I feel reasonably confident that
'William Fitley' (transcription error, should be Titley) identifed by Rhonda, born in Victoria 1859
is the same person as
William Bell, married Louia Florence Riley, WA 1891
I still don't have any 'hard' documentation to prove this. But here are the reasons.
1 William Bell is documented as alive in the late 1920s (eg see divorce article cited above), so he did NOT die in 1909, and there are not any William Bell deaths in WA in the 1930s
2 I have a death Certificate for William Titley, WA 1933, old men's home - all exactly as stated by my Grandmother (William Bell's youngest daughter)
3 William Titley was born in 1859, near Ballarat, both facts fit the details on my Grandmother's birth certificate for William Bell
4 His father was George, and his (step) mother Eliza - again fits the details for William Bell on my Grandmother's birth Certificate. (William Titley's biological mother, Agnes, died the year he was born, so probably from childbirth, and so Eliza was the only mother he would remember)
5 Eiza's maiden name was Norman, and she gave this as a middle name to each of her children. William Bell also gave his daughter Florence the middle name of Norman - a very unusual name for a girl. (thanks to Rhonda for pointing this one out)
So, to me, it looks like William Bell really was William Titley. I'm sufficiently confident that I've put the information in my family tree.
One last thing that I haven't yet been able to find is any records of William Titley's alleged first wife & family (presumably in Victoria, but it could have been NSW). Its possible there was a misunderstanding on this aspect of the story, as I gather the family were very emotional about the whole scenario
But I figure the lengths that he went to to change his identity meant that there was something he was running from - if not a failed marriage, maybe some other relationship problem or dodgy behaviour.
This was a big gap in my family tree, that I've been wondering about for over 40 years, and it was solved within a few hours of my putting up the message.
Thanks again, RhondaEmbee!