Analysis

Reconciling the deposition age and the baptism reading

The birth-year evidence resolves into a probable window and a wider possible one rather than a single year, and the four handles are not equally strong. The deposition age is the primary same-person datum but a rounded one: 'aged 50 or thereabouts' in 1652/3 centres on 1602/3 yet, once decade-rounding is allowed for, spans a probable 1603-1608 and a possible 1598-1610. The East Dereham baptism is a stronger kind of record but reads several years younger, about 1609/10, with a +/-2-year margin whose early edge (about 1607) closes much of the gap. The bound from daughter Mary's 1647 marriage requires John to have been an adult by about 1625, consistent with the earlier end. The parents' September 1611 marriage is the softest handle: a child can be born before a formal marriage, and on the identity reading a John baptised about 1609/10 would predate it - a strain on the East Dereham picture more than a fifth vote. The three birth-year estimators overlap around 1604-1608; none fixes a year, and John's own baptism stays unproven on independent evidence.

Confidence: Moderate

Topic file location: Origin — age and baptism