Hi Earley-bird
Can I suggest you revisit the census records for your John Early to see recorded places and approximate years of birth.
ColC has kindly made this easy in his reply #8.
Remember that ages in census records are rarely exact, and the discrepancies in ages between John and Sarah, over the census years, is vast.
Then review this 1841 census Southwark HURLEY family
Father John is a labourer. Son John age 13
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQV1-Z9M?lang=en Note - Bridget Collins, 24 born Ireland, in the same house
The 1841 census was taken on 6 June, while all other later census were taken in early April.
For John to be 13 at the time of the 1841 census he would have been born after 5 June 1828. Can we take the ages that exactly?
John’s marriage cert. does not state his age – only that he was a
minor at 12 July 1846. He would have been under age if born 1826-1828. As I understand it, a parent or guardian’s permission would have been required – so it is likely that some such person was present, but they may not have signed the register.
At marriage Sarah Ann Bruce was recorded as of full age, but I doubt this is correct. We know from her baptism record that her birth was supposedly 7 Sept 1828. So therefore she was also under age, and telling a lie.
I don’t understand how you know that John Early Senior, nor any of John junior’s siblings were not at his wedding. We only know about the 4 signatures on the register, and the church minister. 12 July 1846 was a Sunday (not a work day), so it is quite possible that family members were present. There is no way of knowing exactly who attended.
In the 1841 census I posted, John Hurley senior is a labourer in the Southwark wharves area.. By 1846 he might have been in a foreman’s position – thus the title “Wharfinger” given by his son. His son may have been over-inflating /promoting his father’s occupation as a way to improve his own social standing. I have seen this sort of manipulation of the truth on marriage records many times before.
