So I've been at this about a year now, starting with Family Search, and progressing to Ancestry via my local library. I've had great sucess, with the sole exception of this guy. I have one confirmed record, a marriage certificate I purchased from Scotland's People (attached) - and that's it.
The other clues I have are as follows:
1. A poor law application dated January 1888 that mentions he abandoned his preganant wife & two daughters "six weeks ago"
2. A birth certificate I purchased from Scotland's People for the illegitimate daughter the wife had three years later that states his death as occuring in Manchester in June of 1887 (contradicts #2)
3. A census record of a James Johnstone, with the profression of "Iron Puddler" (same as that on the wedding cerificate that same year) - living in Glascow (15 miles from where the wedding takes place later that year) - although the age is different 21 vs 26
What I have done:
1. I looked at the GRO death records for the Manchester area for 1887, and even purchsed the only one remotely close to a candidate - it was not him.
2. Looked for his parents in both Manchester & Ireland. My great grandmother put on the Canada census that her father was born in the UK, although it should be noted she never met him, and she listed her mother as being born in Scotland. She was famously anti-catholic, although it appears her parents had a Catholic wedding, and likely were in fact Irish
3. Researched every James Johnstone, Johnston & Johnson born between 1850-1860 in Ancestry - and so far they have been easily elimiated (wrong parents, found elsewhere in 1881 etc)
I don't sweat ancestors 200+ years old because complete data sets are not availble for those years but he lived through the sweet spot - he must be somewhere. I can't afford to buy every record, I need fresh ideas. Thanks