CONDRANs in New South Wales

As I have previously remarked, today most CONDRANs (with an "A"!) in the world are to be found in the USA, Australia and Canada. That of course is due in part to migration, and in large part to the vagaries of which genealogical branches have led to prolific offspring.

To judge by the activity on the Condran Clan Facebook group, most Australian CONDRANs today desend from a single ancester who arrived in New South Wales (NSW) from Ireland in the first half of the nineteenth century. That patriarch is Michael CONDRAN, who was born in about 1812 in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland, and who died in Wollombi, NSW in 1882. He married Mary Ann HANLEY in 1848: Mary Ann was born in about 1822 in County Tipperary, Ireland. Michael CONDRAN's parents are recorded as Patrick CONDRAN and Julia O'CONNELL.

Michael and Mary Ann appear to have had about ten children, born between about 1848 and 1867. Amongst them were three sons who had large families. Thomas Henry CONDRAN (1854-1911) married Ellen Winifred O'HERAN (or possibly O'HERAU) in 1876 in Maitland, NSW, and had four children, Frederick W. (b. 1877), Edwin Thomas (b. 1878), Albert Clarence Clive (b. 1880), and Gertrude (b. 1885). Michael (1856-1918) married Christina B. KERR in Wollombi, NSW, and had six children that I am aware of: Agnes Ruthina (b. 1884), Vincent Peter (b. 1886), Elizabeth Mary (b. 1888), Catherine (b. 1890),  Hyacinth (b. 1893), and Michael Hugh (b. 1895). Joseph Andrew CONDRAN (1862-1930) married Clara Jane MONNOX in 1887 in Wollombi, NSW, and appears to have had twelve children: Andrew John (b. 1888), Ernest Thomas (b. 1890), Millicent (b. 1890), Edward Albert Charles (b. 1892), Alfred George (b. 1895), Mary (b. 1898), Sabina (b. 1900), Frederick Arthur (b. 1905), Emma (b. 1907), William Joseph, Charles, and Henry Daniel ("Jim").

When, how, and why did Michael CONDRAN arrive in Australia? Ancestry.com's "New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1790-1849" show three possible Michaels arriving in the early nineteenth century. Two of them appear to have birth dates that are too early and do not fit with the other available evidence: Michael CONDRON who arrived aboard the "Lord Sidmouth" in 1821, aged 35, and Michael CONDRON who arrived about the "John Barry" in the same year, aged 24. The most likely candidate in my view is Michael CONRAN, who arrived aboard the "Royal Admiral" in 1833, aged 21 (and hence born about 1812). Michael CONRAN and fellow transportees Michael MANNING (aged 30) and Owen HUNT (aged 24) were tried in County Westmeath, Ireland, in July 1832 of stealing two powder horns and convicted to transportation for seven years. According the ship's records, Michael CONRAN was 5 feet 7 inches tall and had blue eyes, brown hair and a "fresh" complexion.

If you have additional information about these Australian CONDRANs or can correct any of the above information, I would be pleased to hear from you!

Sources for this information quoted here include Ancestry.com, postings by fellow researchers at the Condran Clan Facebook group, and the birth, marriages and deaths records for New South Wales available at www.bdm.nsw.gov.au .