John Mays senior doesn’t appear in the 1803 Muster List, so presumably was over 55, as he does appear in the 1803 return of Transport Teams. And John Mayes jun must have been under 55 . There are only two John Mayes burials in Ravensden 1803-1851 – on 9 Aug 1807, no age, possibly John sen, and on 20 Jan 1840 age 80, probably John jun, and he fits with the 1760 Cople baptism. There were no Mays burials in Cople before 1797. Mary Mays, mother of John bap 1860 wasn’t buried in Cople. There’s a Mary Grant Mayes, no age, buried at Ravensden in 1803. Might this have been John’s mother, and is the middle name Grant of any significance?
Does the 1787 marriage in Ravensden give a parish of residence for John? How have you established that the London marriage is Ravensden John?
I think it was probably the Cople family who moved to Ravensden, and it was they who were John junior and senior, father and son, but I can’t prove it. I don’t know if there were other John Mayes already in Cople.
I really start to get worried when you talk about an Essex marriage. Whilst the names and dates fit is there any hard evidence to link Essex with Cople? OK, I know, the Cople couple weren’t from Cople, judging by parish register entries for Mays, so they had to have come from somewhere. A William Mays married Ann Wright on 14 May 1781 in Cople. He wasn’t baptised there. Did the Essex couple have a son William before the appearance of the couple in Cople? Did they disappear off the radar screen in Essex after 1759?
I don’t like coincidences, and a marriage in Essex and move to Cople, where there were no Mays, followed by the move of the son (and possibly the parents too) to Ravensden, which was full of Mays, is too much of a coincidence for me.
David
