Page 224 - Just another English family (Sep 2019)

By 1961 this grouping had 19 members of whom 14 were actually born as a Soothill. These 14 are direct descendants of three sons – William Edward (1861-1935), Alfred (1863-1926) and Herbert Ashworth (1882-1965) - of Thomas and Ellen. In addition, there are descendants in Australia emanating from Walter (1866-1951), another brother, which are discussed in Chapter 6. The total in England and Wales contrasts with the 1911 census when this grouping had just 15 members of whom 10 were direct descendants with the others moving into the family by marriage. By this type of measure this grouping again seems to be marginally increasing its numbers. However, males are the mechanism for the transmission of the name – in 1911 there were just four males in the reproductive window of 18 to 50 years, while in 1961 there were only three in this age window. Hence, this Soothill grouping seems to be holding its own by the mid-20th century, but there could be problems ahead.
Thomas Hartley Soothill (1812-1873) in Halifax married Ellen Barrett in 1831 and they had three children – David Hartley (1833-1900), William (1836-1893) and Abraham (1841-1925). These are the three lines that one needs to explore. Certainly only Abraham of Thomas and Ellen’s three boys survived until the 1911 census. However, there is no evidence that Abraham had any children, so that line is discontinued. However, Thomas and Ellen’s son, David Hartley (1833-1900) had a productive line for a while. David Hartley married Jane Garth in 1854 and had two boys – Sam Greenwood (b.1876) and William Soothill (1864-1920) but, as explained in the last chapter, these have no contemporary descendants. So it remains for Thomas and Ellen’s son, William, to produce some contemporary descendants.
William had married Margaret (née Ashworth) (1839-1919) and four of their children – Victor Farrar (1888-1956), Alfred (1863-1926), Walter (1866-1951) and Herbert Ashworth (1882-1965) – had descendants who would be around in 1961. As already mentioned, Walter’s are in Australia and are considered in Chapter 6. So what has happened since 1961 to these other descendants of William and Margaret who have stayed in England rather than moving abroad?
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