London, Nov 12 : Sir Paul McCartney may have unknowingly revealed that the women who inspired The Beatles'' 1966 hit ''Eleanor Rigby'' actually existed.

For about 42 years, music fans have been confused whether E. Rigby ever live, or was she non-existent.

Now, documents carrying the signatures of the woman have surfaced suggesting her to be a scullery maid, reports the Independent.

McCartney donated an accounts register from Liverpool''s City Hospital to charity - revealing that an E. Rigby worked there.

The document has been signed by the maid. It was sent to singer Annie Mawson in 1990 after she appealed to McCartney for a 500,000 pounds donation to help teach music to children with special needs.

It arrived without any letter of explanation in a plain brown envelope bearing a ''Paul McCartney World Tour'' stamp.

The accounts log shows the pay received by E. Rigby and is dated November 30, 1911.

McCartney has previously claimed that he used the name Eleanor in the much-loved 1966 song after actress ''Eleanor Bron'' appeared in The Beatles'' film ''Help!''

McCartney has previously claimed that he used the name Eleanor in the much-loved 1966 song after actress Eleanor Bron appeared in The Beatles'' film ''Help!''

In the 1980s, however, the grave of an Eleanor Rigby was discovered in Liverpool in the churchyard of St. Peter''s Parish in Woolton - a place both Sir Paul and bandmate John Lennon were known to visit.

Her tombstone has become a landmark for Beatles fans visiting Liverpool.

The accounts sheet sent by McCartney would appear to confirm that he based the song on a real person. The register, which is expected to fetch 500,000 pounds, will be auctioned for charity in London later this month.

Mawson, founder and chief executive of charity Sunbeams Music Trust, said yesterday: "I wrote to Paul McCartney in 1990 to tell him how I was working at a special school in Cumbria.

"One of the boys was autistic - but one of his obsessions was the Beatles. I built up a very trusting relationship with him and taught him to play ''Yellow Submarine'' on the piano, which got him his Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award.

"It was very moving to see how he came out of his very locked up and insular world. I wanted Paul McCartney to know this. I also wanted to set up a centre of my own. I asked him for half a million pounds, but by the time I''d finished my 11 pages I said, ''Actually Paul, I don''t want any money, I want you to know what joy you brought''.

"Months later, I got a reply with a logo that meant it could only have come from Paul McCartney''s office. Inside there was this document dated 1911. Then I saw the name Rigby and I realised why I''d been sent it. I feel that when you''re holding it you''re holding a bit of history."

Mawson, 58, is selling the document now to raise funds towards building of the charity''s new 1million pounds centre near Penrith in Cumbria.

The auction is being held at the Idea Generation galley in east London, on 27 November. (ANI)