Todd
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Todd Surname Genealogy
The Scots and Middle English tod of northern origin means "fox." The word cropped up in the 14th century writings of Wycliffe. This was Beatix Potter's description in The Tale of Mr. Tod:
As a surname, Todd would be a nickname for someone resembling a fox, either by his slyness or cunning or by his red hair, or he could be a fox hunter. Todhunter means fox hunter. Todd is both an English and a Scottish surname. DNA testing suggests that the English Todds tended to be of European descent, whilst the Scots Todds were Nordic.
England. Todd only really appears in England as a surname in the north (instead of the Fox surname to be found in the midlands and the south). The earliest surname reference appears to have been a Richard Todd in the 1231 Northumberland rolls.
John Todde was High Sheriff of York in 1390 and Sir William Todd held the same office in 1487. A Todd family from Pontefract in Yorkshire included Christopher and Grace Todd who were among the early New England settlers, in 1638, in New Haven colony. Many Yorkshire Todds were seafarers and sea captains, such as the Charles Todd who sailed out with the Whitby whaling ships in the 1750's.
Scotland. Todd was at first a Border name. James Todd, for instance, was laird of Dunbar in the late 1600's; and another Todd family has traced itself back to Skaithmuir near Coldstream in the late 1700's. However, hard times there brought about an out-migration, to Glasgow in Lanarkshire (where the Todds of Easter Haghill were to be found) and across the Irish Sea to Ulster (where Scots Protestants were being granted land tenancies).
Ireland. Many Todds settled in Antrim and Armagh; and a Todd family acquired Buncrana castle in county Donegal (William Todd of Buncrana is said to have fought the last fatal duel in Ireland in 1812). James Henthorn Todd from Dublin was a noted 19th century Irish historian and writer.
A number of these Scots-Irish Todds emigrated to America. And a few moved back to Scotland, such as John Todd, a weaver, who travelled the Scots border towns in the 1830's and 1840's in search of work.
America. Of the nine distinct early families of Todds in America, three came from England, three from Scotland, and three from Ireland.
The early immigrant Christopher Todd, who arrived in 1639 from Yorkshire, ended up in New Haven, Connecticut (while his first cousin John settled in Rowley, Massachusetts). Christopher's descendants later spread across America. They included Rev. James Doeg Todd, a Presbyterian minister in Johnstown, Wisconsin. From this line came a New Jersey political dynasty. It started with John R. Todd, who helped build Rockefeller Center, and continued to Webster B. Todd and then to his daughter, Christine Todd Whitman, the Republican Governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001.
A Todd family was one of the first to establish a farmstead, later called Todd's Inheritance, along Chesapeake Bay. The following is the historical marker at the site:
There is a telescope surviving from these times which was used, it was believed, to spy on British vessel movements during the War of 1812.
Another early arrival was Joseph Todd. He came to Pennsylvania where he died in 1699. His descendants moved onto North Carolina and then in 1797 undertook the trek to Kentucky, settling in Madison County.
Mary Todd's ancestry is said to include:
Mary Todd herself, who married Abraham Lincoln in Illinois in 1842, grew up in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky at that time was one of the four slave states that did not secede from the Union (with Lexington being a major slave market for the Deep South); and Mary's own family loyalties were divided at the time of the Civil War. Some of her relatives supported the Confederate cause; while her cousin John was a Union general (and later a representative for the Dakota territory).
Stephen Todd also came from Kentucky. But he was a runaway slave who escaped on the underground railway to Indiana and thence with his wife to Remus, Michigan. In 1983, at a Todd family reunion, six Todd women began a quilting project to commemmorate their family history.
Canada. Canadian Todds, like American Todds, originated from England, Scotland and Ireland. William and Elizabeth Todd arrived from Roxburgh on the Scottish borders in 1827 and headed for Quebec.
In 1816 Dublin-born William Todd had gone out to Canada to work for the Hudson Bay Company, as surgeon and later as trader, in the Red River colony in Manitoba. He married two and possibly three times.
Todd's descendants are to be found in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. John Todd, the last of Saskatchewan's long-trail men, died in 1943 at the age of eighty seven.
