Henry Ernest Dudeney/Puzzles and Curious Problems/39 - Surprising Relationship/Solution 1

Puzzles and Curious Problems by Henry Ernest Dudeney: $39$

Angelina: "You say that Mr. Tomkins is your uncle?"

Edwin: "Yes, and I am his uncle!"

Angelina: Then -- let me see -- you must be nephew to each other, of course! Funny, isn't it?"

Can you say quite simply how this might be, without any breach of the marriage law or disregard of the Table of Affinity?

The simplest way for this to happen is as follows.

Two men, $A$ and $B$, married the mother of the other.

Of these marriages, $A$ became Edwin's father and $B$ became Mr. Tomkins' father.

Then $A$ is then the half-brother of Mr. Tomkins, and $B$ is the half-brother of Edwin.

Thus Mr. Tomkins is the uncle of Edwin, who is the nephew of Mr. Tomkins, and Edwin is the uncle of Mr. Tomkins, who is the nephew of Edwin.

The original solution appears to have been the work of Dudeney himself.

As reported by Martin Gardner in ins $1968$ repackaging 536 Puzzles & Curious Problems, the other two solutions originated with Victor Meally.