Who is the father of John Phillips (born 1539)?

Question

The father of John Phillips (1539-1626) was recently changed to John Phillips (b. ca. 1502; wikitree Phillips-771).  However, Findagrave and most other online sources give his father as Simon Phillips (Phillips-35361).  So which is right?

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/137700978/john-phillips

Answer 1

Hi Kenneth, that is a good question and will need to be researched to find the answer. Find-A-Grave is not a reliable source, especially for a Pre-1700 profile. I am not sure what other sources you have, but if you have reliable sources please add them to that profile.

Changing relationships is a major change and that should not have been done without reliable sourcing. The one Find-A-Grave sourced through Ancestry is not reliable. The profile has no reliable sources. I can say that both parents were detached and Simon was not the name of the detached father.

If you have reliable sources please do add them to the profile so that it can be corrected. Thank you for catching this, and for any additions that you make to source it so that it can be corrected.

Comments

I've been trying to find reliable sources, but no luck yet.  There is another profile for John Phillips (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Phillips-18555), but it has yet another father (Richard Phillips).  No sources listed.

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I did see that there is a possible duplicate. There is a comment on the one you changed the parents on that one of the managers added when he set them as an unmerged match. There is a conflict about the fathers on those two profiles.

You removed one and added another father without any sources. That note was to let others know that the issue with the fathers had not been worked out yet. Otherwise, there would be sources to prove or disprove the relationship.

He did not want them merged because of that. You should remove the father that you added and reconnect the parents that were attached. It should not be changed until it can be researched and the correct father sourced. If you find any sources for it let Michael know. I know him and he would appreciate it if you were able to help solve this issue.

Happy Holidays!

Answer 2

I have been sourcing this and related profiles and it appears that John's father could be either Simon Phillip or Richard Phillip who were having children baptised at Northam, Devon in the right time frame. John's baptism is earlier than some of the others and his father's name is not recorded in the parish register so it is impossible to say which of those men, or another, was actually his father. No other sources have yet come to light to indicate one thing or the other.