Rose Codd

Biography contributed by Kate Jordan.

Rose Codd is the only woman from Inglewood, Taranaki to sign the Carpenter petition. (Other Inglewood women may have signed other petitions, but these have not survived). Rose’s position on the petition between her sister-in-law, Jane Clark, and Jane’s mother Mary Epping, indicates that she was staying with family in Normanby when the petition was circulated.

Rose was the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Clark, born about 1866 in England. Her family lived in Lincolnshire until Rose was six. On 24 November 1875, Rose, her parents and four siblings boarded the Hurunui and sailed to New Plymouth, arriving on 23 February 1876. Little is known about Rose’s early life in New Plymouth.

When Rose was nineteen, she married Henry John Codd. Rose was working as a domestic servant, while Henry had a farm near Inglewood. Like the Clarks, Henry was also from Lincolnshire and had arrived on the same ship, so perhaps they knew each other. Three daughters followed the marriage: Violet in 1890, Daisy Beatrice in 1892, and Gladys in 1893.

In 1893, when Rose signed the petition, the Codds were farming in Upper Dudley Road, Inglewood, near the intersection with Bedford Road. Inglewood was still a new, rather small village at this time; in that year, Rose’s husband wrote a letter to the editor complaining about jury service. He described the roads as ‘most disgraceful’ and outlined the difficulties of getting to New Plymouth.[1] 

Despite these challenges, Rose still travelled to Normandy in 1893. The only aspect currently known about this trip is that Rose was probably visiting her brother Charles and his new wife Jane Epping. It is not known whether her husband and children went with her, or even if Gladys had been born yet. Rose and her possible companions probably caught the train from Inglewood to Normanby.

It is highly likely that the petition was brought to the house where Rose was visiting by Francis Job Gane. Francis circulated the petition around Normandy in his gig, reaching rural women who might not have been able to vote otherwise. He also witnessed illiterate woman making their mark on the petition, which can be seen on the page Rose signed.

Interestingly, Rose did not register to vote in the 1893 election, but then neither did her husband. Perhaps they were busy following the birth of Gladys. Henry is enrolled the following year, but Rose is not on the roll until 1896.

In 1895 Rose had another daughter, May, but she only lived for 15 days.

Like most women on the petition, little can be known about Rose personally. The only mention of her in Paperspast is as the winner of ‘Homemade wine’ and runner up for ‘Oven made’ at the Inglewood Horticultural Show.^[2]

Henry died on the 17 July 1944. Rose passed away on 20 November 1962. They are both buried in the Hamilton East Cemetery.    

Sources

BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org 
Papers Past  https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Ancestry.com  https://www.ancestry.com.au