Courtneidge or Courtnage/Courtnadge is a rare surname that originated near the tri-border of the English counties Surrey, Sussex, and Hampshire. The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland gives a vague description of the origin of the Courtnage surname. “English: locative name from a lost or as yet unidentified place, perhaps in SE England.” Only two variations of the surname are listed: Courtnage and Cortnage. The entry goes on to show distribution of Courtnage families in 1881, which is limited to Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey, and Middlesex.3
Notable individuals with the Courtneidge surname include the late actress Cicely Courtneidge and her brother Charles Courtneidge. Their father Robert Courtneidge was an actor and playwright who was born in Scotland in 1859. Robert’s father Charles Courtneidge, a Master Mariner, was born in Leatherhead, Surrey in 1825 to John Courtneidge and Ann Farr.
To get a more accurate estimate of the origin, I mapped out the locations of Courtneidge baptisms before 1800. These were obtained from the International Genealogical Index (IGI) on FamilySearch.org4 and Anglican Parish Register collections on Ancestry.com5, FindMyPast6, and the Sussex Online Parish Clerk.7 The 1841 and 1851 Census records give a better picture of the name’s origins than the 1881 Census the Oxford Dictionary used.
The map below shows the locations of available and surviving Courtneidge baptism records prior to 1800 (purple). The dark purple markers represent baptism records before 1700. Residence locations of Courtneidge families from the 1841 Census of England are shown in orange.8 The 1841 Census only recorded whether or not an individual was born in the county where they resided. It does not provide specific details for place of birth, so the two sets of data cannot be directly compared to one another. I included the following spelling variations: Courtneidge, Courtnadge, Cortnage, Courtenage, Courtnidge, Courtnedge.
Very early baptism records from the late 1500s through the 1600s in Chiddingfold, Godalming, and Farnham, Surrey recorded the name spelled Courtnish(e) and Courtnesh. Over time, the -ish(e) at the end of the name turned into -age, and later, -adge or -eidge.
It is clear from the map that the Courtneidge families all came from the region encompassing the Farnham and Godalming Hundreds in the southwestern part of Surrey, near the tri-county border with Hampshire and West Sussex. Earliest mentions of the name include a Johanne Courtenersch of Chiddingfold in the 1381 Poll Tax lists for Surrey;9 the will of Johannis Courtnish of Chiddingfold, Surrey, dated 16 Sep 1628;10 and John Cortinch of Northchapel, Sussex in the 1641 Protestation Returns for West Sussex.11
Protestation Returns, Northchapel, Sussex – John Cortinch
Northchappell, Decimo Tercio Die Februarii Anno Dom. 1641. A just true Note of all in this Parish of Northchappell that hath taken this Protestation without any resistance. In witnesse whereof we have here unto set our hands. Tho. Malor. Robart Wettenc & John Wyles, Churchwardens. Richard Stente and John Mills.11
The earliest Courtneidge ancestor on our branch of the family was John Courtnage. He was born in 175912 and very likely the child of John Courtnage and Sarah Bridger13 of Fernhurst, a small village in West Sussex. John Courtnage Sr. and Sarah Bridger were married on 5 Feb 1755 at St Margaret of Antioch, Fernhurst, Sussex. Their first child was Sarah Courtnage was baptized on 6 Mar 1757, followed by John Courtnage on 11 Nov 1759 at St Margaret of Antioch.
John Courtnage married Hannah Clifton on 3 Feb 1786 at St. Giles Church in Ashtead, Surrey.14 The first of their nine children, William, was born later that same year in Ashtead. The couple then settled in the nearby village of Leatherhead, where John worked as a bailiff.15 The Courtnage family first appears in the Surrey Land Tax records in 1802 for Leatherhead.16 Here they are renting from James Bushell, Esq. on land formerly occupied by the Stacey family, near the families Carter, Beard, Collis, Patterson, late Sheen’s land, and Shearly’s Back Close. In 1804, John Courtnadge is mentioned by his first name and now renting the same plot of land from James Sykes, Esq.17 John and Hannah’s eight children were baptized with the surname Courtnage, but most went on to use the spelling Courtneidge later in life.
