7045 Private Thomas Denis CONDRON (1900 - 1918)

The Battle of Amiens, which began on 8 August 1918, was the opening phase of the so-called Hundred Days Offensive by the Allied forces. With a rapid gain of territory and the capture of some 50,000 German soldiers, it has been said that the Battle of Amiens marked the end of trench warfare in World War I and ultimately led to the end of the war with the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918.

Central to the action at the Battle of Amiens was the Fourth Army under General Henry Rawlinson, comprising 19 divisions of British, Australian and Canadian troops. By 11am on the first day of the battle alone, the Australians and Canadians had managed to advance some 3 miles as they attacked eastwards to the south of the River Somme starting in the area around Villers-Bretonneux, and by the end of the day had opened a gap some 15 miles wide in the German lines. One of the five Australian divisions involved in the Battle of Amiens was the 4th Division, of which the 45th Battalion was part.

Private Thomas Denis CONDRON (service no. 7045) was killed in action in the Battle of Amiens on 17 August 1918. The war ended 12 weeks later.

Thomas Denis CONDRON was born on 5 November 1900 in Mungindi which straddles the state line between Queensland and New South Wales.  He was the son of James and Jane (née DONALDSON) CONDRON.  When he enlisted in the army in September 1917 he gave his age as 18 years and 7 months, though according to my records he would have been only 16 years and 10 months, and only 17 years old when he was killed. On enlisting, he gave his occupation as colliery driver.

Thomas Denis's parents James CONDRON and Jane DONALDSON were married in Moree, New South Wales, on 10 February 1885. The couple had nine children that I know of: Charles James (born 1886), Annie Kathleen (1890), Agnes Mary (1892), Ivy Eileen (1895), Amy Jane (1898), Thomas Denis (1900). John Victor (1903), Ethel Jessie (1906) and Arthur William (1908). In 1911, Jane CONDRON got herself and all of the above children (except Charles James) baptised, at St. Mary's, Bingara, New South Wales. It is not clear whether James and Jane were still together at this time; when Thomas Denis enlisted in 1917 he gave his next-of-kin as his mother, who was by then living in Islington, Newcastle, New South Wales. 

Thomas Denis CONDRON embarked on the troop ship H.M.A.T. Nestor at Melbourne on 28 February 1918, arrived in England on 20 April. After spending some time in Codford, Wiltshire - where Australian and New Zealand (ANZAC) troops were accommodated prior to being deployed to France - he finally arrived in France at the end of July 1918. According to a report filed by his commanding officer, Sgt. S. Horton, he was shot by a sniper at Rozieres (I assume modern-day Rosières-en-Santerre) and died there. The report of his comrade, Private W. Bowater, gives the following information: "I saw him hit by two machine gun bullets in the stomach, at Villers Brettoneaux. He was carried out to the dressing station and died there. He was buried at the back of Villers Brettoneaux with a lot of other Australians. I saw his grave and a cross was erected with his particulars thereon."

Thomas Denis CONDRON is buried in the Fouquescourt British Cemetery, in northern France.  

After the war, first his married sister Agnes Mary PARKER and then his mother wrote to the military authorities asking for a photograph of Thomas Denis CONDRON's grave. It appears that their request was fulfilled, in June 1922, according to an annotation in his military record. 
 
This concludes my series of blog posts on CONDR*Ns killed in the First World War. To see my other blog posts about CONDR*Ns killed in the First World War, click on "First World War" in the Labels list on the right of the blog web page. 

Thomas Denis CONDRON was the last CONDR*N to be killed before the end of the war on 11 November 2018. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission includes another man, Thomas CONDRON, among the war dead although he died in 1920. I will post about him on a future occasion. 

Comments and corrections welcome, either by leaving a comment below or by email to me: CONDRAN[AT]ONE-NAME.ORG .  

3045 Private Humphrey CONDRAN (1893 - 1917)

The Battle of Messines was an offensive conducted by the British Second Army against the Germans near the village of Messines in West Flanders, Belgium. The objective was to capture the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge to the south of Ypres, which was in German possession and which threatened the south flank of the Allies-held Ypres salient. In preparation for the attack, British sappers dug tunnels and laid mines under the German front lines. The battle started early on the morning of 4 June 1917, the mines were detonated, British artillery began a creeping barrage of fire against the German defenses, and British tanks and infantry troops (including Australian and New Zealand forces) began the assault on the front lines.
The assault secured its objectives in the first twelve hours, and in the following days a German counter-offensive was resisted. The battle is generally reckoned to have been a tactical and operational success for the Allies. Nonetheless, by the end of battle on 14 June, casualties on each side amounted to about 25,000 men. The Allied losses included nearly 5,000 New Zealand casualties and 6,000 Australian casualties.
The Battle of Messines was a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, which began the following month.

Private Humphrey N. A. CONDRAN (service no. 3045) was killed in action on 9 June 1917 in the Battle of Messines.

Humphrey Neville Austin CONDRAN (his second name is variously recorded as Neville, Netherval and Netwille) was born in Bundarra, New South Wales, in 1893, the sixth child of Thomas Henry and Ellen Winifred (née O’HERAN or O’HERAU) CONDRAN. Humphrey ("Humpsy") was a stock inspector at the time he enlisted in the Australian Infantry, 25^th Battalion. He left Australia on the ship HMAT Itonus on 30 December 1915. At the time of his death, he was serving in the 47^th Batallion. Sergeant White of 47^th Battalion C Company reported, “Condran and Randall were both in my section XII platoon and were with Pte. T. Hara killed outright whilst on the advance at Messines going over to Owl Trench. They were killed by one shell and the pioneers buried them where they fell and erected crosses. I saw them killed.”