Another Todd who headed west was the Englishman James Todd. He was one of the first settlers in Barnhartvale, British Columbia in 1865. He had gone west to California during the Gold Rush but, being unsuccessful, had headed north.
Australia and New Zealand. Todds started to move to Australia and New Zealand as the 19th century proceeded. Thomas and Elizabeth Todd, for instance, set sail for South Australia in the 1850's. Alexander and Jane Todd arrived in New Zealand in 1849 and settled in Dunedin. Perhaps the most successful of these immigrants was Charles Todd who arrived in 1885. He started off with a rural goods store in Otago, got into automobiles and petrol stations, and built up the Todd Corporation to the large New Zealand energy company it is today.
Select Todd Miscellany
Select Todd Names
Sir William Todd was High Sheriff of York in 1487 and later Lord Mayor.
Mary Todd Lincoln was the wife of Abraham Lincoln.
Sweeney Todd was the fictional Victorian barber and serial killer, recreated in a Broadway musical and film.
Alexander Todd from Glasgow was awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1957.
Mark Todd is the New Zealand horseman voted "Rider of the 20th Century" by the International Equestrian Association.
Select Todds Today
Select Index of Names
The Origin/Spread of Surnames
The Scots and Middle English tod of northern origin means "fox." The word cropped up in the 14th century writings of Wycliffe. This was Beatix Potter's description in The Tale of Mr. Tod:
"Nobody could call Mr. Tod
"nice." The rabbits could not bear him; they could smell him half
a mile off. He was of a wandering habit and he had foxey
whiskers; they never knew where he would be next."
As a surname, Todd would be a nickname for someone resembling a fox, either by his slyness or cunning or by his red hair, or he could be a fox hunter. Todhunter means fox hunter. Todd is both an English and a Scottish surname. DNA testing suggests that the English Todds tended to be of European descent, whilst the Scots Todds were Nordic.
Select
Todd Resources on
The
Internet
- Todd Family Genealogy. Todds in Scotland, England, and America.
- Todd Families in America. Accounts of 55 Todd lines in America.
- Todd Family History. Todds from Ireland and the Scottish borders.
- Todd Family Tree. Todds from the Scottish borders.
- The Madness of Mary Todd Lincoln. Review of Jason Emerson's book.
- Todd's History. Todd's Inheritance on Chesapeake Bay.
- Original Todds. African American Todds from Kentucky.
- Genealogy of Dr. William Ernest Todd. Todd, medical surgeon and trader in Manitoba.
England. Todd only really appears in England as a surname in the north (instead of the Fox surname to be found in the midlands and the south). The earliest surname reference appears to have been a Richard Todd in the 1231 Northumberland rolls.
John Todde was High Sheriff of York in 1390 and Sir William Todd held the same office in 1487. A Todd family from Pontefract in Yorkshire included Christopher and Grace Todd who were among the early New England settlers, in 1638, in New Haven colony. Many Yorkshire Todds were seafarers and sea captains, such as the Charles Todd who sailed out with the Whitby whaling ships in the 1750's.
Scotland. Todd was at first a Border name. James Todd, for instance, was laird of Dunbar in the late 1600's; and another Todd family has traced itself back to Skaithmuir near Coldstream in the late 1700's. However, hard times there brought about an out-migration, to Glasgow in Lanarkshire (where the Todds of Easter Haghill were to be found) and across the Irish Sea to Ulster (where Scots Protestants were being granted land tenancies).
Ireland. Many Todds settled in Antrim and Armagh; and a Todd family acquired Buncrana castle in county Donegal (William Todd of Buncrana is said to have fought the last fatal duel in Ireland in 1812). James Henthorn Todd from Dublin was a noted 19th century Irish historian and writer.
A number of these Scots-Irish Todds emigrated to America. And a few moved back to Scotland, such as John Todd, a weaver, who travelled the Scots border towns in the 1830's and 1840's in search of work.
America. Of the nine distinct early families of Todds in America, three came from England, three from Scotland, and three from Ireland.