St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Anglican Parish Church at Leatherhead, Surrey.18, 19
Children of John Courtnadge[Courtneidge] and Hannah Clifton of Leatherhead, Surrey
1. William Courtnage, 1786, baptized 24 Dec 1786 at St. Giles, Ashtead, Surrey.20 Died 1825, buried 20 Oct 1825 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey.21
2. Sarah Courtnage, b. 1789, baptized 19 Apr 1789 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey.22
3. John Courtnage, b. 1791, baptized 10 Jul 1791 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey.23 d. 1867, buried 12 Oct 1867 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey.24 Married Anne Farr 4 Feb 1815 at St. Mary, Newington, Southwark, England.25
3.1. Caroline Courtneidge (1815)
3.1. Mary Courtneidge (1818)
3.2. John Courtneidge (1820)
3.3. Anne Courtneidge (1822)
3.4. Charles Courtneidge (1825) * Father of Robert Courtnedge and Grandfather of Cicely Courtneidge
3.5. Ellen Courtneidge (1828)
3.6. Sophia Courtneidge (1832)
4. Thomas Courtnage, b. 1794, baptized 9 Feb 1794 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey.26 Died 1795, buried Jul 1795 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey.27
5. Reuben Courtnage, b. 18 Dec 1795, baptized 17 Jan 1796 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey.28 Died 1846, buried 7 Jan 1846 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey.29
6. Henry Courtnage, b. 23 Mar 1798, baptized 22 Apr 1798 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey.30 Died 1859, buried 20 Apr 1859 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey.31
7. James Courtnage, b. 1802, baptized 23 May 1802 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey.32 d. 1881, buried 17 Aug 1881 at St. Martin of Tours, Epsom, Surrey, England.33 Married Ann Reid about 1826.
7.1. Julia Courtneidge (1827)
7.2. James Courtneidge (1829)
7.3. Anne Courtneidge (1831)
7.4. Rosetta Courtneidge (1840)
7.5. Esther Courtneidge (1842)
7.6. William Courtneidge (1845)
8. Mary Ann Courtnage, b. 4 Aug 1804,34 baptized 4 Sep 1804 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey.35
8.1. Mary Elizabeth Courtneidge (1833)
9. Charles Courtnage, b. 28 Jun 1807, baptized 2 Aug 1807 at St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, Surrey, England,36 Died 24 Sep 1860 on the Upper Road to Richmond, Putney, Surrey37 and was buried 3 Oct 1860 at St. Mary, Putney, Surrey, England.38Married Sarah Watson (daughter of James Watson and Anne Copperthite) on 11 Jun 1838 at St. Mary, Lambeth, Surrey, England.39
9.1. Charles John Courtneidge (1839)
9.2. Reuben Henry Courtneidge (1840)
9.3. William James Courtneidge (1842)
9.4. Sarah Hannah Lucy Courtneidge (1844)
9.5. James Joseph Courtneidge (1847)
9.6. Henry Reuben Courtneidge (1849)
9.7. Elizabeth Courtneidge (1853)
9.8. Rosina Courtneidge (1853)
John died at the age of 74, and was buried at St. Mary and St. Nicholas in Leatherhead on 30 Oct 1831.40 Hannah followed two years later at the age of 66, and was buried with her husband on 20 Jan 1833.41
Charles Courtneidge, born in 1807, was the youngest of his siblings. He was my ancestor, the grandfather of my great-grandfather Alfred Ward. After the deaths of his parents, John and Hannah, Charles made his way up to Wandsworth. Here he appeared as a witness at Old Bailey on 15 Jun 1835, in the larceny trial of John Crutcher. Charles had purchased from him for one shilling a “duplicate of a hat.” John Crutcher had stolen the had that same day from James Morris, a bricklayer from Putney.42
JOHN CRUTCHER (15th June 1835 ) was indicted for stealing, on the 11th of June, 1 hat, value 2s.; and 1 box, value 2d.; the goods of James Morris.
