William Coddington III

William Coddington III
William Coddington III
	Portrait of Coddington by Thomas Mathewson after Nehemiah Partridge, 1857
Speaker of the House of Deputies of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
	In office; May 1726 – October 1726
Preceded by	Thomas Frye
Succeeded by	Jeremiah Gould
	In office; October 1724 – October 1725
Preceded by	Thomas Frye
Succeeded by	Thomas Frye
	In office; May 5, 1724 – May 6, 1724
Preceded by	Thomas Frye
Succeeded by	William Wanton
	In office; October 1722 – February 1723
Preceded by	William Wanton
Succeeded by	Thomas Frye
Personal details
Born	July 15, 1680; Newport, Rhode Island
Died	1755 (aged 74–75); Newport, Rhode Island
Relations	William Coddington (grandfather); William Coddington Jr. (uncle)
Parent(s)	Nathaniel Coddington; Susanna Hutchinson

William Coddington (July 15, 1680 – 1755) was a colonial American politician and merchant.

Early life

Coddington was born on July 15, 1680, in Newport in what was then the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.^[1] He was the son of Susanna (née Hutchinson) Coddington and Maj. Nathaniel Coddington (1653–1723).^[2] Among his siblings were Anne Coddington (wife of the Rev. Samuel Niles) and Nathaniel Coddington (who married Hope Brown).^[3]

His paternal grandparents were William Coddington, the first Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and a founder of Newport,^[4] and his third wife, Anne Brinley (the daughter of Thomas Brinley and Anna (née Wase) Brinley). His uncle, William Coddington Jr., also served as Governor from 1683 to 1685. His maternal grandparents were Edward Hutchinson (a son of William and Anne Hutchinson) and Katherine (née Hamby) Hutchinson.^[3]

Career

Coddington was a prominent merchant in Newport.^[1] From 1717 to 1718, he was Major for the Island and from 1719 to 1720, Lt. Col. of the regiment of the militia for the Island.^[5]

A member of the House of Deputies, he served as Speaker of the House at four different times between 1722 and 1726.^[6] From 1734 to 1735, he was one of the four Justices in the Court of Common Pleas for Newport County.^[5]

Personal life

On November 12, 1700, Coddington was married to Content Arnold (1680–1721), a daughter of Benedict Arnold Jr. and Mary (née Turner) Arnold.^[3] Her paternal grandfather was English born Benedict Arnold, president and then governor of the Colony of Rhode Island. Content's brother, Benedict Arnold III, married Hannah Waterman King and was the father of Gen. Benedict Arnold (notorious today for his treason during the American Revolutionary War). Together, William and Content were the parents of:^[7]

Susannah Coddington (b. 1708), who married John Oulton in 1726.^[7]
William Coddington IV (1710–1780), who married Penelope Goulding, a daughter of George Goulding, in 1737.^[7]^[8]
Edward Coddington (b. 1712)^[5]
Thomas Coddington (1715–1736), who died unmarried.^[7]
Nathaniel Coddington (1717–1744), who died unmarried.^[7]
Arnold Coddington (1718–1742), who died unmarried.^[7]

After her death in 1721, he married Jeanne Bernon (1696–1752) in Providence, Rhode Island on October 11, 1722.^[7] She was a daughter of wealthy French Huguenot merchant Gabriel Bernon and Esther (née LeRoy) Bernon.^[9] Jeanne had been born in La Rochelle, France and her father had helped establish the Cathedral of St. John in Providence.^[10] Together, they were the parents of:^[11]

Content Coddington (b. 1724)^[7]
Esther Coddington (b. 1727)^[7]
John Coddington (b. 1728)^[7]
Jane Coddington (b. 1720)^[7]
Francis Coddington (b. 1732)^[7]
Annie Coddington (b. 1734)^[7]

