These research notes are provided as-is and contain supplementary working research.
Finding
Candidate C (Berkhamsted) eliminated on age, child set, and child chronology
Candidate C, the Berkhamsted John Gurney, is eliminated on three independent grounds. Henry's 1610 baptism puts the father's own birth no later than about 1585-1590, thirteen to eighteen years before the colonial John's c.1603. Three of the eight Berkhamsted children - Henry, Michael, and Francis - have no counterpart in the colonial family, and the colonial John's Mary and Peter have no counterpart at Berkhamsted. The three shared names miss on date: Berkhamsted's John Jr. was baptised in 1624 against the colonial John Jr.'s c.1633, Richard in 1626 against c.1630, Sarah in 1634 against c.1628. Any one ground would suffice. Candidate C is the last of the principal named alternatives to be cleared.
Why this conclusion
- Synthesizes Analysis The elimination scaffold: structural grounds, not a blanket same-surname suspicionCandidate C is cleared by the same shared elimination scaffold - wrong generation, mismatched child set, colliding chronology - that the overview unit states.
- Synthesized by Analysis The identification is reached by elimination and circumstantial fit, and predicts its own thin recordCandidate C's elimination is one of the actively disproved rivals the argument counts.
- Supported by Evidence Candidate C: the eight-child Berkhamsted Gurney family, 1610-1636, and the absent Berkhamsted burialThe indexed Berkhamsted baptisms and the absent Berkhamsted burial are the whole record basis for the Candidate C elimination.
Related context
- Provides context for Finding Reconstructed family group: five children (Sarah, Mary, Richard, John Jr., Peter) + Isaac uncertain, all Mary'sThe elimination turns on comparing the Berkhamsted children against the colonial five-child roster.
Sources
- Hertfordshire Baptisms, parish-register baptism records, Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies; served via Findmypast., Berkhamsted, eight baptisms to a father John Gurney, 1610–1636 (Henry 1610 … Francis 1636); search executed 9 May 2026
- Hertfordshire Burials, parish-register burial records, Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies; served via Findmypast., No John Gurney burial at Berkhamsted 1640–1700; only seventeenth-century entries are Jhon Gourney 1612 and 1620
Appears in
- John Gurney identity case file — Case file section 8.2 eliminates Candidate C on the eight-child Berkhamsted family group.
- John Gurney identity case file — Case file section 11 carries Candidate C as ELIMINATED in the probability table.
Topic file location: Identity — assessment
Technical details
- Research item:
G13-RI-000172 - Graph revision:
244 - Machine-readable JSON:
/assets/g13-graph/findings/G13-RI-000172.json
This is one research item from the John Gurney research graph; the fuller narrative treatment is in the linked topic above and the research library.