Sothill, esquire, of Stockerston, Leicestershire, and his wife Jane
Empson.
therav3@aol.com wrote:
I fairly certain that the two Henrys are not the same
person. Henry Sothill or Sotehill, Esq., of Stoke Faston,
Leicestershire (1st husband of Joan Empson) was Attorney-General
to Henry VII (Faris, Plantagenet Ancestry, 1st ed., p. 88). His
daughters were
(1) Elizabeth (d. 19 May 1575), wife of Sir William Drury
of Hawstead, Suffolk
(2) Joan (twin of Elizabeth), wife of John Constable, knt.
(3) Christiana, wife of William Babthorpe of Osgodby
(parentage noted in HSP 16, pedigree of Sowthyll ; also
pedigree of Girlington of Hackford, and note, p. 141)
The first two daughters above were indeed twin daughters of Henry and
Joan Sothill, but the last one, Christiana, was not their daughter.
Per the bio of her son Sir William Babthorpe (c.1490-1555) in HOP,
Christina was one generation back - the daughter of John Sothill,
esquire, of Stockerston, and a sister of Henry Sothill. Christina
Sothill married 1st, William Babthorpe, of Osgodby, Yorkshire, younger
brother of Sir Ralph Babthorpe, of Babthorpe. Their eldest son, Sir
William Babthorpe, MP, was born 1489/90 (age 11 at the death of his
father). William Babthorpe, husband of Christina, was named an
executor in the 1493 will of Christina's father, John Sothill. William
died 10 February 1501, and Christina married 2ndly, William Bedell, and
died 8 April 1540.
As for Christina Sothill's mother, chronology seems very tight for her
to have been the daughter of Elizabeth Plumpton (c.1461-1506), as
Christina was a mother herself in 1489/90. If Christina was John and
Elizabeth's first child, born about 1475/6, and was herself married
young to William Babthorpe, with their first child Sir William born
1489/90, it is just possible for her to have been Elizabeth's daughter.
Could she have been a daughter of John Sothill by a wife previous to
Elizabeth Plumpton? They were contracted to marry in 1463/4, when
Elizabeth was only age 3 (if her age of 3 in 1464 was accurate). We
don't know how old John was at the time, but if he was old enough to
have fathered a child previous, that would place Christina's birth
before 1463, and make her close to age 30 at her eldest son's birth,
and close to age 80 at her death. Not impossible, but somewhat
advanced ages for both events.
If Christina was an illegitimate daughter of John Sothill, her birth
could have been in the 1465-1475 range, which would be ideal. Yet
there is nothing other than the chronological difficulty to suggest
illegitimacy, and it seems unlikely the Babthorpes would have accepted
an illegitimate Sothill daughter when there were legitimate (though
younger) ones available.
The final possibility is that Christina was a younger sister, instead
of daughter, of John Sothill. This would make her daughter of Henry
Sothill, esquire, of Stockerston, by his wife Anne Boyville, heiress of
Stockerston. It may explain how she came to be misidentified as a
daughter of Henry Sothill and Joan Empson. We don't have dates for
Henry Sothill and Anne Boyville, other than knowing that Henry Sothill
died before his son John (d. 1494), and Anne died after her son, and
before her grandson Henry (d. 1506). Anne's father, John Boyville of
Stockerston, died in 1467.
So more research needs to be done to identify the exact parentage of
Christina Sothill Babthorpe, but it can be ruled out that she was a
daughter of Henry Sothill and Joan Empson.
Cheers, ----------Brad