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504 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 ); 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.

