the renewal of hostilities, obtained the command of the Excellent, 74, attached to the Mediterranean fleet, under the orders of Lord Nelson, by whom he was entrusted with the defence of the Bay of Naples; on which service we find him at the time when the ancient Neapolitan government was displaced by the French army, and the throne of that kingdom usurped by Joseph Buonaparte. In this state of affairs, the very prudent arrangements made by Captain Sotheron, prevented the mischief that would otherwise have ensued. From this period we lose sight of him until Aug. 1, 1811, on which day he was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral.
On the vacancy occasioned in the representation for Nottinghamshire, by the resignation of Lord William Bentinck, in 1814, Rear-Admiral Sotheron was unanimously elected M.P. for that county, in conjunction with Captain Lord Newark, now Earl Manvers (of whom a memoir will appear in our next volume, and whose name is endeared to all his professional brethren by a recent act of princely munificence[1]); and thus was presented the novel spectacle, of the midland shire of England represented in the senate by two naval officers.
In 1816, on the demise of his eldest brother, Colonel Sotheron, who served for the borough of Pontefract in several parliaments. Rear-Admiral Sotheron, as heir-at-law, succeeded to the family estates in the counties of York and Nottingham. He was advanced to the rank of Vice-Admiral Aug. 12, 1819; and still continues to represent Nottinghamshire, having been returned to every succeeding Parliament since his first election[2].
- ↑ The Editor had the gratification of being present at a meeting of the Members of the Naval Charitable Society, when the secretary of that institution announced that Earl Manvers, in addition to a former donation of twenty guineas, had ordered 1865l. 9s. 6d., the amount of his half pay between Jan. 1, 1812, and Mar. 31, 1820, to be added to their funds, together with all future half-pay to which his Lordship may be entitled from the navy, the present annual amount of which is 264l. 5s. 6d.!!!
- ↑ Vice-Admiral Sotheron appears to have had a pension granted him so far back as Feb. 8, 1796; its present amount, according to the regulation of Nov. 27, 1815, is 300l. per annum. We regret our inability to state the circumstances under which he received the severe wounds for which it was conferred.
