A Twist of Fate
At Waterstone's book shop we found a very courteous young man, about 18 or 19 years of age, who upon our request, supplied us with "the book". It was only a minute or two before we found a listing for COAD, one Anthony Coad of Coventry. We were ecstatic. However, we had a problem. We didn't know how to dial the local number, as there were eleven numbers listed, and here in the United States at that time, we only had to dial seven numbers to make a local call.
My wife asked the young man how to dial for a local connection. He asked, "which party are you trying to reach, Miss?" She then showed him the Anthony Coad listing we wanted to call. He the inquired, "are you sure that is the party you want to call?" "Yes, that that's the one", she replied. And with that he responded with, "Well, that's me Dad! And just what kind of trouble has he gotten himself into?
We had a good laugh and then explained we were tourist from the U.S. and were looking for long lost COAD relatives in Britain, and that put the lad at great ease, who then introduced himself as John Coad. We had a great conversation with John. He said his grandfather told stories to him of the COAD clan originating from Cornwall. He suggested Cornwall would be best place to start our search. It was truly ironic that of the millions of people in England, there we were standing face to face with a real live Coad. What are the odds?
When we left the book store and as we were walking back to the train station I vowed that when we got home to the U.S., I would find my Coad family origins. And so began my pursuit.
Finding my Roots
I spent many months researching and documenting my father, grandfather, and on back to my great, great, great grandfather, one William Coad/Coade, Sr., born 1787, a blacksmith of Bodmin, Cornwall.
I then started posting messages on internet genealogy websites. I had also attached additional unverified Coad families to my tree beyond William Sr. of Bodmin that turned out to be incorrect. Leaps of faith are great for frogs, but not for genealogy.
Coads of Cornwall
Then in the year 2000, Dr. Nigel COAD, MD, of Warwickshire, England found one of my messages seeking other Coad connections. When Nigel saw my family tree I had posted on rootsweb.com he recognized some of the names and contacted me via email.
Nigel and his dad, the late Charles Samuel COAD of Looe, Cornwall, had spent years researching their Coad family history. Nigel and I compared notes and he was able to link his Coad family to my William Coad, Sr. of Bodmin.
The documentary evidence proved that Nigel and I are direct 5th cousins, descending back to our most common ancestor, Samuel Coad, Sr. born 1720 St. Neot, Cornwall, and his father, Nicholas Coad, born between 1666-1675 in a Parish unknown to us.
Coad-List
The story doesn't end here, it is just the beginning. In July 2001, I became the administrator of the Coad Surname List on rootsweb.com. The Coad-List is a place to correspond as a group and exchange family information. I was joined by my new found cousin from England, Nigel Coad, and a possible cousin and fellow researcher, the late, Keith M. Abel, a retired geologist from Ontario, Canada. Our aim was to help others with their Coad family research and build a database of Coad families; to discover the true roots of the Coad clans.
Dr. Joe Flood of Melbourne, Australia
In January 2006, one Australia's most eminent statisticians, Dr. Joe FLOOD, PHD (his maternal grandmother was a Coad) joined our group at the COAD-LIST. Joe shared our dream of establishing a comprehensive database of Coad/Coode families to find our common ancestors. And Joe had the skill to construct a database and an keen analytical mind to sort out these groups.
The Coad Genealogy Team
Joe Flood and Nigel Coad have proven to be ardent researchers. Together they have spent thousands of hours collecting Coad family histories. These two men are the preeminent Coad family experts. Joe, through his own hard work, together with the cooperation of other Coad family researchers that have shared their data with him, has amassed the world's largest and most complete collection of Coad family history.
Coad-Coode One Name Study and DNA Project
In September of 2006 Joe Flood started the Coad/Coode DNA Project, using "Family Tree DNA", the largest and arguably the best family genetic DNA testing company. At the same time he established the official, Coad/Coode (and other variations of the name) One Name Study, with the Guild of One-Name Studies, in London, England.
Nigel and I have undergone DNA testing, and have a perfect match on our first 37 markers, so close as to be almost brothers. Others have joined us, and a picture of the Coad/Coode clans is emerging from this data. This story will continue, as more Coads/Coodes add their DNA profiles to the database.
At Waterstone's book shop we found a very courteous young man, about 18 or 19 years of age, who upon our request, supplied us with "the book". It was only a minute or two before we found a listing for COAD, one Anthony Coad of Coventry. We were ecstatic. However, we had a problem. We didn't know how to dial the local number, as there were eleven numbers listed, and here in the United States at that time, we only had to dial seven numbers to make a local call.
