tree research and start to work out some of the missing pieces. The date I have for my great grandmother's birthday is   January 27 1899 (not sure how I came to that, and may be off someone else's  flawed tree, though I do know she was born very close to the turn of the century). I haven't ever been able to find anything else except that her parents were Charlotte Clare and James Mellows McDonald who couldn't have kids of their own and didn't raise any other children. Seems unusual and perhaps not a coincidence that there would be two adoption mysterys in the same family around the same people... I know I'm a little late to this, and very new to this website, but eagerly await any new revelations that may come with this info. Hope this can help the OP and also gives a little insight in to another time. Thanks guys. Hope to hear back soon.