Humphrey’s father Thomas Henry CONDRAN was born in 1854, and died in 1911 in Murwillumbah, NSW. He was a policeman. He married Ellen Winifred O’HERAN in Maitland, NSW, in 1876. The couple had twelve children: Frederick (born 1877), Edwin Thomas (1878), Albert Clarence Clive (1880), Gertrude Jessie (1885), Pearl (1891), Humphrey Neville Austin (1893), Louis Osric (1895), Evelyn (1899), Dulcie (1902), Alma (1904), Victor (1908) and Roma Jean (1909).

Humphrey’s grandfather was Michael CONDRAN, who settled in Australia from Ireland. See CONDRANs in New South Wales.  

Humphrey CONDRAN is memorialized on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium.


For other blog posts about CONDR*Ns in the First World War, click on "First World War" in the Labels list on the right of the blog web page. Comments and corrections welcome, either by leaving a comment below or by email to me: CONDRAN[AT]ONE-NAME.ORG . 

 

3046 Private Hugh CONDRON (1890 – 1916)

For my earlier postings about the Battle of the Somme, including the Battle of Pozières, click here.

Private Hugh CONDRON (service no. 3046) was killed in action on 18 August 1916 in the fight for Pozières during the Battle of the Somme.

Hugh Hume CONDRON was born in Boorhaman, Victoria, Australia, in 1890. He was the son of John CONDRON and Anne Maria WRIGHT.  He married Maud Agnes HAMILL in 1912. The couple had three children: Harold, Alan Thomas and Gladys Evelyn. Hugh enlisted on Jul 27, 1915, in Melbourne. After first being assigned to the 4th Depot Battalion, he was eventually transferred to the 8th Battalion, Australian Infantry (Australian Imperial Force - AIF).

Hugh's father was John CONDRON, who was born about 1835 and died in 1908 in Wangaratta, Victoria. John married Anne Maria WRIGHT in 1864 and the couple had a number of children, including Isabela (born 1871), Elizabeth (1873), William (1876), Robert (1879), George (1881), Henry (1884), James (1887), Hugh Hume (1890) and Harold Reginald (1893). All of the above children were born in Wangaratta, Victoria, except for Isabella who was born in Oxley, Victoria. According to one of my correspondents, the couple also had children Mary Agnus (1866) and John Thomas (1869), both born in Oxley. The report of John CONDRON's death in the Albury Banner and Wodonga Express (November 20, 1908) states, "Mr. John Condron, aged 73 years, died at his residence in Templeton Street. The deceased served as a gunner in the Indian mutiny." The Indian mutiny  took place in 1857.

Hugh's grandparents were Thomas and Elizabeth CONDRON. According to various online family trees, this couple are the same Thomas and Eliza (née McGOVERN) CONDRON who migrated from Co. Cavan, Ireland, and about whom I have blogged previously.

Hugh CONDRON is memorialized on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, in northern France.

For other blog posts about CONDR*Ns in the First World War, click on "First World War" in the Labels list on the right of the blog web page. Comments and corrections welcome, either by leaving a comment below or by email to me: CONDRAN[AT]ONE-NAME.ORG .  I would particularly like to receive firm evidence that John CONDRON is indeed the son of Thomas and Eliza (née McGOVERN) CONDRON.

Lest We Forget

Tyne Cot Cemetery near Passchendaele, West Flanders, Belgium (image credit: www.cwgc.org)

2014 is the centenary of the start of the First World War.

The First World War began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. They called it the Great War, the war to end all wars. The war pitched the Allies (Britain, France and Russia, later joined by the United States and others) against the Central Powers (Germany and Austro-Hungary, later joined by the Ottoman Empire [Turkey] and Bulgaria). Many factors contributed to the start of the war, including: the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s territorial ambitions in the Balkans, leading to its annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908; the arms race between Britain and Germany; the “bellicose utterances and attitude” of the German Kaiser (to quote Liddell Hart); and the various treaties between the big powers that linked them into joining the war. The trigger for war is generally taken to have been the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28 June 1914 during a visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 28 July, Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Other major powers mobilized their troops in the subsequent days: Russia on 29 July, Germany on 30 July, France on 2 August. Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August following the German invasion of Belgium.

