Reputándose de 43 años de edad

[Esteban Leavell]

I get the drift of the following sentence but I am weak in understanding the middle part – especially: y viudo, y reputándose de 43 años de edad.

don José María Ignacio, casó in primeras nupcias in Lagos con doña Margarita Villalobos; y viudo, y reputándose de 43 años de edad, casó en Lagos el 13 de septiembre de 1853 con doña María Sabina Ramona.

I thank you in advance.

Steve

[Rusty]

My attempt:

Don José María Ignacio, was married for the first time to doña Margarita Villalobos in Lagos; and (as) a widower, reputed (considering himself) (to be) 43 years old (at the time), was married on 13 September 1853 to doña María Sabina Ramona in Lagos.

[aleCcowaN]

There, reputándose is more like "people believing he was then 43", maybe to state there's an incomplete set of written documentation to know that for sure and/or such documentation includes contemporary letters and people's memories. Things like "the priest married them but didn't ask their age", or "the parish register containing data of his birth was lost in a fire". Or simply, such precision was the best the author could do at the time of writing.

[Rusty]

Yes, I think 'reputed to be 43 years old at the time' conveys that meaning.

[aleCcowaN]

OK, for some reason I always consider phrases like "considering himself to be 43" as having "he" as their subject by default.

[Rusty]

It does. 'Considering himself to be 43 years old at the time' doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as 'reputed to be ...'. The latter has no definite subject. He could have mentioned it himself, but it's also possible that anyone of the townsfolk said he was 43 years old.

[aleCcowaN]

Impersonal reputándose excludes the possibility of him claiming to have that age (it would be a strange choice of term if he did -and it's not used in an impersonal fashion-). Is it "reputed" a match when one wants to convey the notion of "people considering him to be" and to 85% dismiss the possibility of him contributing to such belief?

[Esteban Leavell]

Thank you gentlemen. You insights are making my task easier.

Steve

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by aleCcowaN

Impersonal reputándose excludes the possibility of him claiming to have that age (it would be a strange choice of term if he did -and it's not used in an impersonal fashion-). Is it "reputed" a match when one wants to convey the notion of "people considering him to be" and to 85% dismiss the possibility of him contributing to such belief?

Yes, 'reputed' is used impersonally - someone else giving the estimation/belief.