The Sotheby family of Pocklington, Yorkshire was prolific. One branch of the family was represented by Thomas, who was admitted to St John's (Cambridge) and Gray's Inn; was rector of Combs (Suffolk), 1616-1647. His second son James [I] of Hackney bought the manor of Sewardstone, Essex, in 1673. His son James [Iii] was admitted to St Catherine's and Gray's Inn in 1700. James III died unmarried. James II's fourth son, Col. William of the Coldstream Guards, inherited Sewardstone. He married the sister of Sir Hans Sloane, and was a founding Trustee of the British Museum. Col. William's eldest son William [the Poet] was a literary figure of some note. He married Mary, the daughter of Ambrose Isted of Ecton Hall, Northamptonshire. William the Poet's second son and heir Adm. Charles took part in the Napoleonic Wars. Adm. Charles' eldest son, Charles William Hamilton, inherited Ecton Hall from the Isteds in 1881, became High Sheriff of Northamptonshire, and sold Sewardstone in 1884. His half brother, Maj. Gen. Frederick Edward inherited Ecton in 1887. In 1909 Ecton Hall passed to a descendant of William the Poet's brother, Adm. Thomas.