JAMES MORRIS . I am a bricklayer’s labourer, and live at Putney in Surrey. On the 11th of June, I went into the fair-field at Wandsworth, where I had some swings at work—I gave the prisoner, who was with me, my jacket and waistcoat to hold—I told him there was a tobacco-box in the pocket which had a duplicate of a hat in it—he gave me the jacket back again without the box and duplicate—I went to the pawnbroker’s the next morning, and my hat had been fetched out….
CHARLES COURTERIDGE . I gave the prisoner one shilling for the duplicate of the hat, and went and got it.
GUILTY (Simple Larceny) of stealing the box. Aged 21.— Transported for Seven Years.
Charles met Sarah Watson, a shoemaker’s daughter from Chelsea. They were married on 11 Jun 1838 at St. Mary’s Church in Lambeth. Both listed their address as “New Cut.” Percy Cruikshank described the New Cut in his book Sunday Scenes in London.42
Between the Westminster Road, as marked by Astley’s Theatre, on the one side, and the Waterloo Road, marked by the Victoria, lies the region of the New Cut, Lambeth, in the heart of a colony of costermongers, roughs, thieves, with here and there a manufactory. The shops there are all carved out in the primitive style, with open fronts and bawling-touters, which appears to those who have never seen it, so picturesque and pleasing in the description of the two London apprentices in Scott’s “Fortunes of Nigel.”…With nothing worth losing in your pocket, you may venture down the New Cut on a Sunday morning. Police discipline has reduced the savages to a very decent state. The late drinkers are the Sunday marketers. The shopkeeping style is suited to the class addressed. The Sunday morning market combines both business and pleasure—it is a comic performance in which spectators take a part, and perhaps for rude ready wit, there is nothing like it out of the land.
On the previously discussed map above, which displays Courtneidge/Courtnadge locations in the 1841 Census, it is clear some of the families had begun migrating closer toward London to look for work. The northernmost orange marker is our branch of the Courtneidge family. Here Charles and Sarah Courtneidge were living at the edge of the River Thames on Barnes High Street with their sons Charles John and Reuben Henry. Sarah’s brother Joseph Watson, a recently widowed baker, was also living with the Courtneidges.43
Between 1841 and 1851, the Courtneidge family moved to Wimbledon where three more children, William, Sarah, and James were born. The family returned to Barnes in 1851 where their seventh child, Elizabeth was born.
The 1851 Census records recorded the Courtneidge family living in on the “Back Lane” by Barnes Terrace.45 The youngest child Elizabeth had not yet been named. Charles was still driving coaches, as his occupation was listed as “fly man.” A fly was a lightweight one-horse coach, the taxicab of that era. The photo at the very top of this page shows a fly-driver from the 1877 book ‘Street Life in London’ by John Thompson and Adolphe Smith. An excerpt from this section of the book reads: 46
Despite the traditional hoarse voice, rough appearance, and quarrelsome tone, cab-drivers are as a rule reliable and honest men, who can boast of having fought the battle of life in an earnest, persevering, and creditable manner.”