Coddington died in 1755 in Newport.^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b "Brown University Portrait Collection: CODDINGTON, WILLIAM (1680-1755)". library.brown.edu. Brown University. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ Updike, Wilkins (1907). A History of the Episcopal Church in Narragansett, Rhode Island: Including a History of Other Episcopal Churches in the State. D.B. Updike. p. 398. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Arnold, James Newell (1893). Vital Record of Rhode Island: 1636-1850 : First Series : Births, Marriages and Deaths : a Family Register for the People. Narragansett Historical Publishing Company. p. 19. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ Kimball, Hoke P.; Henson, Bruce (29 March 2017). Governor's Houses and State Houses of British Colonial America, 1607-1783: An Historical, Architectural and Archaeological Survey. McFarland. p. 398. ISBN 978-1-4766-2593-5. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Austin, John Osborne (1969). The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island: Comprising Three Generations of Settlers who Came Before 1690, with Many Families Carried to the Fourth Generation. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-8063-0006-1. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ Manual with Rules and Orders for the Use of the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island. Providence Press Company. 1873. p. 106. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m The Arnold Memorial: William Arnold of Providence and Pawtuxet, 1587-1675, and a Genealogy of His Descendants. Tuttle Publishing Company. 1935. p. 88. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ Brayton, Alice (1960). The Burying Place of Governor Arnold: An Account of the Establishment, Destruction, and Restoration of the Burying Place of Benedict Arnold, First Governor of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations : Published in Honor of a Descendant of Governor Arnold, John Howard Benson, who Supervised the Restoration of the Arnold Gravestones and Presented the Graveyard to the Preservation Society of Newport. Privately printed. p. 57. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ Loughrey, Mary Ellen (1944). France and Rhode Island, 1686-1800. King's Crown Press. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-0-231-91200-6. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ "The star of La Rochelle being the true story of the life of Esther Leroy wife of Gabriel Bernon 1652-1710". www.abaa.org. Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island: Genealogical Records and Historical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and of Many of the Old Families ... J.H. Beers & Company. 1908. p. 2026. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ The Founders: Portraits of Persons Born Abroad who Came to the Colonies in North America Before the Year 1701. Boston Athenaeum. 1919. p. 557. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

External links

William Coddington portrait, 1843, by Charles Bird King, at the National Portrait Gallery

[brown-1] "Brown University Portrait Collection: CODDINGTON, WILLIAM (1680-1755)". library.brown.edu. Brown University. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[Updike1907-2] Updike, Wilkins (1907). A History of the Episcopal Church in Narragansett, Rhode Island: Including a History of Other Episcopal Churches in the State. D.B. Updike. p. 398. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[Arnold1893-3] Arnold, James Newell (1893). Vital Record of Rhode Island: 1636-1850 : First Series : Births, Marriages and Deaths : a Family Register for the People. Narragansett Historical Publishing Company. p. 19. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[Kimball2017-4] Kimball, Hoke P.; Henson, Bruce (29 March 2017). Governor's Houses and State Houses of British Colonial America, 1607-1783: An Historical, Architectural and Archaeological Survey. McFarland. p. 398. ISBN 978-1-4766-2593-5. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[Austin1969-5] Austin, John Osborne (1969). The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island: Comprising Three Generations of Settlers who Came Before 1690, with Many Families Carried to the Fourth Generation. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-8063-0006-1. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[Manual1873-6] Manual with Rules and Orders for the Use of the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island. Providence Press Company. 1873. p. 106. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[Arnold1935-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m The Arnold Memorial: William Arnold of Providence and Pawtuxet, 1587-1675, and a Genealogy of His Descendants. Tuttle Publishing Company. 1935. p. 88. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[Brayton1960-8] Brayton, Alice (1960). The Burying Place of Governor Arnold: An Account of the Establishment, Destruction, and Restoration of the Burying Place of Benedict Arnold, First Governor of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations : Published in Honor of a Descendant of Governor Arnold, John Howard Benson, who Supervised the Restoration of the Arnold Gravestones and Presented the Graveyard to the Preservation Society of Newport. Privately printed. p. 57. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[Loughrey1944-9] Loughrey, Mary Ellen (1944). France and Rhode Island, 1686-1800. King's Crown Press. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-0-231-91200-6. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[abaa-10] "The star of La Rochelle being the true story of the life of Esther Leroy wife of Gabriel Bernon 1652-1710". www.abaa.org. Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[11] Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island: Genealogical Records and Historical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and of Many of the Old Families ... J.H. Beers & Company. 1908. p. 2026. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[Founders1919-12] The Founders: Portraits of Persons Born Abroad who Came to the Colonies in North America Before the Year 1701. Boston Athenaeum. 1919. p. 557. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

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