Connection between Richard Holland (b.1450) and John Howland (b.1481)?

Question

I note in several ancestry.com and mundi family trees the attribution that Richard Holland (b.1450) of Denton, Lancs. and Isabella Harrington (b.1450) were the parents of John Howland (b.1481).  This concerns me, as the couple and their antecedents lived in Denton Lancashire, whereas John Howland and his descendents live in Newport Pond, Essex. Further, the attributed date of death of Isabella is 1480, whereas John Howland's attributed birth is 1481. Further still, the wikitree site suggestes the sole child of Richard and Isabella was Margaret Hyde. Question: Is the association of John 1481 Howland of Essex to Richard and Isabella in appropriate?

Answer 1

The 15th century was not known for a lot of travel (apart from men going off to wars/crusades)  the usual distance that a couple would move is within 30 miles (roughly a day's walk/ride).  I would tend to disregard the associafion,  The alteration of Holland to Howland is semi-plausible as phonetically there is a chance of the one being mistaken for the other.  Fifteenth century records were made by semi-literate prists for illiterate people so they couldn't say "Is that how you spell your surname?"  as the person who is having the record made could not tell.