Cardiff CONDR*Ns: Descendants of William CONDREN and Jane NEWTON

Wales (dark green) and the rest of the United Kingdom (light green)

From the start of civil registration in 1838 until 1900, there are 24 CONDR*N births registered in the whole of Wales, 17 marriages, and 5 deaths. Perhaps one would have expected more, given the proximity of Wales to Ireland.

One family accounts for three quarters of all these births, marriages and deaths. That family lived in Cardiff.

William CONDREN married Jane NEWTON on September 8th, 1849, at the church of St. Mary the Virgin,  Cardiff. On their marriage certificate, William stated that his father was John CONDREN, a housesmith (presumably someone who builds houses), and William himself was a sailor. I have not unambiguously identified John, but there are a handful of John CONDR*Ns fathering children called William in Ireland in roughly the right time period.

William and Jane had at least six children: David (born 1850), Mary Jane (1854), Elizabeth (1857), Catherine (1859), Anne (1862) and Bridget Alice (1869). All six were baptised in Cardiff: Bridget at St. Peter’s church, the others at St. David’s.

David married Sarah ROSSER in 1870. That same year, tragedy struck the larger family when Jane (Newton) CONDREN died. In the census of 1871 the following year, Mary Jane, Elizabeth, Catherine and Bridget Alice are all found living in a house where Mary is described as “housekeeper”; while Ann(e) is living in a different household where she is described as “cousin”. Quite likely, William was away at sea.

In the following decade, Mary Jane married Joseph PETERSON in 1873; Elizabeth married David John GREGORY in 1875; Catherine married James FLYNN in 1879; and Anne married John COAKLEY in 1878; all in Cardiff. In the census of 1881, Bridget is living in the household of her married sister Elizabeth and brother-in-law David GREGORY, as is Mary Jane whose husband Joseph PETERSON is away at sea. Bridget Alice married someone as yet unknown, in 1887.

Are there living descendants of this family still bearing the name of CONDREN? It seems likely. David and Sarah had at least eight children: Rosavena (1872), Mary Jane (1875), Laurence (1877), William (1883), David (about 1885), Albert (1887), Arthur (1890) and Violet (about 1891). David married a Florence SMITH in 1910, but Florence died the following year. I believe David subsequently married a Rose TARBET in 1921.

I would be interested to hear from any descendants of this family or from any other Welsh CONDR*Ns. As usual, please send comments or corrections to condran[AT]one-name.org .