Page 22 - Just another English family (Sep 2019)

60+
3
5.1
2
3.6
5
4.3
TOTAL
59
100.0
56
100.0
115
100.0
While the genders are fairly evenly split in terms of numbers, one has still to recognise the division for the females between Soothills who acquired the name at birth and those who acquired the name by marriage. It seems that 18 of the females acquired the name of Soothill by marriage and one must assume that a similar number lost the name by marriage. It is certainly a young group in the 1861 census with well over one-half (57%) under the age of 20 years. In contrast, there are only eight persons (five males and three females) aged 50 years or over. The three males aged 60 years or over are 66, 72 and 77 years at the time of the census and the two females similarly aged are 64 and 79 years in 1861, so indicating it is possible to live to an older age.
Geographical location is interesting. Using the 1861 census there is scope to consider at least three geographical issues:
(1) Their present address.
(2) Their place of birth.
(3) Any discrepancy between their place of birth and their present address which gives some clue as to the mobility of the family.
Furthermore, there is scope to consider for all married couples in the census whether or not they were born in roughly the same place which is, again, some measure of mobility. Their place of marriage provides another clue, but this may be distorted as the convention, even to the present day, is to have the marriage ceremony at the bride’s location as the parents of the bride have traditionally tended to pay the cost of the marriage celebrations. In other words, where they marry may not represent their normal location or where they actually start married
18