George William Courtney b1839 - m Elizabeth Duke

When I started my research of Arthur George's origins I considered various people by the name of Arthur, George or William Courtney born in Middlesex and still living in the district at the time of the 1871 census.

The first theory I explored probably about 20 years ago now, was George William Courtney, baptised at Shoredich in 1839 to parents George Frederick Courtney and his wife Elizabeth Sarah Crow.  The baptism certainly seemed to be in the right timeframe to be my man, but he was already recorded in the 1871 as being home with his wife Elizabeth (nee Duke) that night.  How could he be in two places at one time?


Less than a mile walk between the two residences!


My Arthur George Courtney was recorded in the 1871 census at 14 Sun Street, Woolwich.  Located behind Church Hill, Sunbury Street is the current name for Sun Street (originally Sun Alley).  George William Courtney m Elizabeth Duke was recorded at 7 Frederick Lane, Greenwich.  The two residences are a 20 minute walk apart.  Could he have been at both residences when the census was taken?  The 1871 census for England was taken on the night of 2 April 1871. Enumeration forms were distributed to all households a few days before the census night and the household members were required to complete the forms themselves. The next day, the enumerators collected the completed forms.  It seems entirely possible for both households to have recorded him!

When George William Courtney married on 1 Aug 1860 he was 21 years old and Elizabeth Duke 18 years.  George was listed as a wire drawer, his father George Frederick Courtney, a gold wire drawer;  Elizabeth's father William James Duke, a shoemaker. They are both listed as living at 11 Albert Place, Claremont Street, Greenwich at that time.  Witnesses  to the marriage were Thos Rd Macgill and Samuel Atkins.  Georges occupation is not that dissimilar to 'labourer in a brassworks'. as described in the entry for Arthur George Courtney, or the description on his daughter Abigail's birth certificate as a 'silver and brass moulder'.  Wire drawers often worked with gold, silver and other metals, probably also brass.  

However, I have been unable to connect either of the two witnesses to any known family of George and Elizabeth, or my family.  

Thomas Richard McGill was probably born in Deptford Kent c1840 and working as a solicitors clerk in Deptford 1861.  He married Emma Mallard in Jun 1866, at Lambeth.  By 1881 they are residing at the Union workhouse, Sandhill near Pemb Tonbridge.  Thomas' parents were Thomas and Sarah McGill. Sarah married Thomas in 1837 as a widow using the name MacCurrey.  Thomas MacGills family came from Edinburgh in Scotland.

Samuel Atkins appears to the son of Thomas Samuel Atkins and his wife Esther Sarah Pywell a Middlesex family.  He probably married Elizabeth Caroline Weedon in 1875.

Other known surnames associated with descendants of this George include Divers, Jacklin, Saunders, Bowes, Pring.

This George William Courtney remains a person of interest!



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This blog is dedicated to finding my second great grandfather Arthur 'George' Courtney c1841.   To see a summary of my research click here.  

If you help with any of questions raised in this post, please contact me using the contact form on this blog or send me a private message via Wikitree, Ancestry or Facebook. 

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