These research notes are provided as-is and contain supplementary working research.
Negative result
No John Gurney marriage anywhere in Hertfordshire between 1600 and 1654
No John Gurn*/Gourn* marriage is recorded anywhere in Hertfordshire between 1600 and 1654. The county set's John Gurney marriages begin at Tring in 1655, with John Gurnett events at Cheshunt in 1567 and St Albans Abbey in 1646 bounding the negative on both sides, so the set is demonstrably carrying seventeenth-century Gurney-variant marriages across the window and simply holds none for a John Gurney. Great Berkhamsted's own Gurney marriages between 1582 and 1722 are all brides. The younger Berkhamsted John's wife therefore cannot be named from county records and cannot be tested against a Mary. A groom who married outside the county would surface in the south-Midlands archdeaconry licence series, which has never been searched.
Search scope
- Searched: FindMyPast — Hertfordshire Banns & Marriages (Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies)
- Coverage window: 1600 to 1654
- Search: firstname=john&lastname=gurn* county-wide with no place filter, plus lastname=gurn*/gourn*&keywords=berkhamstead and the mirror spouselastname queries to separate brides from grooms
- Results reviewed: 79
- Limitations: Bounded to Hertfordshire; a groom marrying in a neighbouring county or by licence would not appear.; The south-Midlands archdeaconry licence series is not in this set and has never been searched.; Marriage-register survival for the county is not itself audited here; the Gurnett events of 1567 and 1646 are the only coverage control applied.
Why this conclusion
- Synthesized by Finding Standing: C(i) eliminated on age at about 1 percent, C(ii) held at about 4 percentThe county-wide marriage blank prevents his wife being named or tested.
Sources
- Hertfordshire Banns & Marriages, parish-register banns and marriage records, Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies; served via Findmypast., firstname=john&lastname=gurn* county-wide, 57 rows; and lastname=gurn*/gourn*&keywords=berkhamstead with the mirror spouselastname queries; authenticated session 28 July 2026
Appears in
- John Gurney identity case file — Section 8.2, constraint 2: no John Gurney marriage occurs anywhere in Hertfordshire between 1600 and 1654.
Topic file location: Identity — Berkhamsted: Candidates C(i) and C(ii)
Technical details
- Research item:
G13-RI-000216 - Graph revision:
381 - Machine-readable JSON:
/assets/g13-graph/findings/G13-RI-000216.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.