In all, more than nine million combatants were killed. Britain and Ireland lost nearly 900,000 men, while the loss of combatants from the British Empire as a whole was more than 1.1 million men. Many more were casualties. The names of the campaigns and battles where so many lives were lost – Gallipoli, the Somme, Passchendaele, … – still have a resonance today. In some countries, we remember those who died each year on the anniversary of the Armistice, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and wear red poppies like those that grew in the fields of Flanders where such slaughter occurred.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
– From ‘In Flanders Fields’ by John McCrae

In 2014 I shall use this blog to remember those CONDR*Ns who gave their lives in the First World War, devoting one post to each of them in the chronological order in which they died. I have researched carefully and believe this is a complete list of CONDR*Ns (with their service numbers) who were killed in the war:

Arthur CONDRON, Private, 4/8173, died Aug. 1916
Edward CONDRON, Petty Officer Stoker, 295103, died Sep. 1914
Frank CONDRON, Corporal, 4525, died Sep. 1915
Herbert CONDRON, Private, 36779, died Dec. 1917
Hugh CONDRON, Private, 3046, died Aug. 1916
Humphrey N. A. CONDRAN, Private, 3045, died June 1917
John CONDRON, Private, 11362, died Apr. 1915
John CONDRON, Private, 9249, died June 1915
Lawrence CONDREN, Private, 3015, died Aug. 1915
Martin CONDRON, Private, 7401, died Apr. 1915
Michael CONDRON, Rifleman, 3956, died Dec. 1917
Michael CONDRON, Corporal, 26919, died Apr. 1918
Patrick CONDRON, Private, A/7579, died July 1916
Thomas CONDRON, Private, 24941, died Apr. 1917
Thomas CONDRON, Private, 32396, died Feb. 1920
Thomas Arthur CONDRON, Serjeant, 15901, died Feb. 1918
Thomas Denis CONDRON, Private, 7045, died Aug. 1918

All these are listed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) among those who died in the First World War, with one error that Thomas CONDRON (died 1917) is listed there as “J. CONDRON”. Following the CWGC, I have included Thomas CONDRON who died in 1920, even though his death occurred after the end of the war.

If I have erroneously omitted anyone from the above list then I sincerely apologise and ask readers of this blog to let me know the name and details of the deceased (my contact details are below). Also I would greatly appreciate receiving photographs of any of the above men who died in the war.

Of course, many other CONDR*Ns served in the First World War, and numerous of them were casualties of the war. I would welcome receiving information about them. If I receive enough contributions I will write a future blog post about those who served without sacrificing their lives.

Please contact me by leaving a comment below, or by emailing me at CONDRAN[AT]ONE-NAME.ORG

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
– From ‘For the Fallen’ by Laurence Binyon

Condron's Globe Hotel

Photo from the State Library of Victoria collection, courtesy of Alan Condron

In a blog post last December about John (Jack) CONDRON, discoverer of the Poseidon gold nugget, I asked who had owned the Globe Hotel in Bridgewater-on-Loddon, Victoria, Australia (pictured above). The inscription on the hotel apparently reads "Condron's Globe Hotel 1890". Thanks to fine detective work by correspondent Timothy Condron, I can now say that the hotel was in the hands of James CONDRON, brother of the John CONDRON.

Digging in the Trove online Australian newspapers archive, Timothy found the following advertisement in the Bendigo Advertiser for November 6th, 1895: "Tenders are required until 11th November, for the Purchase of the Globe Hotel, Bridgewater. Title perfect. Highest tender not necessarily accepted. Tenders to be addressed to JAMES CONDRON, Globe Hotel, Bridgewater".

The same newspaper for May 19th, 1897, records the transfer of the hotel's license: "INGLEWOOD, TUESDAY. LICENSING COURT. - At this court today, Mr. Greene, P.M., granted the transfer of the license of the Globe hotel, Bridgewater, from James Condron to John Carrick".

A "Mr. Condron, of the Globe hotel", presumably the same James CONDRON, was an innocent party in the drowning of an Edward RICHARDS in the River Loddon in March 1896. According to the report in the Bendigo Advertiser for March 3rd, 1896, while taking a ride in Condron's boat, Richards stood up and being inebriated fell and drowned in the river, despite Condron's attempts to save him.

As noted in my post of December last year, James and John were both sons of Thomas CONDRON and his wife Catherine (Murphy) CONDRON. Their link to the discoverer of the Poseidon nugget is confirmed by this notice in the Bendigo Advertiser for April 1st, 1907: "Mr. Thomas Condron, a resident of the Tarnagulla district for fully 50 years, died at Newbridge on Good Friday, at the age of 85 years. His son, John, was one of the lucky party who discovered the famous Poseidon nugget."

Indeed, the death certificates of Catherine and Thomas CONDRON dated 1906 and 1907 respectively, kindly supplied to me by Timothy Condron, reveal that the couple had twelve children: Honora (died before 1906), Mary Anne, Martha, John, James, Phoebe Jane (died before 1906), Jane, Thomas, William, Catherine, Eliza and Joseph. See my posting of December 2012 for more details. The first two children, appear to have been baptised at St. Nicholas's church, Dublin, Ireland, where Thomas and Catherine were married.

As an addendum to my earlier posting, another correspondent, Danielle Condron, tells me that James CONDRON and his wife Mary Ann McDONNELL had a fifth child in addition to the four I listed in that posting: a daughter, Amelia (Amy).

I am most grateful to Timothy and Danielle, and other correspondents, for continuing to send me details of CONDR*N families. Please keep sending corrections, comments and further information for the CONDR*N one-name study to me, Michael John Condran Thompson, at:
condran[AT]one-name.org
(replace "[AT]" with an "@").

A large CONDREN tree

St. Andrew's Roman Catholic church in Westland Row, Dublin. Built in 1832-7, James Patrick CONDREN and Mary Jane SHIEL were married here in 1861, and three of their children were baptised here.

One of the largest CONDR*N family trees I have reconstructed stretches from origins in Dublin and Co. Wicklow to London and even to Australia and the USA.

