Eliza Rodd was the daughter of career soldier James Rodd. He fought with the 39th regiment in Canada during the Anglo-American war. The 39th was transferred to France, arriving shortly before the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815. While in France, he married Judith Joseph Baudelet and they had two children. The Regiment was stationed in Ireland from 1819 and then transferred to New South Wales in 1826. James and Judith Rodd brought their son to New South Wales, but left their four-year-old daughter Marie-Anne with her grandparents in Chamblain, France, as she was though too young to make the journey.