Proof that Mary Bird's husband, John North, is NOT from Kirtling, Cambs.
In the "Allegations for Marriage Licences (sic) issued... by the Vicar General of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1660 to 1679," extracted by Col. Joseph Lemuel Chester and published by The Harleian Society in 1886 (vol. 23), we find the following entry on p. 70:
1662
May 3
"Hon. John North, Esq.. of Kirtling, co. Cambridge,
Wid[owe]r, ab[ou]t 50, & Mrs Mary Bright, of Tolmash Hall, par. Great Brisett, co. Suffolk, Widow, about 50; at Little or Great Bealing in s[ai]d co. Suffolk."
The identification is unequivocal, and can only be the son of Lord Dudley North. The age given (50) also matches EXACTLY the birthdate of 1612 for John North of Kirtling, Cambridgeshire (baptised in Harrow on the Hill).
John North of Farmington, CT is mentioned indirectly in the probate court record of Thomas Bird of Hartford, CT, through John North's wife Mary (Bird) North[e]. That record was accepted into the court records on August 10, 1662. Therefore, John North of Farmington was married to Mary Bird on May 3, 1662, and could not possibly be the same John North that married Mary Bright in Suffolk, England sometime after May 3 of the same year.
With that information, we can definitely exclude John North of Kirtling from being the same person as John North of Hartford and Farmington, CT, the husband of Mary Bird. However, I still believe that there is an excellent circumstantial case to be made that this John North will turn out to be related, however distantly, to the other JN of Cambridgeshire.
We move forward a bit!
Best regards,
Steve Bird