Page 289 - Just another English family (Sep 2019)

John and Sarah Soothill (née Holt) married on 29 November 1861 at St. John the Baptist, Halifax. Currently, their antecedents are not known. John and Sarah had a large family, and by the 1911 census this grouping had eight (possibly nine) males who could be traced back to John and Sarah Soothill. However, it is only Benjamin (1872-1937) of John and Sarah’s large family who is relevant to contemporary Soothills in this grouping.
John B P Soothill was born on 16 July 1937 in Halifax as the son of Jack and Janie Soothill (née Park). John B P had two elder sisters, Audrey (b.1926) and Jean (b.1929), and so was a somewhat late arrival in this family. John’s grandfather (that is, Jack’s father) was Benjamin (b.1872) – the fourth son of John and Sarah Holt - who married Mary Hannah Forbes in Halifax in 1899. By the 2011 census John B P Soothill seems to be the only surviving male of John and Sarah’s large family produced in mid-Victorian times.
John B P Soothill was aged 73 years at the time of the 2011 census, so his reproducing years seem to be over. John married Christine Field in Calder in 1961. This union produced Julie (b.1963) and Helen (b.1964). Both Julie and Helen have married to men named Kennedy and Ross respectively and, thus, will no longer be using their birth name of Soothill. John married again in 1973, but there is no evidence that his marriage to Mavis Rushworth in Calder produced any issue. John B P Soothill is currently living in the Blackpool area with his wife, Mavis. John B P was born in Halifax and, until his move to Blackpool, it seems that this grouping lived in the Halifax area for over one hundred years.
John B P seems to be the end of the Soothill line among this grouping.
❖
285