Find Ancestors

This really is a brick wall and I'm looking for suggestions here.
My mother was born on 4.01.1915 in the Banbury workhouse to her unmarried mother Edith Lavinia Brookes. There is no father on her birth cert.
This is what we think we know about her father - he was from the Banbury area but worked for the GWR in Birmingham about 1912-1914. He lodged with a family in Snowhill and married the daughter of the house, although my gran didn't find out about this until much later. I have a photo of him taken at Crown Studios in the Bullring, Birmingham about 1913/14 and it has a serial number so was probably a proof copy.
He came back to Banbury at weekends and stayed with my gran in a terraced house on North Bar, and they were engaged - there is a story in the family that he bigamously married her but I haven't found any evidence of that. My cousins believe his first name was Maurice.
After the start of WW1 he either left the GWR or was seconded by them to supervise German POW's building a bridge which carried the A41 Banbury-Warwick road over the Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway which was being built at the time to provide iron and steel for the war.
This is what I've tried:
Photo - Birmingham City Archives have nothing on Crown Studios. I've also been in touch with a photo historian and posted the photo on Rootschat.
Bastardy orders - I've tried Banbury Court records with Oxfordshire Archives - nothing there.
I have asked a journalist friend about newspaper reports for the POW's bridge building, but so far nothing.
I don't know if he joined up later in WW1 but I've looked at all the photos of GWR men killed in action and none match the photo I have.
Does anyone know if there would be any record of residents of the houses on North Bar, Banbury 1913-1914?
Any other suggestions gratefully received.
Barry

Barry, regarding residents in Banbury, your only avenue would be looking at electoral registers, but these are searchable by address only and you need to do this is person or ask the staff to look for you - most places will do this but may charge.
1913 is very early, and not all men (and virtually no women) had the vote so I suspect it will be of limited value, but if you have a specific address and can locate a Maurice there it might be worth a shot.
Jan

Hi Jan,
Thanks for your reply.
Do you know where the electoral register for Banbury 1913/14 would be? Although I was born in Banbury, I now live in Australia so would have to get someone to do a look up for me. There were only 20 or so houses on North Bar at this time, some of the space being taken up by 3 pubs, a hotel, shops and two garages. It would be a long shot as he could have been on the electoral roll in Birmingham, since he had a family there.
Regards
Barry

Electoral registers are kept at the nearest reference library to the address.

This is the address for the library in Banbury:-

Banbury Library
Marlborough Road
Banbury
Oxon
OX16 5DB

email: [email protected]

If you tell them you are in Australia they may do the look up for you.

Kath. x

Thanks Kath,
I've emailed them but they couldn't find anything. Next stop Banbury Guardian archive with Centre for Oxfordshire Studies.

Regards
Barry

If you can track down a Birmingham address I can do a lookup, but I'm guessing you won't have one?
Jan

Thanks Jan. All I know is that he lodged in Snowhill. The family story is that he was caught in a compromising position with the daughter of the house and had to marry her!
Barry