Page 293 - Just another English family (Sep 2019)

Sheila
F
64
MOTHER
Harvey Paul
M
SON
SON
Richard Brian
M
SON
SON
This is a grouping which produces five male persons who are currently using the name of Soothill out of a total of nine persons. In the last chapter there was a concern that this grouping was declining. By 1961 this grouping had 14 members of whom nine were actually born as a Soothill. In turn, this total of 14 in 1961 contrasts with the 1911 census when this grouping had 19 members of whom 15 were direct descendants with the others moving into the family by marriage. By this type of measure with the numbers steadily dropping continues to suggest that this grouping could be developing some trouble in terms of the survival of the Soothill name.
Joseph and Margaret (née Winnard) who are the earliest traced parents of this grouping had produced four children in the late 1830s and early 1840s, but only Thomas (1837-1897) and Benjamin (1841-1919) have direct descendants using the name of Soothill in the 2011 census.
Thomas and Betty (née Bedford) are the great grandparents of Robert A Soothill born in 1965 to Joseph Raymond Soothill (1930-1993) who married Eileen Sykes in 1958. Joseph died in 1993 but his widow, Eileen, was still alive at the 2011 census. Robert is currently living in the Halifax area. There is no evidence that Robert has either married or had children. In terms of geography, this grouping has remained in the Halifax area since the mid-nineteenth century.
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