Clara Margaret Codd (10 October 1876 – 3 April 1971) was a British writer, suffragette, socialist feminist, and

theosophist Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

. She went to jail for the

suffragettes A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to member ...

and then devoted her life to the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century C ...

Life

Codd was born in

Bishops Tawton Bishop's Tawton is a village and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. It is in the valley of the River Taw, about three miles south of Barnstaple. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,176. Des ...

at Pill House in 1876. She was the first child of Henry Frederick Codd and Clara Virginia (née Botto) Codd. She had nine siblings and she was taught at home by a fair number of governesses. At the age of fifteen she became an atheist. After her father's death the family moved to Geneva where Codd herself worked as a governess, a costume model and she travelled to play the violin and piano. She was converted to

Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

after hearing the first President of the

Henry Steel Olcott Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (2 August 1832 – 17 February 1907) was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer, Freemason and the co-founder and first president of the Theosophical Society. Olcott was the first well-known American of Euro ...

, give a talk in Geneva.Heloise Brown, "Codd, Clara Margaret (1876–1971)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, September 201
accessed 30 October 2017
/ref> Codd planting tree with Annie Kenney and Florence Canning on 25 April 1909 at Eagle House">Florence_Canning.html" ;"title="Annie Kenney and Florence Canning">Annie Kenney and Florence Canning on 25 April 1909 at Eagle House In 1903 she was in the UK when she joined the Theosophical Society and in 1907 she also joined the militant Women's Social and Political Union. Aeta Lamb asked her to help organise a visit by

Christabel Pankhurst Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, (; 22 September 1880 – 13 February 1958) was a British suffragette born in Manchester, England. A co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), she directed its militant actions from exil ...

and

Annie Kenney Ann "Annie" Kenney (13 September 1879 – 9 July 1953) was an English working-class suffragette and socialist feminist who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union. She co-founded its first branch in London with Minni ...

and the following year she was the elected secretary of the WSPU branch in Bath. Nearby was the home of

Mary Blathwayt Mary Blathwayt (1 February 1879 – 25 June 1961) was a British feminist, suffragette and social reformer. She lived at Eagle House in Somerset. This house became known as the "Suffragette's Rest" and contained a memorial to the protests of ...

who was another suffragette. Her parents lived at Eagle House in Batheaston. Nearly all the prominent British suffragettes visited the house and Codd would stay over and sleep with

. Codd was arrested on 13 October 1908 outside the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

after

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...

and

Flora Drummond Flora McKinnon Drummond (née Gibson) (born 4 August 1878, Manchester – died 17 January 1949, Carradale), was a British suffragette. Nicknamed 'The General' for her habit of leading Women's Rights marches wearing a military style uniform 'wit ...

had been arrested for organising "the rush" on parliament. It was the day that parliament was debating the "Women's Enfranchisement Bill". 60,000 people attended the event and she was one of the 37 people arrested. She was sentenced to a month in prison. Christabel Pankhurst was keen to find her a job but Codd refused the offer. In 1909 she planted a tree at Eagle House. She appeared to then drift away from the group. She worked briefly as a teacher before she became more involved with the Theosophical Society. She then went to their headquarters in Adyar in India for two years. Codd never left this work as she lectured for the society around the world for the rest of her life. Codd died in Heatherwood Hospital in 1971.

Works

* ''On Lecturing'' (1921) * ''So Rich a Life'' (1951) * ''The Way of the Disciple'' (1964) * ''The Mystery of Life'' (1963) * ''Trust your Self to Life'' (1968)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Codd, Clara 1876 births 1971 deaths People from North Devon (district) 20th-century British women writers British Theosophists British socialist feminists Eagle House suffragettes