I would assume that's a bug? A weird one tho. If you post your modlist and which VP version you are using, I'll put it on github for you. Also, is that the first Great Person of any kind you got? Given how early in the game, and the lack of space for land warfare, I would guess it is?
Hey, thanks for the offer to forward it over! I appreciate that a huge deal.
Okay, yeah. This is the latest version (no EUI, yuck) with the hotfix (10-9-1). I play with mostly minimal mods. Aside from the CBP package, I have...
Diplomacy Spinning Globe Fix (v 1) [Not even sure this is necessary anymore, but I've never started a game without it.]
No Hidden Bonus Resources (v 1) [Decisions from the start are crucial to me.]
Random City Names (v 2) [Variety.]
UI - Notification Options (v 13) [To remind me when cities grow and borders expand.]
And that's it. But no, I've also spawned a Great Merchant earlier, conveniently hiding under my capital nametag, but it wasn't spawned there. The Great Admiral was (and probably always does), so this is probably some weird England/China buggy bug with the China changes, but I wasn't totally sure.
On an unimportant note, the lack of land space and my starting position is making England the perfect choice. Egypt is getting rolled by me; I won't even need an army aside from my Authority garrisons soon enough! It's pretty epic.
Thanks again for taking care of this!