The Book of Soden

The Sodens of Oxford, Jericho and Cutteslowe   1802 ? 2019

[All information on this branch of the Soden has come from the copious details of Nigel Dudley [     ]

The Oxford Mail 1960 and the grave inscriptions of the  Oxford Historical Society. ]

 The Sodens through all their branches have been involved in many different professions and trades.

Prominent in Ireland were farming and horticulture. In England horticulture , too, was common but the Church, Law, Medicine, the Military, both Army and Navy, Tanning, Abattoirs, Postal and the Chimney Sweep Business were the principle activities.

Nigel Dudleys  great grandfather, Leonard Soden, and Nigel?s grandfather were involved with horses and greyhounds in the Oxford area at the turn of the 20th century. Their most successful greyhound was Witney Glitters.

As a young boy Nigel went to the races with his grandfather and experienced the hustle and bustle of race ? going and often heard his grandfather making a bet on a horse by phone  in the coded language of the day, ?Hello, this is Smokey Two speaking?.

Leonard was interviewed by the Oxford Mail in the late 1960s where he recalls his involvement in  the racing, as well as the horse slaughtering, postal and chimney sweep business.

 1835 - 2019