An excerpt from Mary Attwell’s “Childhood Memories of Barnes Village,” describes the Back Lane and the lives of the people living there in the 19th Century. The lane was later named Malthouse Passage due to its proximity to the malthouse next to the river.47
A narrow roadway led from The Terrace to Cleveland Gardens and the area known as the “Back of Terrace”…This had once divided the houses just mentioned from the ancient Barnes Malthouses. Several small adjoining houses led to the railway bridge. Beyond the bridge, a long alley skirted the railway and led to Westfields, the working class district of Barnes. The development of Back Lane began slowly in the early nineteenth century until by the middle years, it was crowded with cottages, stables and sheds all along the southern edge with a veritable warren of courts and alleys at the High Street end, the whole being airily dismissed as ‘the back of The Terrace’ or ‘the back lanes.’47
In the Ordnance Survey map above to the left, the location of “Back Lane” is visible next to the Malthouse that fronts Barnes Terrace. The larger view of the Ordnance Survey map to the right shows Barnes Terrace in relation to the Barnes Bridge over the River Thames.48 The Malthouse and Back Lane are at the corner northeast of the bridge and south of Barnes Terrace. The three-way intersection at the bottom of the map marks the point where Mortlake High Street meets Barnes Terrace, with White Hart Lane perpendicular to the two roads. Below on the left is a photo from June 2016 of that same intersection, looking from Mortlake toward Barnes Terrace. The Back Lane by Barnes High Street, now known as Malthouse Passage. It still exists as a narrow alley, shown in the photo below to the right.49
Children of Charles Courtneidge and Sarah Watson
8.1. Charles John Courtneidge, b. 17 Jan 1839, baptized 17 Feb 1839 at St. Mary’s, Barnes, Surrey, England.50 d. 1859, buried 29 Apr 1859 at All Saints Church, Wandsworth, Surrey, England.51
8.2. Reuben Henry Courtneidge, b. 1840, baptized 30 Aug 1840 at St. Mary’s, Barnes, Surrey.52 d. 1862, buried 15 Sep 1862 at St. Mary’s Putney, Surrey, England.53 Married Eliza Cook on 24 Dec 1859 at St. Paul’s Church, Hammersmith, Middlesex, England.54
8.2.1. Henry Courtneidge (1857)
8.3. William James Courtneidge, b. 11 Feb 1842, baptized 13 Mar 1842 at St. Mary’s Wimbledon, Surrey, England.55 d. 1855, buried 9 Jan 1855 at St. Mary the Virgin, Mortlake, Surrey.56
8.4. Sarah Hannah Lucy Courtneidge, b. 28 Apr 1844,57 baptized 26 May 1844 at St. Mary’s, Wimbledon, Surrey, England.58 d. 22 Mar 1928 at St. John’s Hill, Battersea, London, England.59 Married Thomas Ward (son of Thomas Ward and Mary Ann Maria Walters) on 5 Aug 1867 at St. Paul’s Church, Hammersmith, Middlesex, England.60
8.4.1. Thomas James Ward (1863-?)
8.4.2. Ellen Courtneidge Ward (1866-1866)
8.4.3. Mary Ann Ward (1868-1928)
8.4.4. Elizabeth Ward (1870-1949)
8.4.5. Charles Henry Ward (1873-1938)
8.4.6. Sarah Ward (1875-1876)
8.4.7. Henry Ward (1876-1954)
8.4.8. Emily Ward (1879-1970)
8.4.9. Alfred John Ward (1883-1953)
8.4.10. Rosina Ward (1886-1960)
8.4.11. John Ward (about 1886/88-1918)
8.4.12. George William Ward (1889-1954)
8.5. James Joseph Courtneidge, b. 1846, baptized 2 Aug 1846 at St. Mary’s Wimbledon, Surrey, England.61 d. in Lewisham, London, England.62 Married Annie Bridgeman on 28 Apr 1883 at St. Mary’s, Lewisham, Kent, England.63
8.5.1. Sarah Ann Courtneidge (1884)
8.5.1. Charles Reuben Courtneidge (1885)
8.5.1. James Henry Courtneidge (1887)
8.5.1. William George Courtneidge (1888)
8.5.1. Alfred James Courtneidge (1891)
8.6. Henry Reuben Courtneidge, b. 1849, baptized 16 Mar 1849 at St. Mary’s Wimbledon, Surrey, England.64 d. unknown.65 Married Jane Lipscomb on 7 Aug 1876 at St. Anne’s Church in Wandsworth, Surrey, England.66
Jane was the daughter of Henry Lipscomb and Harriet Stacey. She was born in 1857 in Wandsworth, and baptized on 31 Aug 1859 at All Saints Church in Wandsworth.
