Admiral Sir Edward Southwell Sotheby KCB (14 May 1813 – 6 January 1902) was an English naval officer in the Royal Navy.
[2] From 1855 to 1858, Sotheby was captain of HMS Pearl, a 21-gun screw corvette which he commanded in the Pacific Ocean, China, and India.
[2] In 1860, Sotheby was captain of the battleship HMS Conqueror, a 101-gun Conqueror-class screw-propelled first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.
He served in the English Channel until late 1861, when Conqueror was despatched to carry troops supporting the French intervention in Mexico.
However, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet disagreed with the outcome of the court-martial and successfully wrote a letter to the Admiralty, in which he not only attributed the loss of Conqueror to carelessness, but blaming Sotheby personally for his failure to supervise the master.
On 20 March 1862, the Admiralty reconsidered the court case and revised the regulations by placing the ultimate responsibility for a ship's safety on the captain.
He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and an extra aide de camp to Queen Victoria (1858–67).