These research notes are provided as-is and contain supplementary working research.
Analysis
The Peter naming gap points to Mary's kin, not the Gurney line
Of twelve indexed Peter-Gurney baptisms across Britain in the 1632–1642 window, none was fathered by a John Gurney, so the name Peter did not reach John's youngest son through any indexed Gurney parallel. Peter is not absolutely absent from Norfolk Gurney households — a Peter Gurney, son of Peter, was christened at Smallburgh in February 1641 — but it enters John's own branch most plausibly through his wife Mary's kin, where a Peter would sit unremarked. The name is therefore a pointer to Mary's family rather than to Francis, and is neither for nor against the Candidate B parentage; recovering Mary's surname would explain it independently of John's paternity.
Related context
- Provides context for Open question Open question: first wife Mary's identity and English marriageThe Peter naming gap is a concrete reason the first-wife identity question matters: Mary's kin most likely carried the name.
Sources
- Findmypast UK Parish Baptisms aggregated dataset within Birth, Marriage, Death and Parish Records., Peter Gurney (surname and forename variants) baptism search, Britain-wide, 1632–1642: twelve indexed baptisms, none fathered by a John Gurney; Norfolk-scoped search returns Peter G., son of Peter, christened Smallburgh 27 February 1641 (transcript R_880200102).
Topic file location: Identity — Candidate B: Norfolk parentage
Technical details
- Research item:
G13-RI-000192 - Graph revision:
244 - Machine-readable JSON:
/assets/g13-graph/findings/G13-RI-000192.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.