My wife asked the young man how to dial for a local connection. He asked, "which party are you trying to reach, Miss?" She then showed him the Anthony Coad listing we wanted to call. He the inquired, "are you sure that is the party you want to call?" "Yes, that that's the one", she replied. And with that he responded with, "Well, that's me Dad! And just what kind of trouble has he gotten himself into?
We had a good laugh and then explained we were tourist from the U.S. and were looking for long lost COAD relatives in Britain, and that put the lad at great ease, who then introduced himself as John Coad. We had a great conversation with John. He said his grandfather told stories to him of the COAD clan originating from Cornwall. He suggested Cornwall would be best place to start our search. It was truly ironic that of the millions of people in England, there we were standing face to face with a real live Coad. What are the odds?
When we left the book store and as we were walking back to the train station I vowed that when we got home to the U.S., I would find my Coad family origins. And so began my pursuit.
Finding my Roots
I spent many months researching and documenting my father, grandfather, and on back to my great, great, great grandfather, one William Coad/Coade, Sr., born 1787, a blacksmith of Bodmin, Cornwall.
I then started posting messages on internet genealogy websites. I had also attached additional unverified Coad families to my tree beyond William Sr. of Bodmin that turned out to be incorrect. Leaps of faith are great for frogs, but not for genealogy.
Coads of Cornwall
Then in the year 2000, Dr. Nigel COAD, MD, of Warwickshire, England found one of my messages seeking other Coad connections. When Nigel saw my family tree I had posted on rootsweb.com he recognized some of the names and contacted me via email.
Nigel and his dad, the late Charles Samuel COAD of Looe, Cornwall, had spent years researching their Coad family history. Nigel and I compared notes and he was able to link his Coad family to my William Coad, Sr. of Bodmin.
The documentary evidence proved that Nigel and I are direct 5th cousins, descending back to our most common ancestor, Samuel Coad, Sr. born 1720 St. Neot, Cornwall, and his father, Nicholas Coad, born between 1666-1675 in a Parish unknown to us.
Coad-List
The story doesn't end here, it is just the beginning. In July 2001, I became the administrator of the Coad Surname List on rootsweb.com. The Coad-List is a place to correspond as a group and exchange family information. I was joined by my new found cousin from England, Nigel Coad, and a possible cousin and fellow researcher, the late, Keith M. Abel, a retired geologist from Ontario, Canada. Our aim was to help others with their Coad family research and build a database of Coad families; to discover the true roots of the Coad clans.
Dr. Joe Flood of Melbourne, Australia
In January 2006, one Australia's most eminent statisticians, Dr. Joe FLOOD, PHD (his maternal grandmother was a Coad) joined our group at the COAD-LIST. Joe shared our dream of establishing a comprehensive database of Coad/Coode families to find our common ancestors. And Joe had the skill to construct a database and an keen analytical mind to sort out these groups.
The Coad Genealogy Team
Joe Flood and Nigel Coad have proven to be ardent researchers. Together they have spent thousands of hours collecting Coad family histories. These two men are the preeminent Coad family experts. Joe, through his own hard work, together with the cooperation of other Coad family researchers that have shared their data with him, has amassed the world's largest and most complete collection of Coad family history.
Coad-Coode One Name Study and DNA Project
In September of 2006 Joe Flood started the Coad/Coode DNA Project, using "Family Tree DNA", the largest and arguably the best family genetic DNA testing company. At the same time he established the official, Coad/Coode (and other variations of the name) One Name Study, with the Guild of One-Name Studies, in London, England.
Nigel and I have undergone DNA testing, and have a perfect match on our first 37 markers, so close as to be almost brothers. Others have joined us, and a picture of the Coad/Coode clans is emerging from this data. This story will continue, as more Coads/Coodes add their DNA profiles to the database.
In 2013 Joe Flood published a comprensive 703 page tome of the Coad-Coode clans. A book that every Coad-Coode household should have. Titled "UNRAVELIING THE CODE: THE COADS AND COODES OF CORNWALL AND DEVON" (see Coad/Coode Blog for info)
Copyright © 2010 - 2018 · Edwin E. Coad, III
All Rights Reserved
Casselberry, Florida
Last updated 5/3/2018
All Rights Reserved
Casselberry, Florida
Last updated 5/3/2018
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1666 - 2018
The Edwin E. Coad Family
Links:
A look at my Coad family history and associated
families, starting with our oldest found relative, Nicholas Coad of Saint Martin By Looe, Cornwall.
See this web site and learn how you may
correspond with other researchers of the Coad/Coade/Coode/Code surname.
.
Dr. Joe Flood, gives a historical perspecive on the
Coad and Coode Families of Cornwall.
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