If my 3x great grandfather had not been run over by a farm wagon (while lying drunk on the road), thus leaving a widow who had another child by a mystery man.

That child stole some lead and was sent to jail for 14 days. While there he came under the influence of Quakers and embarked upon his education, instilling in his son it’s importance.
As a result that son encouraged education for all his 8 children, including the girls. So that my grandmother and her sisters all went to institutions that later became universities at the beginning of the 20th century
So my mother (from Nottinghamshire) then was accepted at Bristol, where she met my father (first generation at university) who was from Sussex.
He would not have been there at the same time if he had not swapped a posting to Germany post WW2 with another bloke. Because the bloke could actually speak German, and had been posted to a scientific establishment, and Dad was the one who was interested in the scientific stuff. They put their case and it was accepted. This meant Dad was on hand for the University interviews.