James George CONDREN (born in Dublin about 1833) and his wife Mary Jane SHIEL (or SHEIL, born in Dublin about 1834) have nearly fifty descendants bearing the CONDREN name that I am aware of. In particular they had at least eight children, born between 1861 and 1877, the first four born in or near Dublin and the last four in London.

There is some confusion amongst trees of this family on the web, and an incorrect identification of James's father as "Richard CONDREN". This error apparently arises from the assumption that James George CONDREN is one and the same as an 8-year old James CONDREN who appears in the 1841 census for Hulme near Manchester.

But thanks to the people at churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie who have made numerous Dublin marriages and baptisms freely available on their website, we can now definitively identify James George CONDREN and Mary Jane SHIEL as the couple who got married at St. Andrew's, Dublin, on 7 January, 1861. Mary Jane's father is recorded as Patrick SHEIL, and James George's father is recorded as George CONDRAN. From the relatively rarity of the name George CONDR*N, we can tentatively identify James George CONDREN's parents as George CONRAN and Mary MORGAN, who got married in the Roman Catholic parish of Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow, in 1832. A George CONDRON and a Mary MORGAN had a son James baptised at St. Mary's, Dublin, in 1833. Given the usual variety of spellings in records of this period, I think these are the same people.

So, we have George and Mary (MORGAN) CONDREN, and in the next generation James George and Mary Jane (SHIEL) CONDREN. James and Mary had four children in Ireland (Mary Ellen in 1861, Rosanne in 1863 and George Stratford in 1864, all baptised at St. Andrew's, Dublin; and James Patrick in 1866, baptised in Rathmines near Dublin). They then moved to London, where they had a further four children (Richard Martin in 1868 and Catherine Frances in 1871 in Stockwell; William Joseph in 1875 and Margaret Josephine in 1877 in Wimbledon).

Eldest son, George Stratford CONDREN, married Emily Elizabeth NORTH in 1885, and they had seven children: George Stratford junior (1885), Emily Frances (1887), Ellen Louisa (1892), John (also called Jack, 1893), William James (1898), Alice Ruth (1901) and Ebenezer James (1904). All these births were registered in the Lambeth district of south London. All seven children got married in and around London: George Stratford junior to Edith Florence GEORGE, Emily Frances to Alfred SEGROTT, Ellen Louisa to Frederick NORRIS, Jack to Rose FOSTER, William James to Christina Frances LOWER, Alice Ruth to George SMITH, and Ebenezer James to Gladys Ivy LAWN. As discussed in this blog back in 2008, George Stratford senior fell foul of the law, was found guilty of stealing while employed in the Post-office, and was sentenced at the Old Bailey in April 1887 to five years' penal servitude.

A second son, James Patrick CONDREN married firstly Louisa MARTIN (who died in 1889) in 1886, and secondly Rose Mary DUNN in 1892, each time in St. Mary's, Lambeth, London. The latter marriage produced one son, Leslie Arthur CONDREN (1892).

Another son, William Joseph CONDREN, who also went under the name of William Stratford CONDREN,  married Caroline Matilda MISKIN in 1900 at St. John's, Newington, London. They had nine children: William Joseph ("Con", 1900), Caroline May (1902), George Stratford (1905), James Richard (1905), Lilian Alice (1907), Maud (1908), Kathleen (1911), Richard John (1913), and Margaret (1915).

Where the name "Stratford" which recurs in several family members comes from, I do not know. Do you? If so, please let me know! And, as usual, I would welcome any corrections to the above or further information, particularly from family members. E-mail condran[AT]one-name.org (replace "[AT]" with "@") or leave a comment below.

And finally, do you know of any CONDR*N family spread over more than three continents? If so, I'd like to hear from you!

The CONDRON discoverer of the Poseidon nugget

I have posted twice before about John (Jack) CONDRON, who in 1906 shared in the discovery of the Poseidon gold nugget with his fellow-miners Sam WOODALL, Frederick EVA and George BROOKS (John Condron strikes it rich and Australian Gold!). Today, with the help of correspondent Karen, I can definitively identify the CONDRON discoverer of the Poseidon nugget and his family.

The crucial document, a copy of which Karen sent me, that identifies John CONDRON is an Order of the Supreme Court of Victoria, dated 26 March 1908, granting administration of the estate of John CONDRON late of Newbridge-on-Loddon (Victoria), miner, to his brother James CONDRON of Bridgewater-on-Loddon, labourer. John left property at Newbridge valued at forty pounds, comprising a piece of land gifted to him by his grandfather, James MURPHY, in 1872, and a six-room house. (The land was granted to James MURPHY in 1855.) Together with other assets - principally money on deposit at the Union Bank of Australia, Tarnagulla - his estate was worth almost four hundred and forty four pounds. The clincher for me that identifies this John CONDRON as our man is that his assets include a twenty pounds debt owed by "Frederick Eva of near Bendigo Hotel-Keeper, money lent on or about September 14 1907" - i.e. money lent to his fellow miner and co-discoverer of the nugget. John died without leaving a Will, and according to his brother James's sworn statement the beneficiaries of his estate were to be "his brothers and sisters equally who are his only next of kin him surviving".

The picture above is a plaster replica of the Poseidon nugget at Museum Victoria. According to a report in a Melbourne newspaper, The Argus, for 22 April 1933, the four miners who shared in the nugget's discovery divided about three thousand five hundred pounds on its assay value. So John CONDRON's net worth on his death, though rather less than one quarter of this amount, is consistent with him having received a substantial fraction of what the nugget fetched.

