Hope Elletson Sober

Son of John Sober II (q.v.), and heir under the will of his step-mother Martha Sober (q.v.) of a life-interest in the Sober Castle estate, which was sold by his executors between 1817 and 1820. Hope Elletson Sober, an East India co. man in Madras, had a relationship in India with an Indian woman with whom he had three children, whom his step-mother deemed illegitimate. His will, dated 1807, divided his assets between these three children Abraham Evans Sober, Penelope Sober and Maria Caroline Sober; disputes over his estate must have followed as the assets were not distributed to his legatees until 1846.

1. The will of Mary Sober, written in 1792, gives Elletson Sober as "now in the East Indies". A codicil in the will of Hope Elletson Sober's step-mother Martha Bersheba Sober, written 26/04/1795, states that she gives he estate to Hope Elletson Sober "for his life only, as I believe his attachment to the Indian is not legal and his chn. are illegitimate..." A second codicil, written the following day, leaves Hope Elletson Sober £500 "for his little Eliza".

2. Death of Ellitson Sober, 08/10/1814 in Negapatam, India, a lieutenant, "Carnatic Eur Vet Btn". Elletson Hope Sober was buried at Negapatam, Madras, 09/10/1814.

1. Vere Langford Oliver, Caribbeana being miscellaneous papers relating to the history, genealogy, topography, and antiquities of the British West Indies (6 vols., London, Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, 1910-1919) vol. V pp. 250-252.

2. India Family database, http://indiafamily.bl.uk/ui/FullDisplay.aspx?RecordId=014-000257939; Familysearch.org batch no. B00200-5.

We are grateful to Mark Dickinson for his assistance with compiling this entry.