Page 7 - Just another English family (Sep 2019)

The family tree itself evolved over the 15-year duration as research was carried out. The chapters of the manuscript were each worked upon individually as he focused on different aspects. As far as I can tell from the files he left in hard copy and on his computer, Keith first pulled together the various chapters into one ‘book’ over the Christmas of 2012, comprising what is now Part 1 on the Soothills in England & Wales (1861 to 2011). Separately, he continued to work on Part 2 (speculation on the period pre-1861) and Part 3 (Soothills throughout the world) and of course the [150+] queries still outstanding on the family tree. Whilst he undoubtedly continued to work on the project during 2013, the drafts dated from January to March that year are the last records we have.
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As history repeats itself, five years on from my own father’s death and his only patrilineal offspring (my sister in this regard doesn’t count), I am now ready to pick up the proverbial baton. (I am not Keith’s only patrilineal descendant, as my son, Tom, was born in 2003.)
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Most importantly, I want to ensure that his work is not lost and that its rich content is available to all Soothills everywhere. As an academic, his work was assuredly thorough such that I believe it can be relied upon as a resource to build on for future generations. He even created putative censuses for 1961 and 2011. Assuming the release rule remain unchanged, we won’t know until 2111 whether the latter was accurate!
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To that end, I have published online both the family tree and his draft manuscript. I make no apologies for its draft nature. I could spend the next fifteen years finishing his work before publishing but that risks circumstances conspiring such that it is never published and is lost forever.
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That is not to say that I don’t have plans or intend to refine, build upon or even improve his work. There are all those outstanding queries, events (births, deaths and marriages) that have occurred in recent years and there are features and functionality to add (eg pictures in the family tree).
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