Page 20 - Just another English family (Sep 2019)

(a 12-year-old stuff cropper) and Frederic (a 9-year-old schoolboy). In fact, this seems to be the family following Joseph’s marriage to Mary Riley. So what has happened to the children’s mother, Mary? At the moment I don’t know the date of her death, so this is another mystery to be probed.
This brief summary of some of the households in the 1861 census shows several things. Firstly, it illustrates that the range of knowledge about these households is wide - from the paucity of information about the two households headed by two different Elizabeth Soothills to the richer context of households where the families will eventually be traced through to the present day. Secondly, there are possible connections between these households which will need to be probed – the family of the biblical- sounding, Joseph and Mary, seem to straddle at least two households. Thirdly, it will need some organisation to keep a story going for the 31 households containing a Soothill in the 1861 census.
While it is interesting to focus on the households who have a direct link with descendants found in the putative 2011 census, this will also be the main focus of Chapter 5 which attempts to show the connections between all Soothill males living in 2011 back to the start of the 19th century. But there is much more to do here. In short, it is the total picture in 1861 which is the main interest of this chapter. Before describing these 31 households in more detail, it is important to recognise that there are essentially three groups – firstly, the 21 households headed by a Soothill; secondly, the three households headed by a relative (that is, by someone not named Soothill); and, thirdly, the seven remaining households. In fact, the vast majority of Soothills (96 – or 83% - out of 115) are living in households headed by someone named Soothill, while the remaining Soothills are living either in a household headed by a relative (this involves five – or 4%) or in other types of households or institutions (altogether this involves 14 Soothills – or 12%).4 However, before considering these groups of Soothills, the age and gender structure of the Soothills in the 1861 census is instructive.
4. Percentages may not add to 100 owing to rounding.
16