These research notes are provided as-is and contain supplementary working research.
Analysis
Why the arrival range begins in 1636
John was not among the men receiving Weymouth property grants in 1636. Earlier Massachusetts arrivals are more likely to leave records, and the early population was small. The well-preserved Boston records also contain no John Gurney of his generation. Taken together, those facts make an arrival before 1636 extremely unlikely. They support 1636 as the beginning of the plausible range and 1638–40 as the best estimate.
Why this conclusion
- Analyzes Published-source statement Anderson GMD (2025): arrival 1636, Boston/Braintree, origin UnknownPlaces Anderson's published 1636 estimate within the evidence-based range without treating it as primary evidence.
- Analyzes Negative result Absent from Weymouth's 1636 Fresh Pond great-lot rollAnalyzes John's absence from the 1636 Weymouth property grants as the beginning of the plausible arrival range.
- Supports Finding Arrival window: 1636–early 1641Explains why 1636 begins the plausible arrival range and why 1638–40 is the best estimate.
- Analyzes Finding Admitted Weymouth inhabitant (c. 1638/9-1642/4)Uses the inhabitant-standing finding to connect the later grants with residence at Weymouth.
- Analyzes Evidence Manuscript Land Grants book: John original grantee of 3 parcelsUses the original Weymouth grants as evidence of John's later settled presence there.
- Analyzes Finding Boston silence: every surviving Boston-era record class holds no John GurneyUses the completed Boston record-class sweep as part of the assessment of an earlier arrival.
Topic file location: Colonial arrival chronology
Technical details
- Research item:
G13-RI-000204 - Graph revision:
381 - Machine-readable JSON:
/assets/g13-graph/findings/G13-RI-000204.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.