From the records of the births, marriages and deaths in the state of Victoria, we can piece together the details of John CONDRON's larger family. His parents were Thomas CONDRON (son of John CONDRON and Mary O'DONOHUE) and Catherine MURPHY (daughter of James MURPHY - mentioned above - and Mary BOLTON). Thomas died in 1907 and Catherine in 1906, both in "Tallegalla" (which may be the same as Tarnagulla), Victoria. I cannot positively identify the marriage of Thomas and Catherine. There was a marriage of a Thomas CONDRON and a Catherine MURPHY at St. Nicholas's Roman Catholic church in Dublin in 1851; but if this is the same couple, I have been unable to find any immigration record of them moving to Australia, and we also know that Catherine's father James was obtaining land in Australia by 1855. Thomas and Catherine are presumably the two people each identified as "old-age pensioner" in the early 20th century as mentioned in my earlier post.

I believe that Thomas and Catherine had at least seven children: Martha (born about 1854), John the discoverer of the nugget (1856), James (1858),  Jane (1859), William (1865), Catherine Theresa (1867), and possibly also Joseph (1873). William was born in Newbridge, and Joseph was born in Tarnagulla, but where the other children were born is unknown for now. John's sister Jane may be the person identified as doing "house duties" in my earlier post. She married a Thomas RYAN fairly late in life, in 1916. James appears to have married a Mary Ann McDONNELL in 1887. James and Mary Ann had at least four children: William Richard (1888), Aileen (1890), Albert James (1892) and George (1896, died in infancy). Of these, at least Albert James CONDRON went on to have further descendents.

I would be pleased to hear from any descendants or anyone else having additional information about this family,  and as always I'd welcome any corrections to any of the above details. The email address is condran[AT]one-name.org (replace the "[AT]" with an "@").

One last puzzle. Correspondent Alan CONDRON, who is not related to this family, kindly sent me a photograph (below) of "Condron's Globe Hotel" from the State Library of Victoria collection. I understand that the building still exists, at Bridgewater, Victoria, next to the Loddon river. It has an inscription "1890". As all the CONDRONs I've come across in Bridgewater are part of this family, the question is, who owned the hotel? If you know, please tell me!

Cavan to Victoria

The newspaper announcements that became more frequent in the second half of the nineteenth century complement and in some cases add poignancy to the records of births, marriages and deaths.

I have written previously of Thomas and Eliza (nee McGovern) CONDRON, who were married in 1823 in Kildrumferton, Co. Cavan, Ireland, and who made a new life with their family in the state of Victoria, Australia. Their eldest children, Maryanne (b. 1824), Catherine (b. 1826) and Martha (b. 1829) emigrated to Australia first, arriving aboard the "Wallace" on 3 Nov. 1844. The rest of the family - parents Thomas and Eliza, and children Elizabeth (b. 1831), John (b. 1833), Robert (b. 1836), Jane (b. 1838), Thomas (b. 1841), Isabella (b. 1844) and William (b. 1846) - are recorded as living in Kirkdale, Lancashire, in the 1851 census of England, and most of them appear to have arrived in Australia aboard the "Runnymede" on 3 June 1852.

The marriage records for the state of Victoria give supporting evidence to a number of family trees uploaded by members to ancestry.com. It appears that Maryanne married Robert WHITE in Melbourne in either 1846 or 1848, Martha married  James Nall MARRIS in 1848, Eliza married John DICK in 1854 and Jane married James McILROY in 1861.

From 1862 we start to find mention of the family in the announcements column of The Argus newspaper published in Melbourne. (These are available online at Trove.) In December of that year, the paper records the recent marriage of "Isabella, sixth daughter of Mr. Thomas Condron, Fitzroy, late of the County Cavan" to Joshua MOONEY. In April 1872 it records the death "through an accident" of "Thomas, the third and beloved son of Thomas and Eliza Condron, of Brunswick-street, Fitzroy, aged 30".

Youngest son William married Margaret Annie RAINSFORD in 1870, but the death of "Margaret Annie, the beloved wife of Mr. William Condron of Brunswick-street, Fitzroy" is recorded in the paper two years later. William is described as a "corn merchant", and the couple appear to have had no children. The death of Thomas CONDRON senior at his residence, 390 Brunswick-street, Fitzroy, is recorded in The Argus the next year. William remarried, this time to Louisa Agnes ARNOLD, in 1874, and The Argus carries the joyful announcement in July 1875 of the birth of a daughter to the "wife of W[illia]m Condron, produce merchant". Sadly, in February of the next year, the paper announces the death of "Eliza Evaline, the only and beloved child of William and Louisa Condron, aged six months", and further tragedy follows in March with the announcement of the death of "Louisa Agnes, the beloved wife of Mr. William Condron, aged 26".

