Lady Elizabeth Twamley and Family

The Following notes are brief excerpts mostly derived from the notes of Brian Baily and Eileen Jackson – both with descendent connections to our Ancestor Thomas Codd who emigrated to Canada (Lanark county) in 1820.

Lady Elizabeth

THOMAS was known (by family sources) to have married "the boss's daughter” in 1800 - which suggests that LADY ELIZABETH was from a higher stratum of Irish protestant society. The lower stratum simply rented and sublet property, while the next level above were subletters and entrepreneurs who had business - like grain-processing mills - which were supported by the landed gentry financially. Our CODD family had long lost their landed gentry status - which went back to the time of Stongbow's invasion in 1170, at least 100 years previously, when they were pushed out of Wexford (probably the Enniscorthy areas - where Roman Catholic Codds live to this day,) westward to Wicklow. LADY ELIZABETH was from a Twamley family which has not yet been identified and was likely a widow when THOMAS CODD married her. There is a record of ELIZABETH TWAMLEY marrying PETER TWAMLEY in 1792, with a daughter ALLICE baptized in 1795 - and further record of PETER being killed during the Rebellion. Was Peter's wife LADY ELIZABETH? We'll probably never know.

St Michaels Church

St Michaels Church Aghold Parish County, Wicklow Ireland built about 1716. Several Generations of our family (Codd) come from this church in - Wicklow Ireland dating back to the 1700's. This is an Episcopalian - "Church of Ireland" church, located about 1 hour from Dublin, Ireland.

Suffice it to say that THOMAS and ELIZABETH married in 1800 - and became part of the Church of Ireland faction who embraced John Wesley's Methodism. By 1817 they had applied to emigrate (Elly List), quite evidently by now, unwelcome or insecure in Wicklow, with the Anglican hegemony on the verge of collapse. When they left in 1820, THOMAS' brothers, for the most part, stayed behind, but his older sister (maybe probable sister is more accurate) JANE CODD had married WILLIAM DAGG about 1791 and they had paved the way, setting down at Kitley in 1817.

Family Matters

A family story strongly suggested that they had a daughter, LETITIA (b. 1810) who, by reputation, was disowned for marrying a DAGG who ran a tavern - but somehow history has buried this story successfully too and while Eileen Jackson seemed to believe it, it was also soundly denied by the DAGGs. Nothing has happened to either substantiate or discredit the story sufficiently as to make it real or make it disappear. It remains folklore.

TOM CODD married late, at age 28, ventured out to Canada in his mid-40s', setting down a CODD footprint in Lanark Twp. by 1820. He and his wife Elizabeth were Methodists and lived a few farms away from the Boyd's Settlement Methodist Church. His sons, for the most part, moved on west as they grew up, except for Tom Jr. who lived on the homestead in Lanark county.

Thomas and Elizabeth Codd and their five children arrived in Canada in 1820, "and in the month of August of the same year proceeded to Lanark to obtain land." Thomas Codd and his son George located on lots 3N.E.., 4, and 5, concession 12. George obtained the patent for lot4S.W...

Family information is that the outcome of a dispute about a political issue accounts for the difference in the spelling of the surname Codd in Canada. Thomas Sr., and his son Richard selected "Coad", George, Thomas, Abraham, and James decided on "Code". Codes who settled in Kitley in Leeds were also divided as to how they spelled the surname. Family information is that they were relatives of Thomas Codd.

by Charles Carlisle

"I think that George Code/Codd's brother, John Codd and his spouse Mary Ann Nugent were granted Beckwith Con XII Lot 4, but moved to Lanark Township, Con. XII Lot 3 with his brother Thomas Codd, eventually selling the property to Lancelot Jackson and moving to Innisville. John Codd was the forebear of the Codes who later populated both Innisville and Perth as recorded in David Code's The Codes of Perth. Their relocation in Lanark Township has caused a little confusion of identities, as they were situated right next to (i.e. south of) Thomas Code (seemingly John's uncle) and Thomas's son George.

In time, George Code and Jane Morris' son, Joseph Code (b. 1827) would marry Thomas Code's daughter Ann Code (b. 1839) and another son, George Code Jr. would marry Thomas' daughter Rachel Code (b. 1840) - indicating that their spouses were their second cousins."

I was aware of the frequent intermarriage between the Codd, Chamney, Twamley and James families in Ireland and in Canada so the above statement did not catch me completely by surprise.