The early immigrant Christopher Todd, who arrived in 1639 from Yorkshire, ended up in New Haven, Connecticut (while his first cousin John settled in Rowley, Massachusetts). Christopher's descendants later spread across America. They included Rev. James Doeg Todd, a Presbyterian minister in Johnstown, Wisconsin. From this line came a New Jersey political dynasty. It started with John R. Todd, who helped build Rockefeller Center, and continued to Webster B. Todd and then to his daughter, Christine Todd Whitman, the Republican Governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001.
A Todd family was one of the first to establish a farmstead, later called Todd's Inheritance, along Chesapeake Bay. The following is the historical marker at the site:
"Thomas Todd settled here from
Gloucester County, Virginia in 1664. The homestead has remained
in the Todd famly for more than three centuries. The 17th century
brick house was burned by British soldiers in 1814 as they withdrew
from an unsuccessful assault on Baltimore. The house was rebuilt
on the site in 1816 and remodelled in 1867."
There is a telescope surviving from these times which was used, it was believed, to spy on British vessel movements during the War of 1812.
Another early arrival was Joseph Todd. He came to Pennsylvania where he died in 1699. His descendants moved onto North Carolina and then in 1797 undertook the trek to Kentucky, settling in Madison County.
Mary Todd's ancestry is said to include:
- thw Scots Todds who fought and lost at Bothwell Bridge in 1679
- and the Scots-Irish Robert and Andrew Todd who came to Pennsylvania in 1737.
Mary Todd herself, who married Abraham Lincoln in Illinois in 1842, grew up in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky at that time was one of the four slave states that did not secede from the Union (with Lexington being a major slave market for the Deep South); and Mary's own family loyalties were divided at the time of the Civil War. Some of her relatives supported the Confederate cause; while her cousin John was a Union general (and later a representative for the Dakota territory).
Stephen Todd also came from Kentucky. But he was a runaway slave who escaped on the underground railway to Indiana and thence with his wife to Remus, Michigan. In 1983, at a Todd family reunion, six Todd women began a quilting project to commemmorate their family history.
Canada. Canadian Todds, like American Todds, originated from England, Scotland and Ireland. William and Elizabeth Todd arrived from Roxburgh on the Scottish borders in 1827 and headed for Quebec.
In 1816 Dublin-born William Todd had gone out to Canada to work for the Hudson Bay Company, as surgeon and later as trader, in the Red River colony in Manitoba. He married two and possibly three times.
"At York factory in 1824, Dr. Todd took
Elizabeth Dennet, half-breed daughter of William Dennet, to wife by
"the custom of the country." Together for seventeen years until
her death in 1845, they raised a family of twelve, nine of whom
survived to adulthood. In 1849, Dr. Todd married Jane Johnstone
and at the ripe old age of 65 fathered two more children."
Todd's descendants are to be found in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. John Todd, the last of Saskatchewan's long-trail men, died in 1943 at the age of eighty seven.
Another Todd who headed west was the Englishman James Todd. He was one of the first settlers in Barnhartvale, British Columbia in 1865. He had gone west to California during the Gold Rush but, being unsuccessful, had headed north.
Australia and New Zealand. Todds started to move to Australia and New Zealand as the 19th century proceeded. Thomas and Elizabeth Todd, for instance, set sail for South Australia in the 1850's. Alexander and Jane Todd arrived in New Zealand in 1849 and settled in Dunedin. Perhaps the most successful of these immigrants was Charles Todd who arrived in 1885. He started off with a rural goods store in Otago, got into automobiles and petrol stations, and built up the Todd Corporation to the large New Zealand energy company it is today.
Select Todd Miscellany
If you would like to read more, click on the miscellany page for
further stories and accounts:
Select Todd Names
Sir William Todd was High Sheriff of York in 1487 and later Lord Mayor.
Mary Todd Lincoln was the wife of Abraham Lincoln.
Sweeney Todd was the fictional Victorian barber and serial killer, recreated in a Broadway musical and film.
Alexander Todd from Glasgow was awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1957.
Mark Todd is the New Zealand horseman voted "Rider of the 20th Century" by the International Equestrian Association.
Select Todds Today
- 31,000 in the UK (most numerous in Northumberland)
- 24,000 in America (most numerous in Texas)
- 16,000 elsewhere (most numerous in Canada)
Select Index of Names
The Origin/Spread of Surnames