Meanwhile, William's elder brother Robert had married Margaret E. BOURKE in 1855, and had three children, including William (b. 1856). Margaret died in 1860, and Robert married Caroline PEACHEY in 1863. The couple had seven children, but Caroline died in 1876, aged 32 years. The Argus for 2 May 1876 announces, "The friends of Mr Robert Condron are respectfully invited to follow the remains of his late wife to the place of interment, Coburg Cemetery". The first five of Robert and Caroline's children - Sarah Jane (b. 1863), Robert (b. 1865), Mary Ann (b. 1868), Elizabeth Henrietta (b. 1869) and James (b. 1871) - were born in Pentridge, while the last two - Susan (b. 1874) and James (b. 1876) - were born in Coburg. Robert appears to have married a third time, in 1876, this time to Mary QUINN. They had one son, Fredrick (b. 1877), who married Ethel Kate PHILLIPS in 1900. Fredrick and Ethel had five children, all born in Coburg: Ethel May (b. 1901), Mary Lillian (b. 1903), Elsie Freda (b. 1907), Robert Charles (b. 1909) and Fredrick (b. 1912).

Eliza CONDRON senior died in September 1881: "at her residence, 386 Brunswick-street, Fitzroy, Eliza, relict of hte late Mr Thomas Condron, aged 78 years".

The births, marriages and deaths records for the state of Victoria record a further marriage of a William CONDRON to Rebecca Ann SHEARER in 1877. Several of the online family trees state that this is the third marriage of William, son of Thomas and Eliza (i.e. after his second wife Louisa died in 1876). This may well be correct, but for now I can find no definitive evidence to decide whether this is indeed the correct William or whether perhaps it is William, son of Robert and  Margaret, who was born in 1856 and who therefore would have been of marriageable age by 1877. William and Rebecca had eight children, most of whom were born in Fitzroy: Ada Eliza (b. 1878), May Eva (b. 1880), Maud Margaret (b. 1882), William (b. 1883), Lottie (b. 1885), Harry (b. 1887), Mellie (b. 1890) and Nora (b. 1891).

What of the other two children of Thomas and Eliza CONDRON? Online trees indicate that Catherine, who had emigrated with her sisters in 1844, married a William CLARKSON in New South Wales in 1845. As for John (b. 1833), quite probably he is the John CONDRON of Wangaratta mentioned in my previous blog post, "Australian Gold!".

The above details are pieced together from the newspaper announcements and from the indexes of births, marriages and deaths for Victoria. Perhaps the living descendants of Thomas and Eliza CONDRON have copies of the actual certificates, or other records of family history that add definiteness or further information to what I have found. I would be delighted to hear from them: Condran[AT]one-name.org (replace the "[AT]" with "@").

Please note that, as usual, the above birth dates could be off by one year because the year given is that in which the birth was recorded or, in some cases, is derived from census ages or baptismal dates.

Michael CONDRAN of Ellalong, Wollombi

Panorama near Ellalong, NSW.  © Stuart Johnson

In my last blog post I said that newspapers are a great resource. Their announcements can provide extra detail and corroborative evidence of information from other sources.

Here then for those researching Michael CONDRAN of Ellalong, Wollombi (born about 1812, and patriarch of many present-day CONDRANs in New South Wales) and his descendants are some snippets from The Sydney Morning Herald (unless stated otherwise) between 1880 and 1910.

28 August 1880 - MARRIAGES, in The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser
DOYLE-CONDRAN.-July 23, at St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney by the Rev. Father Ryan, Michael Doyle, of the Star Hotel, to Katie, fifth daughter of Michael Condran, Ellalong, Wollombi.

23 August 1884 - MARRIAGES
BARDSLEY--CONDRAN. -August 19, at St. Mary's Cathedral,   by the Rev. Dean Mahoney, Robert Bardsley, of Chapel-on-le-Frith, Derbyshire, England, to Mary Ann (Annie), second daughter of the late Michael Condran, Ellalong, Wollombi.

30 April 1887 - MARRIAGES (also in The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser on 16 April)
FERGUSON-CONDRAN,-April 12th, at St, Michael's, by the Rev. Father Coue, John A. Ferguson, of Sydney, to Victoria Elizabeth, sixth daughter of the late M. C. Condran, of Wollombi.

4 May 1895 - DEATHS
CAZEAU.-March 16, at Sydney, late of Marrickville, after a long and painful illness, Frederic, dearly-beloved husband of Julia Alice Cazeau, and son-in-law of the late M. Condran, Ellalong, Wollombi, aged 43 years.  R.I.P.

6 May 1897 - MARRIAGES
JONES-CAZEAU.-April 28, at Sydney, by the Rev. W. Woolls-Rutledge, Charles Dury Jones, of Sydney, to Julia Alice, third daughter of the late M. Condran, Ellalong, Wollombi.

21 September 1906 - DEATHS
BARDSLEY.-September 20, Mary Anne, second eldest daughter of the late M. Condran, of Ellalong, N.S.W., aged 53 years.  R.I.P.

12 September 1908 - DEATHS
CONDRAN-September 10 at her residence 3 George-street North, Mary Condran, widow of the late Michael Condran, of Wollombi, in her 84th year. R.I.P.

This is all consistent with information I previously had from other sources, that Michael CONDRAN and Mary Ann CONDRON (nee HANLEY) had the following children, born between 1848 and 1867: Ellen, Maryanne, Julia, Bridget, Thomas Henry, Michael, John, Catherine (Kate), Joseph Andrew, Elizabeth and Agnes.

As always, I'd welcome corrections or further information about this family.

I am grateful to Tracy Rogers for drawing my attention to Trove, the wonderful online archive of Australian newspapers which is the source for the above information.

