Apologies to all: Although my analysis of Philip Heath's probate documents had a sound basis (the meaning of "durante minori aetate"; the adult status of married females, regardless of age, under English common law; etc.), I'm embarrassed to say that my conclusion as to the identity of Joanna Carpenter was nevertheless wrong. In checking notes I made during a 2001 search of the fragmentary, sometimes illegible parish records of Little Bedwyn (Bishops' Transcripts), I find that the single, relevant record I was able to discern is that of the marriage, on 23 April 1622, of Richard Carpenter and Jone/Jane Heath. She is almost certainly the Joanna Carpenter who was granted administration on the estate of Philip Heath a couple of months later, and he is undoubtedly the Richard Carpenter who filed an administrative bond on her behalf. It is reasonable to suppose that Joanna (Heath) Carpenter was a close relative (daughter or sister?) of Philip Heath's. But since we don't know her age or that of Richard Carpenter, and given the commonness of the Carpenter name, no assumptions are appropriate at present concerning the nature--or existence--of a family connection between him and the Carpenters of Shalbourne. It is a _possibility_ and nothing more. Gene Z. ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com