Ancestor research - William Courtney

[CH1975]

Hello
I'm trying to find out any information about William Courtney, who I believe lived in Lancaster in 1918.  I don't have a DOB for him but he was in a relationship with Nellie Smith (AKA Nellie Laycock) who was born in 1892 so I would guess William would be around the same age.  Nellie had a daughter in 1918 and gave William Courtney as the father.  It looked like Nellie had always lived in Yorkshire, around the Leeds area, until at least 1915 so it could be she met William Courtney there and they moved to Lancaster together, but this is just an assumption.  From what I can see William and Nellie never married and Nellie then married someone else in 1920.  Does anyone have any advice on how to find out more about William Courtney?
Thanks, Caroline 

[Girl Guide]

Welcome to Rootschat Caroline 

Was any occupation given for William on the daughter's birth certificate?  If so it may help to locate him somewhere.

Is there any helpful address on the birth certificate?

Have you tried finding them on any electoral rolls perhaps in the Lancaster area?

Pinning William down with just his name and no year of birth will prove difficult.  William may have been a good deal older than Nellie, perhaps already married which is why you can't seem to find any marriage record.

[CH1975]

Thank you.  Yes, finding anything on William is proving difficult!
His occupation on the birth certificate is 'general labourer' so doesn't give much more to go on but we do also have an address which is Ann Street, Lancaster.  There was a mill close to Ann Street, some of the records from there are in archive in Preston, but they don't have any record of William Courtney in them, unfortunately.   
Could you recommend a good site for searching electoral rolls?

[Girl Guide]

I have had a quick look on Find My Past but I can't see any electoral rolls for Lancaster specifically.

You may do better to write to Manchester City Council and ask them about electoral registers.  Link to site here:-

https://www.manchester.gov.uk/directory_record/212379/electoral_registers/category/1367/view_all_collections

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page there is a phone number or you can email them.

[CH1975]

Thank you, I'll give Manchester City Council a try.

[rosie99]

I doubt Manchester City Council would have electoral registers for Lancaster.  Don't forget that electoral registers would not have been produced during WW1.

There is no mention of the surname Courtn*y in the Lancaster registration district for BMD 1900 - 1920.

[CH1975]

Thank you for your post, Rosie.  We have Ann Street as the address for him in 1918 but if no electoral registers produced for that year we may still be at a brick wall!  Unless anyone on the site has any other ideas, it may be case of waiting for the 1921 census and hoping he was still in Lancaster on that date.  We can find several William Courtneys on ancestry searches but unless we can tie one of them to Lancaster on, or around, 1918 its impossible to know which it may be. We will keep hoping though!

[rosie99]

Do you have a house number in Ann Street

[rosie99]

F M P do have some electoral registers for Lancaster (1921/22), they are not indexed by persons name though. 

ADDED Sorry, No person with the surname Courtney in Ann Street in 1921