Page 11 - Just another English family (Sep 2019)

Prologue
This study of the Soothill family has been a long time a-coming. First my interest was aroused after the death of my father, Frederick, in 1990, when I became curious about possible links between persons calling themselves Soothill. The study has not developed smoothly with periods of frenetic activity followed, more usually, by fallow periods of inactivity.
❖
The study is presented in three parts. The first part which is the main focus concentrates on the development of the Soothill family in England and Wales over 150 years from 1861 to the present day (2013). Laura Trevelyan calls her book on her very prestigious family, A Very British Family: The Trevelyans and Their World, but the Soothills, in the first instance at least, are essentially an English family. Indeed, there is no record of a Soothill either living or working in Scotland or Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, by default, the first part can be said to be the history of the Soothills in the United Kingdom.
❖
1861 might be thought to be a strange time to start. After all, there is much about the Soothills that has come before and, apart from being a census year, 1861 does not seem to be a particularly remarkable year. Queen Victoria had already been on the throne for twenty four years, but in that year had the devastation of the death of her husband Albert, the Prince Consort. Certainly the second half of her reign had this cloud to dampen the Queen’s focus on life. Of course, no one then knew that Queen Victoria would be on the throne for a further forty years after 1861. However, focusing on 1861 for a start in Chapter 1 has several merits.
❖
First, as already said, 1861 is a census year and that provides an opportunity to count the number of Soothills in the population of England and Wales. There had been decennial censuses since 1801, but it is only with the 1841 census that names of persons are identified. However, the 1841 census is not satisfactory as a benchmark, for it seems very incomplete. In this respect the 1851 is an improvement. However, there are still shortcomings such as a lack of occupations.
7