Born at Blencow, Cumberland, about 1658, he was son of Thomas Todd, rector of Hutton in the Forest, who was ejected by parliamentary sequestrators and imprisoned at Carlisle.
[1] In 1684 Todd became vicar of Kirkland in Cumberland, but resigned the charge on being installed a prebendary of the see of Carlisle on 4 October 1685.
In 1685 he was collated to the vicarage of Stanwix in the same county, which he resigned in 1688, on becoming rector of Arthuret, presented by Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston.
For this conduct he was first suspended and then excommunicated by Nicolson, but continued to officiate in his parish as priest, ignoring the bishop's action.
[1] The bishops were alarmed by Todd's rejection of episcopal authority, and a bill was passed in parliament in 1708 as the Cathedral Act, to establish their rights of visitation more firmly.
The following day Sir James Montague, a Member of Parliament for Carlisle, held a dinner for Nicolson and Todd, at which they were reconciled.
[1] His Cumbrian manuscripts were used by Walter Fletcher for his Diocesan Book, published in 2015 by the Surtees Society.