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I am not sure if this is the source of its use in he, which presumably has to do with what
might be viewed as "proto" origins, or the source of ideas for someone who is the "father"
(or parent) of an idea.  However in the US in political and legalusage, "grandfathering"
involves allowing someone who has a right to keep it even if it is now being removed for
those in the future.  The person is "grandfathered in."
 
The origin of this is from the American South after the Civil War.  When white southerners
wanted to keep blacks from voting, they instituted the poll tax to be paid by anybody who
wished to vote.  However, if someone's grandfather had been allowed to vote, they exempted
from having to pay the poll tax.  Given that blacks were only granted the right to vote
after the war, their grandfathers had not been allowed to vote and they had to pay the
tax, whereas the grandfathers of whites had been allowed to vote and so whites were
exempted from the poll tax.
 
Barkley Rosser 
 
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