The panoramic photograph is copyright of Stuart Johnson, who has taken a number of striking photographs of the Australian natural environment. Higher resolution versions of the photograph may be obtained via Google Earth or from the photographer.

Protestants and Catholics in County Cavan

County Cavan is one of the nine counties of the ancient province of Ulster, the northernmost province of Ireland. When Ireland was partitioned in 1921/2, six of the nine Ulster counties formed Northern Ireland, which is still part of the United Kingdom, while the three remaining counties (Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan) became part of Southern Ireland and subsequently part of the Republic of Ireland. 

The vast majority of CONDR*Ns in nineteenth century Ireland were Catholics. Few CONDR*Ns were located in Ulster, and few CONDR*Ns were Protestants. Most of the Protestant CONDR*Ns are found in Co. Cavan.

The Cavan CONDR*Ns are to be found in south and central Co. Cavan, in the registration districts of Bailieborough and Cavan, which lie wholly in the county, and in Granard, Oldcastle and Kells (which lie only partly in Co. Cavan). In the 1901 census of Ireland, 34 CONDR*Ns were living in Co. Cavan: half of those were Protestant (Church of Ireland).

There are two Catholic CONDR*N families in Co. Cavan in 1901. One is John CONDRON (a coachman, born in King’s Co. in about 1844) with his wife Margaret WARD from Co. Monaghan.  The second is James CONDREN (a retired policeman, born in Co. Westmeath in about 1854) with his wife Sarah DIVER from Co. Donegal. John and Margaret had children Margaret (1876), Bridget (1879), Elizabeth (1881), William (1883), Andrew (1886), John Joseph (1890), Henry Edward (1892) and James (1894). James and Sarah had children Mary Anne (1886), Catherine Sarah (1887), Anne Mary (1889), John Francis (1891), Margaret Teresa (1892), James Patrick (1895), Elizabeth Agnes (1897) and Thomas (1901).

There are three Protestant CONDR*N families in the county in 1901. All have roots in Co. Cavan, as far as I have traced them in the early or mid nineteenth century. Thomas CONDRON (a farmer, born about 1861 and son of a Thomas CONDRON) and his wife Jane DOUGLAS had children Thomas (1885), Charles (1887), John (1888), Harriet (1890), William (1894) and Eleanor Jane (1895). James CONDRON (also a farmer, born about 1853 and son of a Thomas CONDRON) and his wife Jane FAULKNER had children Eliza Jane (1881), Thomas (1882), Isabella (1885), James (1888) and Louisa (1895). The third family is Eliza STEPHENS (formerly CONDRON, nee CUMMINS), wife of James STEPHENS and widow of John CONDRON (son of a Thomas CONDRON), with her daughters Elizabeth CONDRON (1869) and Mary Jane CONDRON (1871).

A Protestant family who emigrated from Co. Cavan and therefore don’t appear in the 1901 Irish census were Thomas CONDRON (born in about 1803) and his wife Eliza McGOVERN. They had children Maryanne (1824), Catherine (1826), Martha (1829), Elizabeth (1831), John (1833), Robert (1836), Jane (1838) and Thomas (1841), all of whom were baptized in Kildrumferton parish, Co. Cavan, and Isabella (1844) and William (1846). In the 1851 UK census, the parents and younger children are found in Kirkdale, Lancashire, England; whereas the three eldest daughters all emigrated to Australia in 1844 aboard the ship “Wallace”. According to various public family trees on ancestry.com, the rest of the family subsequently emigrated to Australia and have descendants there.

As always, I would welcome further information about any of these families: email Condran [AT] one-name.org .  

Australian Gold!

Back in October 2008, I wrote about John ("Jack") CONDRON, who shared with his three fellow miners in the discovery of an enormous gold nugget called the Poseidon nugget ("John CONDRON strikes it rich"). The nugget, which was discovered by the four men in December 1906 at Tarnagulla, central Victoria, Australia, weighed 960 ounces (over 26 kilograms).

Since then, I have been in correspondence with a descendant of one of the other miners, Frederick EVA. That descendant, Tracy Rogers, has kindly provided me with various pictures and other information about the discovery, including the pictures reproduced here. Apparently Frederick EVA used his share of the money raised by sale of the nugget to buy a hotel on the Loddon River, but according to family lore the hotel was swept away in a flood. So the question is, what did John CONDRON do with his share of the money, and what happened to him? Perhaps there are living descendants of John CONDRON reading this blog! I'd love to hear from you.

The lower picture shows the four miners who shared in the discovery of the Poseidon nugget: Frederick EVA (left), Sam WOODALL (right), and the two in the middle are John CONDRON and George BROOKS (but I don't know which is which man).

Tracy also informs me that the picture of the four miners and the nugget they found featured on the cover (see picture below) of a record by Australian country rock band Stars, which formed in 1975 and disbanded in 1979.

What became of John ("Jack") CONDRON? According to newspaper coverage of the discovery, John CONDRON and Sam WOODALL were miners from Newbridge.  In the Australian Electoral Rolls on ancestry.com, there were two John CONDRONs recorded in Victoria in electoral rolls for 1903. One was in Wangaratta, Victoria, living with or near a Maria CONDRON and Robert CONDRON: this John CONDRON may have been born in County Cavan, Ireland, in 1833 and have died in 1908. The other is in Newbridge, where we know the miner came from: this Newbridge John CONDRON is listed as a labourer, and is living with or near a Jane CONDRON ("house duties"), and a Thomas and Catherine CONDRON (both listed as "old-age pensioner"). It's possible that Jane is John's wife, and Thomas and Catherine are his parents. From later electoral rolls, it looks as if John and Jane CONDRON may have moved to South Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria: a couple of that name are there in Cardigan Street in 1909, in Drummond Street in 1914, and in Little Elgin Street in 1919 (by which time John CONDRON is listed as a "foreman" rather than as a labourer) and 1924.

