The English Todds
November 2024
In 1851, there were over 7000 Todds in England, just slightly less than in all of the USA (8400) , and more than twice as many as in Scotland (2900) and about four times as many as in Ireland. So the English Todds are the largest group of Todds in the British Isles. They are also the least studied of all the Todds.
Almost 25% of the Todds in England in 1851 lived in Yorkshire, and 70% of all English Todds lived in northern England in the counties of Yorkshire, Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, and Lincolnshire. These northern English Todds are likely the source of many of the Todd families of Northern Ireland, especially Counties Armagh and Tyrone and many of the Todd families who came to America in the colonial era.
However, there were many Todds in southern England as shown highlighted
in yellow in this table of the number of Todds who appeared in the 1851
census. These Todds may also be the
descendants of families of that region that sent emigrants to Ireland and the
US. As an example of what might be
discovered, the family of Joseph Todd b 1654 Eling, Southhamptonshire
in southern England died Philadelphia 1699 has a distant genetic kinship with
two Todd families from Fife in Scotland.
|
1851 |
|
|
Yorkshire |
1721 |
|
Durham |
954 |
|
Lancashire |
616 |
|
Northumberland |
657 |
|
Middlesex |
475 |
|
Cumberland |
455 |
|
Lincolnshire |
437 |
|
Norfolk |
380 |
|
Suffolk |
356 |
|
Northamptonshire |
178 |
|
Nottinghamshire |
178 |
|
Westmoorland |
161 |
|
Kent |
126 |
|
Surrey |
118 |
|
Warwickshire |
70 |
|
Essex |
82 |
|
Hampshire |
45 |
In the limited DNA sampling conducted in 2023 and 2024, Todds from 25 different locations in England were sampled, mostly in the northern counties mentioned above.
Male DNA of five of these families matched American Todd families:
1. Family of John Todd 1621-1689 of Rowley, Mass: matched the Todds of Whitehaven, Wigton, Dacre and Greystoke, Cumberland County, England.
2. Family of William Todd d 1769 Bertie County, North Carolina: matched a Todd family from Bradford, Yorkshire.
3. Family of William Todd d 1820 Horry Co SC and James Todd 1765-1823 of Prince Georges and Dinwiddie Co, Virginia and related families matched a Todd family going back to John Todd b 1736 Scarborough, Yorkshire.
4. Family of Thomas Todd d1677 Anne Arundel County Maryland matched a family going back to William Todd b 1696 Barton-Upon-Humber, Lincolnshire (and possibly back to 1550)
5. Family of James Todd d 1772 East Nottingham Twp, Chester County, Pennsylvania matched the family of William Todd b 1801 County Armagh moved to Ontario, the family of William Todd 1762-1843 of Salter’s Grange, County Armagh and nearly matched the family of William Todd born 1758 Haydon Bridge, Northumberland County.
See elsewhere for more detail on the Northern England DNA project.
There were only a couple of areas where there was a “regional pattern” to the Todd DNA.
1. In Cumberland County, there were Todds with matching DNA in several towns: Whitehaven, Hensingham, Wigton, Dacre, Greystoke. This was the pattern that matched the Todds of Rowley Massachusetts.
2. In Lancashire County, there was a Todd family in North Meols and one in Extwistle that matched each other.
There were three matches that reflected migration within Northern England.
1. The family of Andrew Todd b 1823 Deane, Lancashire matched the family of Phillip Todd b 1758 Knarsdale, Northumberland County.
2. The family of James Todd 1788-1842 Leppington, Yorkshire matched the family of Thomas Todd b 1820s near Hull
3. The family of John Todd b1809 Thirsk, Yorkshire matched the Cumberland County Todds and the Rowley Massachusetts Todds.
The rest of the 13 Todd families sampled matched no other Todds:
1. Samuel Todd b 1780 Bardney, Lincolnshire
2. Joseph Todd 1779 Boston , Lincolnshire, England
3. George b 1819 West Halton, Lincolnshire
4. Thomas Todd b 1783 Bishop Wilton, Yorkshire
5. William Todd b 1750 Batley, Yorkshire
6. James Joseph Todd b 1770 Yarm Yorkshire
7. Abraham Todd b 1805 Hedon, Yorkshire
8. John Todd b 1786 Brantingham, Yorkshire
9. William Todd b 1837 Seacroft, Yorkshire, England md Sarah Ann Mitchell
10.
William Todd b 1822-24 Haworth, Yorkshire or
William Todd b 1692 Leathley
11. William Todd b 1770 Bebside, Northumberland
12. William Todd b 1756 Monkwearton, Durham
13. Isaac Todd 1814 Ousby, Cumberland d 1886 Wigton Cumberland
As can be seen by the lists above, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire were the most densely sampled; Northumberland and Durham the least densely sampled. We were unable to find lineages on Ancestry.com that both (1) led back to an early resident of those latter counties AND (2) had a living descendant willing to participate in the project.
Further sampling of the Todds of England, especially Durham and Northumberland that have limited sampled, is needed to make more links between the Todds of America, Canada, and Ireland and their ancestral homes in northern England.
Though most Todds of England lived in the north, there were Todds that were early residents of the counties of southern and midlands England as well. A special study focused on the Todds of those more southern regions would be very worthwhile!
Here is a listing of all the families sampled in this and recent studies:
Yorkshire:
1. Seacroft: Walter Todd b 1837
2. Scarborough: John b 1734,
3. Bishop Wilton: Thomas b 1783
4. Leppington: James Todd b 1781
5. Hedon: Abraham Todd b 1806 Hedon
6. Batley/Rothwell: William Todd b 1750 Batley
7. Yarm: James Joseph Todd b 1770
8. Thirsk: John todd b 1809
9. Brantingham: John Todd 1786 Brantingham
10. Bradford: Walter Todd 1790-1820 d Bradford
11. Otley: William Todd b 1822 Haworth and possibly William Tod b 1692 Leathley of Otley
Lincolnshire
1. Samuel Todd b 1780, Bardney Lincolnshire
2. George b 1819 West Halton, Lincolnshire
3. Joseph Todd b 1779, Boston, Lincolnshire:
4. William Todd b 1696 Barton upon Humber:
Lancashire
1. Robert Todd b 1759 North Meols, Lancashire
2. Henry Todd b 1734 Extwistle
3. Andrew Todd md 1823 Deane
Cumberland
1. Wigton: Joseph Aston Todd b 1816 Wigton
2. Dacre: Thomas Todd b 1787
3. Greystoke: John Todd b 1786 Greystoke
4. Penrith: William Todd b 1816 Penrith, (Kit not returned)
5. Ousby: Isaac Todd b 1814 (previously sampled)
6. Hensingham: William Todd b 1818
Durham
1. Monkwearmouth: William Todd b 1756, Neil Todd
2. South Shields: Alexander Todd b Alnwick, md 1817 Tynemouth
3. Redmarshall: Ralph Todd b 1738, Didn’t complete recruitment
Northumberland
1. William Todd b 1770 Bebside, Northumberland:
2. William Todd b 1758 Haydon Bridge
3. Philip Todd md 1758 Knarsedale
Suffolk
1. Wilby: Robert Todd 1670 or 1652