Torode Family information

Hello Forum,

The Torode family is one of Guernsey's oldest. They have lived on the Island for over a thousand years. Here are some interesting Torode facts.

There were members of the Torode family amonst William the Conquerors army when it invaded England and met King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in the year 1066.

The old Norse spelling of the name appears on the Bayeux Tapestry which celebrates Williams victory. The tapestry tells the story of the events leading up to, and the battle itself. On plate five Duc William sends two messengers to Count Guy de Ponthieu to elicit the release of Harold Godwinson, who was being held for ransom. One of the figures is named as Turold. This is the old Norse spelling of Thoraude (Torode).

The original spelling of the name was Thoraude, which comes from the Viking Norse word meaning Thor's Man, or Thor's Right Arm. The first parish records of the family occur at a farm named Les Lorier in the parish of St Saviour. A Catechism Class that took place on 1565 had a pupil named Noel Thoraude. He is listed along with others on the class. Besides his name is states that he is the son of Jean Thoraude. As Noel was born circa 1550 it means that his father Jean would have been born circa 1520. This is long before parish records were began by King Henry VIII following his Reformation of the Church. Noel Thoraude had two brothers named Jean Thoraude and Nicolas Thoraude. These two men began the four main lines of descent that make up the whole Torode family world-wide. Nicolas Thoraude, who was born in 1553 married Marie Rougier. He died in 1601 and his gravestone is the oldest surviving headstone in the parish.

During the 1600's many of the clergy in Guernsey's parishes came over from England. The were semi literate with a smattering of French. This did not help them in trying to write the Island names in the parish registers. In Guernsiaise there is no TH sound, and so Thoraude was pronounced as Torode. These clergy wrote the names phonetically - as they heard them. So around the 1650's Thoraude became Torode. Many other old Island names suffered the same fate.

The Torode family, along with many others, had many family members who emigrated to destinations all over the world. One group left Guernsey in the year 1817 aboard the ship Racehorse skippered by Guernseyman Peter De Garis and headed for Baltimore in America. The family group was headed by Nicolas Torode and his second wife Rachel De La Mare. They bought a wagon and travelled hundreds of miles overland to Ohio. He was a Stonemason and he soon found work at Kenyon College which was under construction at the time under the direction of Bishop Philander. Three of the buildings at the college remain to this day as testament to the skill of these Guernseymen. With their wages, and from the money they had from the sale of their Guernsey homes, they bought 640 acres of land at Elmhurst, Illinois. It was a huge distance to travel. But Nicolas and his eldest son made the journey. They lived under canvas whilst building a log cabin. The only other inhabitants of the land were native Americans. Then they returned for the rest of the family. Once established they built a thirteen room stone mansion for the whole family to live in. The stone came from their own quarry, and the land also had a mill pond. The family lived on this land until 1959 when a new State Highway was driven right through their property. The woodland adjacent to the highway is still known as Frenchmans Wood. There are still many descendents living in the area today.

Did you know that every Torode in the world today can trace their ancestry back to Guernsey.

Another Torode emigration was that of William James Torode and his wife Sophia Gavet who went to Australia. From this one family came many of todays Australian Torode descendents. These include the famous celebrity Chef John Torode of MasterChef fame.

Today there are members of the family on every continent.

Why not post some intersting details of your Channel Islands family heritage.

Best Regards
Brian Torode