8.6.1. Rosina Martha Courtneidge (1877)
8.7. Elizabeth Courtneidge, b. 1851 at Barnes, Surrey, England.67 d. unknown.68 Married Robert Smith on 29 May 1882 at St. Mary’s, Summertown, Wandsworth.69
8.8. Rosina Courtneidge, b. 1853 at Barnes, Surrey, England.70 d. 6 Feb 1883 at Saginaw City, Saginaw, Michigan, USA.71 Married Alfred Ward (son of Thomas Ward and Mary Ann Maria Walters) on 21 Jul 1879 at St. John the Evangelist, Lambeth.72
8.8.1. Alfred Ernest Ward (1879-1953)
8.8.2. Charles James Ward (1880-1953)
8.8.3. Infant Boy Ward (1882-1883)
Charles and Sarah’s eighth and last child Rosina Courtneidge was born in Barnes in 1853. Two years later, 12 year-old William Courtneidge died in Mortlake, and was buried on 9 Jan 1855 at St. Mary the Virgin, Mortlake. Charles and Sarah’s oldest child, Charles John Courtneidge died in 1859. He was buried on 29 Apr 1859 at All Saints Church in Wandsworth. Charles Courtneidge Sr. was driving his fly on the Upper Road to Richmond in Putney on 24 Sep 1860. He died instantly and fell off the box of his fly. William Carter, the coroner for Surrey, held an inquest on 26th of September. He determined the cause of death to be apoplexy (a stroke).73
The Courtneidge family was scattered in the 1861 Census. I was not able to find Sarah Watson Courtneidge and her youngest children James, Henry, Elizabeth, and Rosina. Sarah Courtneidge was lodging at the home of James Weaver at Bell’s Cottages in Wandsworth, working as a needlewoman.74 She met and married Thomas James Ward, the son of Thomas Ward and Mary Ann Maria Walters. More on the family of Thomas James Ward and Sarah Hannah Lucy Courtneidge at: Thomas James Ward, distillery worker and builder’s labourer from Battersea
Reuben Henry Courtneidge joined the Navy in on 11 Sep 185475 and served until 13 Sep 1859.76 He was working as a carman in Putney in the 1861 Census, with his wife Eliza and 4 year-old son Henry Courtneidge .77 Reuben died the next year at the age of 22.
Rosina Courtneidge appears in the 1871 Census, working at a paper mill in Wandsworth.78 She married Alfred Ward on 21 Jul 1878 in Lambeth. Alfred was the son of Thomas Ward and Mary Ann Maria Walters, and brother of Sarah Courtneidge’s husband Thomas James Ward. Rosina and Alfred’s first child, Alfred Ernest Ward, was born 5 Jul 1879 in Battersea.79 Rosina and Alfred immigrated to America, arriving in New York on 22 Sep 1880.80 Rosina was six months pregnant. They settled in Saginaw City, Michigan, where their son Charles James Ward was born in on 26 Dec 1880.81 Rosina and Alfred had one more child, an infant boy who died on 15 Jan 1883 of croup.82 Rosina died three weeks later on 6 Feb 1883. Her obituary appeared in Saginaw City newspapers.83, 84 Alfred Ward remarried after Rosina’s death. His first child with his wife Helen Close was born on 22 Apr 1897. She was named after Rosina.85 More about Alfred Ward’s family can be found here: George Ward of Aston and Cote, Oxfordshire, brother of Thomas Ward?
Sarah Watson Courtneidge married widower William Thomas Parsons on 28 Mar 1869 at St. Mary Magdalen in Richmond, Surrey.86 After William’s death, Sarah worked as a charwoman in the Richmond Union workhouse in Surrey, where she appears in the 1881 Census.87 She died there on 10 Mar 1885 at the age of 66.88
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