You don't say what evidence you have to suggest that Sophia survived infancy.

Familysearch lists the baptisms of the following children of Norton and Catherine Hutchinson, at Ware.

13 January 1769		Sophia Caressa Hutchinson
19 February 1770		Clarissa Arabella Huchinson
29 April 1771		Isabella Ann Hutchinson
23 October 1772		Norton Hutchinson

Bearing in mind the lack of standardised spelling at the time, often hard to read handwriting, and the problems of preparing indexes such as familysearch,  it is possible that "Caressa" and "Clarissa" are the same name, as are "Arabella" and "Isabella".

In the 18th century children would have been breast-fed, and breast feeding reduces fertility. If two children are born within a year of each other it is likely that the first died within days or weeks of birth. It was also quite common for the next child (if the same sex) was given the same or a similar name.

You should look at the microfilms of the Ware baptism and burial registers. These are available from your nearest Latter Day Saints Family History Centre (address on the familysearch web site). The baptism register may record information if a newborn child was baptised in a hurry because they were not expected to live - sometimes recorded as a "private baptism" because the child was baptised at home (or the place of birth) rather than in church. In addition there may be a matching entry in the burial register a few days or weeks later.

October 2010

Radfall.writes: There is a book called Memoirs of the life of Colonel Hutchinson (it is on books.google.co.uk) which includes a family tree. There are three daughters of Norton Hutchinson: Cassandra, Clarissa and Isabella. No Sophia. And one rather odd thing - their mother's name is given as Judith rather than Catherine.  Radfall.added: Cassandra's married name was Marshall: on her memorial in Charing, Kent, she is described as the eldest daughter of Norton Hutchinson of Woodhall.

[The left hand side of the family tree is missing in the Google book.]

[See ful pedigree here]

I am not related to the Hutchinsons by the way - I came across both your web-site and the family tree in the book when I was searching for information on another of the sisters, Isabella Hutchinson, who has been in the news recently. Isabella married Jens Wolff. She had her portrait painted by the artist Sir Thomas Lawrence and had a long friendship with the artist. Engravings of her portraits can be seen here.

Cassandra married George Marshall, Clarissa married Walter Hills

The book is about Colonel John Hutchinson (1615-1664) [Wikipedia] and was edited by the Rev. Julius Hutchinson who had half brothers and sisters Thomas, Cassandra, Clarissa, Isabella and Norton. Clearly we would expect Julius to know the names of his siblings and the fact that Sophia is not mentioned, and Cassandra's memorial says she was the oldest daughter, strongly suggests that Sophia died in infancy.

 

Before discussing the "Judith" problem it is useful to look at an extract of the history of Woodhall, Hatfield, from the Victoria County History.

WOODHALL was held of the manor of Hatfield for the service of one knight's fee. ... ... Francis Boteler died in 1690 and was succeeded by his daughter Juliana, the wife of Francis Shallcross.  She died in 1726 and Woodhall passed by will to her sister Isabel, the wife of Charles Hutchinson, who died in 1728. Their son Julius Hutchinson succeeded and was followed by his son Thomas, who died in 1774. Woodhall then passed to his nephew, the Rev. Julius Hutchinson, son of his brother Norton, and in 1792 was sold to the Earl of Salisbury, and thus became merged in the manor of Hatfield.

This immediately highlights a very careless editing error in the family tree. The tree (as far as it has survived) fits in well with history of the manor - with one exception. The tree puts Woodhall Park in Kent - while the Editor, Julius Hutchinson, cannot have been unaware that it was in Hertfordshire, as he owned it between 1774 and 1792! So what about his step-mother. It seems a bit extreme to say it is a printer's error, copying a name which should have appeared elsewhere. Perhaps she was Catherine Judith Scharm, normally called "Catherine" (hence the baptism entries in the register) while Julius called her "Judith." Family wills (I am sure that the family must have left some wills) might clarify the situation.

December 2010

Mike Newton (mike.newton2 @t btinternet.com) writes: You conclude your answer with the suggestion that family wills might provide further information. I have a copy of the will of Norton Hutchinson and it clearly (though I do have difficulty reading these old texts!) refers to just the three daughters shown in the family tree.
     The will also refers to his late dear wife Catherine and to her mother as Mrs ?? Judith "Schram". There is a record in the Genealogist of Captain Norton Hutchinson marrying Miss Catherine "Schrom" on 11 August 1764 at Fort St George, Madras. Like you, I had found the IGI record for Catherine Judith Scharm, but the ?? in the will does not look like the mother's name Magdalen in that IGI record.
     My interest is in the descendants of Rev. Julius Hutchinson, specifically son Julius, so I have not followed this side of the family so much.

 

Mike later wrote: There are many editions of the book of Col Hutchinson's Memoirs, and I do not know which one your contributor Radfall may have found but the first edition contains a complete pedigree going back to 1282, which I have attached. You should also note the following text taken from the Preface (actually with the final phrase added in a later edition):

"There will be found annexed a pedigree of the family of Hutchinson, taken from a very handsomely emblazoned genealogy in the possession of the editor, originally traced by Henry St. George, King of Arms, continued and embellished by Thomas Brand, Esq. his majesty's writer and embellisher of letters to the eastern princess, anno 1712, and brought down to the present day from family records."

August 2011

Judith Webb (judith.webb @t lineone.net) of Herefordshire,  UK, writes: I can fill in some information about 2 of the youngest daughters of Norton Hutchinson.

Clarissa Arabella married Walter Hill in 1792 and lived in Gloucestershire and at Rocklands, Goodrich, Herefordshire. She died in November 1829 and is buried at Newland, Gloucestershire.

Isabella Ann married Jens Wolff, the Danish Consul, but was legally separated from him in 1810 (and apparently divorced).  She too came to live in Herefordshire, in a small hamlet called Pencraig and in a house named 'Fairfield'.  Clarissa seems to have bought the house, whilst it was 'in the occupation of Mrs Isabella Wolff, in 1823.  Then in 1828 it is left in trust for Isabella, for the other sister Cassandra Marshall and for Clarissa's son, the Rev. Walter Henry Hill (born c. 1796).