John Lapham was christened at Kilmington, Somerset, in mid-November of 1612, a son of John Lapham, junr. He married Joane Bottwell at Kilmington in mid-June of 1629.
While this individual did exist, there is a serious question whether he and wife Joane were in fact the parents of the John Lapham who appeared in Massachusetts by the 1670s and married Mary Mann at Dartmouth in 1673. Research is currently (Feb. 2023) underway to assess this claim.
There is also a serious question concerning the origin of his wife, Joane Bottwell, shown in her profile as born at North Molton in Devon... some 50 miles from Kilmington. This does not make geographic sense in this timeframe; and no birth or christening record has thus far been found for her at or near either North Molton or Kilmington.
Marriage to Joane Bottwell at Kilmington, 15 June 1629: "County: Somerset | Place: Kilmington | Church name: St Mary the Virgin | Register type: Parish Register | Marriage date: 15 Jun 1629 | Groom forename: John | Groom surname: LAPHAM | Bride forename: Joane | Bride surname: BOTTWELL | Transcribed by: Yvonne Scrivener | File line number: 117" -- FreeReg.org.UK; https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_queries/63e51c80f493fd315395ac02?locale=en. Alt. transcription: [index listing mistranscribes this as "Wilmington", which is 20 mi. NNW of Kilmington]: "England Marriages, 1538–1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NKHF-J65 : 13 March 2020), John Lapham, 1629.
Acknowledgments
The profile of John Lapham II was originally created by Tom Cahalan, from firsthand knowledge. Click the Changes tab for the details of edits by Tom and others.
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To reiterate, and expand upon, my comment on the profile of his father, John Lapham: True, there was a Lapham family at North Molton, Devon, in the mid-1500s – the christenings of two Lapham daughters (of Clemente and John respectively) were recorded in 1556 and 1557, both girls bearing the name Johane (Joan)<ref>"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NB37-NQ8 : 5 February 2023), Johane Lapham, 1556.</ref><ref>"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J79P-KCS : 5 February 2023), Johane Lapham, 1557.</ref>. While it is highly probable that there was a John Lapham born somewhere in the vicinity of 1585 in at least one of these lineages (though no record has been found to date; Feb. 2023), it is not at all likely that such a person would have crossed the 50 miles to the southeast, in that time period, to marry Alice Clement at Kilmington, Somerset.
The most likely issue here is the conflation of two Lapham families, one of Kilmington, Somerset, and the other of North Molton, Devon.
The John Lapham of this profile was born, and married, at Kilmington in Somerset. Yes, he and wife Joane _could_ possibly have been the parents of the immigrant John Lapham found in Massachusetts by the 1670s, but if so it would not be geographically logical for the immigrant to have been born at North Molton: he would far more logically have been born at Kilmington. No such birth/christening record has been found to date (Feb. 2023); however, a John Lapham did marry a Joone Peet at Kilmington in 1657: see https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NV9H-WZN . Only if widowed (no record found to indicate this) could this be the immigrant who married Mary Mann at Providence, RI, in 1673.
The only marriage of a John Lapham to a Joanne Bottwell found in the right time period took place at Kilmington, Somerset, in 1629. This is the right place (and time) for the John Lapham of this profile... but Kilmington is some 50 miles SE of North Molton, Devon, where Joanne's profile (Bottwell-1) places her birth and death. That's an astonishing distance for a union of two persons in this time period. So something seems to be off... most likely, Joanne's place of origin. However, so far, I don't find her (under any conceivable variant of her name) in any of the online-accessible records of any town or village close to Kilmington in the right timeframe.
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The most likely issue here is the conflation of two Lapham families, one of Kilmington, Somerset, and the other of North Molton, Devon.
The John Lapham of this profile was born, and married, at Kilmington in Somerset. Yes, he and wife Joane _could_ possibly have been the parents of the immigrant John Lapham found in Massachusetts by the 1670s, but if so it would not be geographically logical for the immigrant to have been born at North Molton: he would far more logically have been born at Kilmington. No such birth/christening record has been found to date (Feb. 2023); however, a John Lapham did marry a Joone Peet at Kilmington in 1657: see https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NV9H-WZN . Only if widowed (no record found to indicate this) could this be the immigrant who married Mary Mann at Providence, RI, in 1673.
Equally worthy of consideration would appear to be the John Laphams/Lappams/Lophams of Biddenden and nearby Bethersden, Kent – see John b. 1626 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N253-359), John b. 1627 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NTKY-3LZ), John b. 1634 (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_queries/63e5171df493fd31539595cb?locale=en)... each with a father also named John. And there are others.