Page 146 - Just another English family (Sep 2019)

John and Hannah Soothill had five children – David, Elizabeth, Louisa, James and John. Not surprisingly, it is only the males, David, James and John who had descendants appearing in the 1911 census as Soothills. But what is happening to the grouping as a whole? In 1861 this grouping had just eight members, but by 1911 the members of this grouping had increased quite dramatically to 24 of whom all but four (Elizabeth, Annie Elizabeth, Clara and Kate) were all born a Soothill. These 28 members are distributed between four addresses – still all in Bradford. The average numbers per household – seven – is high and there are many youngsters around – 15 are under 21 years of age. Whereas in 1861 there was only one male in the reproductive window of 18 to 50 years, in the 1911 census there are five such males. This grouping looks in good shape and likely to expand further in the 20th century.
David (1833-1875) married a local Bradford girl, Martha Jowett (1833-1905), in Bradford Parish Church in 1855. David and Martha had six children of whom only the long-living Samuel (1866-1962) would be around the time of the 1911 census. However, some of David and Martha’s grandchildren as well as a daughter-in-law would be up for the count as Soothills. John Edward (1857-1908) had married Elizabeth Oldfield (1862-1940) in Bradford in 1880 and they had nine children – two boys and seven girls. Of the two boys, Albert Edward (1892-1973) and Fred (1895-1958), both married – Albert to Ada M. Reece in Bradford in 1918 (but they had no children), while Fred married Annie Elizabeth Teresa Morgan in 1923 (and they also had no children). Albert Edward eventually died in Wharfedale aged 80 years in 1973 and Fred died in Bradford aged 63 years in 1958. Of the girls, Beatrice (b.1881) and Violetta (1886-?) who both married in Bradford in 1909 and 1910 respectively would not be in the census as a Soothill; in contrast, Martha Annie (1882-?) who married in 1913 should be; there is no evidence that Rhoda (1888-?), Ida (1901-1931) or Lily (1902-?) married, so they all should be in the 1911 census.
James (1846-1922) should be in the 1911 census, but his wife, Emma (née Turner) (1846-1902) has died by then. Of James and Emma’s three children, Mary (1864-?) had married in Bradford in 1885 and so had relinquished the name of Soothill; John (1866-1946) had married Annie Elizabeth Cleavin in Bradford in 1890 and all their
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