Thanks again so much Cas! This man has been a complete mystery to me. He fathered my maternal grandmother, but never married her mother. The only reason I know his name is from my grandmother’s marriage certificate, which states: Father: William Elliott, Postman. I could find no record of him on census returns of 1861, 1871, 1881 or 1891. I then discovered, from Post Office records, that he joined the postal service in January 1881. Then I discovered a newspaper article about a court case involving a drunken postman. The article, from October 1882, stated that William Elliott, postman had been drunk on duty and had misplaced his pouch of letters. He pleaded guilty and was given a mild sentence because he had served 21 years in the army. I am now trying to find more information about his military record. His military service accounts for why I could not find him in 1861 or 1871. Next I found another newspaper article which was about an inquest on the death of William Elliott aged 47 in 1887. This mentioned that he had a brother John, and that he was an army pensioner. I now knew that he’d been born in 1840. Although this doesn’t give me absolute certainty that I’ve got the right one, there are a lot of details that seem to indicate that it’s possible. It’s certainly the closest I’ve got to finding him. Now I need to find why he’s alluded me on the 1881 census!