Possibly the same John and Jane CONDRON later moved to Glenhuntly, Victoria. In 1936, a Jack CONDRON (labourer) is living there with Jane CONDRON, John Desmond CONDRON and Martin Leonard G. CONDRON. And in 1942, possibly the same couple are listed there again, in Ulupna Road: John CONDRON (factory employee), Jane CONDRON (home duties) and Alice Margaret G. CONDRON (typist). If this is indeed the John CONDRON who found the Poseidon nugget, the money doesn't seem to have raised him from the life of an employed labourer.

Do you know what became of the John CONDRON who shared in the discovery of the Poseidon nugget? If so, please let me know.  I can be contacted by leaving a comment on this blog, or by emailing condran[AT]one-name.org (replace "[AT]" with "@"). Thanks!

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 .

CONDRANs on Facebook

I just checked the number of CONDRANs on Facebook, using the family name search facility at http://www.facebook.com/family/ . It shows 210 entries for CONDRAN. Not all of these entries are unique, and I reckon some CONDRAN Facebook users are missing. Also, of course, this search doesn't find married women who were called CONDRAN but who haven't retained CONDRAN in their married name. From these entries I can readily identify the geographical location of 84 users of Facebook with the name CONDRAN: there are 41 in the USA, 30 in Australia, 11 in Canada, and one each in the the UK and in mainland Europe (France/Portugal). In the USA, the principal location of CONDRANs in this sample is Pennsylvania. In Australia, the principal location of CONDRANs is New South Wales.

A great place on Facebook to connect with other CONDRANs is the Condran Clan group. You can try going directly to it at

http://www.facebook.com/groups/2408036585

and if that doesn't work just search for "Condran Clan" on Facebook.

CONDR*Ns on the map

There's a Condren's Lane in Arklow, Ireland (view on Google Maps here) and a Condron Lane in Passnic, New Jersey. There are Condron Roads in Liverpool UK and in Throckmorton, Texas, and a Condren Road in Newfane, New York. There's a Condron Hall (named after Christopher "Kip" and Margaret Condron) at the University of Scrafton, Scrafton PA, USA (pictured). There's a commune called Condren in Picardie, north-east of Paris (02700 Condren, France). There are Condron Streets in Valley, Nebraska and in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. There's a Condran Drive in Middletown, Pennsylvania, a Condren Avenue in Spartanburg, South Carolina and a Condron Circuit in Elderslie, New South Wales, Australia.

Do you know which individual CONDR*Ns these streets were named after, and when? Do you know of any other places or streets named CONDR*N? Could you send me a photo of the street sign or similar for any of these places? If so, do please get in touch!

John CONDRON strikes it rich

This item from The Evening Post (Wellington, New Zealand), Monday December 31, 1906

Striking It Rich

The Poseidon Rush

Outlying the main Poseidon rush, and almost on the eastern outskirts of the pegged-in ground is situated the claim in which the 960oz nugget was recently unearthed within 2ft of the surface. The story of the acquirement of the lease by the four partners is one of romance (writes a special representative of the Argus). Scarcely five weeks ago two Newbridge miners, John Condron and Samuel Woodall, walked to Poseidon. They pegged out adjacent claims on the easterly limits of the rush, and then decided to amalgamate their interests. George Brooks, who had previously worked as a mate with Condron, joined the party, but still no success was met with. About three weeks ago Robert Woods, a Woodstock resident, who follows mining at Bendigo, purchased a one-sixth share in the claim from Condron and Brooks for £5, but after three days' work he said he would rather go back to a regular job, and he sold his share to a new-comer, Frederick Eva, for £2 10s. That share is now worth £500. Condron and party continued work, and they sent about 17 loads to the puddling machine, for the return of 28dwt of gold. Then the lucky day arrived. At half-past 3 on Tuesday afternoon, when all attention was centred in the discovery of a 373oz nugget by Williamson and Stevenson, in an adjoining claim, Woodall started to pick from the surface. At a depth of 15in his pick struck a hard substance, and he beckoned to Condron. "There's something here, Jack," he exclaimed. "Stand behind me." Condron did so, and when Woodall placed the point of his pick underneath the surface the nugget rolled out on to the bottom at their feet. Condron, as he lifted the gold, exclaimed, "Oh, here's a beauty!" but Woodall simply stared at the treasure speechless. Then the crowd gathered. The nugget was embedded in dark dry clay, and as it fell from its bed it weighed 97lb avirdupois. It measured 15in in length, about 7in across, and had a thickness of from 4in to 5in. According to its size, it should have weighed more than it did, and it was evident that it contained a fair proportion of quartz.

The Poseidon gold rush took place in central Victoria, Australia, between 1906 and about 1912. The above article was found on the New Zealand website, PapersPast (http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/). I have no knowledge at present of what happened to John Condron and his new-found wealth: if you do, please let me know!