Frank and Lilian were not married. Lillian married a man called Ernest Thompson in or about 1912. On his return from WW1 they separated because he was told she had been unfaithful to him. Apparently she did not deny this. In the 1921 census she is found living back with her parents. At some point she met Frank Bourne and by November 1922 my aunt - Vera- was born to them and my own mother -Alma- followed in September 1926. In September 1925 Ernest obtained a divorce based upon Lillian's adultery. Frank was named as co-respondent. The hearing took place at High Court sitting at Manchester (Strangeways Assizes). Neither Frank or Lillian attended the hearing. I have located a newspaper cutting relating to his funeral which indicates he was a member of the Park Lodge, RAOB, Barrowford. RAOB = Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. Lodge number appears to be 6200 - I shall look to follow that up. So at the time of their birth Lillian has the surname of Thompson. At the time the name of an unmarried father was not permitted to be placed on the birth certificate and so people employed the tactic of putting the father's surname as the child's middle name - hence, for example, Alma Bourne Thompson.
