CLOTWORTHY SODEN (1736 -1814)
This man strikes one as being indeed a controversial character. The name Clotworthy came from his maternal grandfather, Clotworthy Gowan, and appears periodically in the family till the 1900’s. He became a protestant clergyman ,the only one as far as I know among the Irish Sodens and an avid government supporter in his parishes as detailed by the Rebellion Papers. He had one son,Clotworthy ,who died young at 22.
The unkind remarks of the duke of Bristol about Clotworthy give some indication of his standing among his contemporaries though the Torrens/Soden friction may go back to an earlier association between the two families in 1777 as church wardens in St.John’s Abbey,Sligo. Clotworthy Snr. is buried at Kilcronaghan cemetery in accordance with the demands of his will. Major George Wensley Clotworthy Soden is the last person to bear the name
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GEORGE WENSLEY CLOTWORTHY SODEN , (1873 – 1929)
1903
Records of the Colonial Office in the
PRO,Kew,England.
CO/700/GOLD COAST 50
Map of the Western Frontier between the Gold Coast and French West Africa,
By the Boundary Commission, 1901-03.
English Members : Major Watherston, Captain des Voeux, R.E. , Captain Soden, R.M. Fus.
French members: M. Delafosse ,le Capitaine Bouvet ,le Lieu
[Father of GWC Soden at Dunlaoire Harbour with a friend]
Profile of
Major George Wensley Clotworthy Soden
Special Reserve of Officers and Provincial Commissioner of Ashanti
1873 Born in Dublin,Ireland.
1894/5 Joined 3rd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers as Second Lieutenant
1895/4 Promoted Lieutenant
1895/9 Obtained the Hythe Extra Cerificate Musketry
1897/8 Promoted to Captain
1898/4 Obtained the P.S.Certificate
Attached to the following Regiments;
2nd North Staffordshire Regiment
1894-99 1st. Yorkshire Light Infantry
Welsh Regiment
Durham Light Infantry
King’s Liverpool Regiment
1899/5 Musketry Instructor to the 3rd Battalion Munster Fusiliers
1899/7 Inspector in the Gold Coast Constabulary
1900/9 Appointed the Travelling Commissioner of the Gold Coast Colony
1900/10-12 Commissioner of British Gaman
During the Ashanti Campaign of 1900 he was O(fficer) C(ommanding) British Gaman Detachment and held the only independent command of troops in Ashanti from that of Major-General Sir James Wilcox K.G.M.G. who commanded the Ashanti Field Force.
Granted the Ashanti Medal
1901/11-1903/5 Appointed one of the British Commissioners on the British/French Boundary Commission
1904/1-9 Commissioner of Ester Akin & Ewahu
1904/9-1905/4 Commissioner of Southern Ashanti
1905/11-1906/4 Delimited the boundary between the Gold Coast Colony and Ashanti
1906/4 Appointed Provincial Commissioner of Ashanti
1909/12 Temporarily retired.
Major G.W.C.Soden was seconded from the 3rd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers for Colonial Employment in July 1899 for a period of 5 years,and was again seconded in July,1904 for a further period of five years. He was transferred to the Special Reserve of Officers in September 1908 and was promoted to the rank of Major in March,1909.
He died 1929/10/4 and is buried in Deansgrange Cemetery,Dublin, plot F92.
[ Picture on the right: – Terence Soden, son of GWC Soden and direct descendant of Clotworthy Soden of Londonderry reading to Kristina and Carla Soden on his visit to our home in June 2000 with his wife, Jean, for the Soden Reunion in Sligo.]
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Felix Soden. All rights reserved.