[5] On account of the absence of evidence for John's existence, English Byzantininst Donald Nicol wrote in 1974 that the family's claim to descend from Thomas "must be held unproven".
[6] John Hall, an author of a 2015 biography on Theodore Paleologus, believes that it would be wrong to dismiss their descent on account of a single missing link.
What likely transpired was that the children were placed in the service of some household of higher class, a common practice in regard to adolescents at the time.
[12][13][14][15] Historian N. Darnell Davis wrote as early as 1887 that "John had fallen at Naseby, fighting under the Royal Banner".
Hall considers it possible that John did not get along well with the locals or failed to garner enough funds to establish himself on the island in the same vein as his brother Ferdinand would go on to do.
In the 17th century, many disenchanted settlers left the islands in the Caribbean to venture to the mainland, and many of those who did so eventually turned to piracy.