Trying to track down a mystery man. William Sovereign is buried at Lapugnoy War Cemetery in France, killed 18 April 1918. He enlisted in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1916. On his attestation papers he indicates he was born in London, UK, 8 June, 1875. He first entered "Catherine Sovereign - Mother"" as next of kin, then later that was changed to read "Thomas Cochrane - Friend". Unfortunately Catherine's address was erased and overwritten with Thomas Cochrane's Vancouver address, so we don't know where Catherine was living.
The only other document I have found aside from his military service records is a mention in the Canadian Census of 1911 which states his date of birth as June 1862, and that he arrived in Canada in 1901.
The date of birth switch has been explained, possibly. In 1916 William would have been 54 years old - far too old to enlist. So he lied about his birth year on attestation, in the same way that younger man lied in order to enlist when they were too young.
He is indicated as single on his military records, so no known offspring.
So, William Sovereign, born London England 8 June 1862, to a mother named Catherine. I can find no evidence of a Catherine Sovereign nor a record of William's birth, so I'm at a bit of a dead end. I would love to figure out how he fits into the family tree. Any suggestions?
