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It's always nice to read something about Roger Crab. But I also want to clear up any confusion. The original entry in the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) was written by Alexander Gordon and published in 1887. This is the entry that Hill consulted for his entry. My entry for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) was published in 2004.

As for date of birth, c. 1616 is derived from Crab's marriage licence, obtained on 21 December 1663, which described him as a bachelor aged about 47. People sometimes misremembered their age or lowered / increased it slightly to suit their own purposes.

The inscription on the tomb (if it was correctly transcribed) did indeed state that he died on 11 September 1680 'in the 60 year of his age'. But it is a suspiciously round number and we don't know if it was guessed whoever paid for the inscription.

So for that reason, and because it was closer in time to Crab's birth, more weight should be given to the marriage licence rather than the inscription (which I was unable to find as well)

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Fantastic – I'm delighted to hear from you, thank you! And thanks so much for clarifying this.

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