Admon conundrum

[Pinefamily]

Hello,
After a long break from family history (foster care can be all consuming), I have started to go back over my research into the Dowdeswell family, and compare it with my later findings.
I have a conundrum with a 1745 admon that I'd like opinions, advice and thoughts on.
The admon is for a John Dowdeswell, dated 11 May 1745. In two places on the document it reads, "John Dowdeswell of Sedgeberrow, minor intestate deceased". John's father, Thomas of Temple Guiting, was appointed administrator, and Charles Parker of Ashchurch and Thomas Clark of St Michael Bedwardine were named as being bound for the twenty pounds fee.
Thomas Dowdeswell had several children, baptised in Ashchurch, Bishops Cleve and Sedgeberrow. And this is where my confusion starts. He had a son John baptized in 1707, who was buried in 1714 in Sedgeberrow. Another John was baptized in Sedgeberrow in 1718. I cannot find another John baptized in Sedgeberrow, or anywhere else, the son of Thomas. The term minor would mean under 21, whereas the 1718 John would be 27 in 1745. Additionally, I am almost certain the 1718 John married in Sep 1745 in Gloucester, described as "of Ashchurch", given naming patterns of his children.
A minor dying intestate would have to be at least 14 or 15 you would think, working or at least in an apprenticeship to make the admon application worthwhile.
Given the coincidence of the admon and the marriage both in 1745, I had considered whether it was a con job, to wipe any debts before John was married. I think it unlikely, but given Charles Parker above was Thomas' son-in-law, it is a possibility. What sort of proof would have been required to apply for an admon?
I have checked records online, and had the Worcestershire Archives do a search on my behalf, but no other John Dowdeswell baptisms can be found, with a father Thomas, in the right time frame in either Worcestershire or Gloucestershire.
I will be very glad of others' thoughts.
And thanks for having me back.

[Olde Crone]

I don't know if this applies in your case but I have an admon, similar time, which wasnt taken out until nearly 20 years after a death (no minors involved though). The executors doing that admon were a family member and the local vicar and I guessed it was just to tie up some loose ends - someone had been profitting from the lack of administration so this was a way of forcing the issue. As in your case, it was the year that the widow remarried.

Incidentally, anyone can apply for admon, I think these days you would need to prove your interest in doing so and again, I think you need to prove that the person who ought to be doing it, isn't.

I know this doesn't help but it's an illustration of why things can sometimes take many years. Do you have a copy of the admon to see where the money went?

OC

[Phoenix]

It would be unusual for a minor to have assets in their own right, unless by inheritance. Are there any maternal wills to hint at this?

It would not be impossible for the elder John to have inherited something from a grandparent, so you might be looking for a will before 1714.

Alternatively, did Thomas have a son Thomas? Could it be a grandchild, possibly born out of area?

[kiterunner]

Could it be that someone left money to the first John without properly specifying what would happen to the money if he died young, and that was what had to be sorted out?

[Pinefamily]

Thank you for all of your replies.
I had considered bequests from wills; the only two that I have found, and are in the time frame for the first John (d. 1714) are his two paternal great uncles. Anthony Dowdeswell left £10 pounds to John in his will of 1710, and Thomas Dowdeswell (another one) didn't mention John at all. I haven't found any maternal wills in the right time frame.
And yes, Thomas Dowdeswell the father did have a son Thomas, born in 1716. So potentially he could be the Thomas Dowdeswell in the admon, but I haven't found a marriage or baptisms of children for him in that time frame. He did marry after his father's death in 1767.
Thomas junior was living in New Jersey for a number of years, but I don't have specific dates, apart from he was imprisoned during the American Revolutionary War for being a loyalist, and then allowed to come back to England in 1777. He may have come back on his father's death, before returning to the US. All of this makes it unlikely he was the father of the John in the 1745 admon.
Another possibility is the burial in Newington Surrey for a Jonathan Dowdeswell in 1745. The name Jonathan is quite common in my Dowdeswell line, but I cannot tie this burial to anyone. Interestingly, Benjamin Dowdeswell, another son of Thomas, was living in London by then as a tanner. But if this Jonathan is the same as the John in the admon, would he still be described as "of Sedgeberrow", and not "of London"?

[Pinefamily]

And I neglected to mention that there is no information on the admon, only what I described above.