CONDR*Ns in the 1940 US Census

Distribution of CONDR*Ns in the 1940 US Census (darker colors indicate more CONDR*Ns)

I've just finished indexing the CONDRANs, CONDRENs, CONDRINs and CONDRONs in the 1940 US census. The census contains over 1300 CONDR*Ns, located in over 500 households or institutions, across three quarters of the states of the union. (Remember there were only 48 states in 1940: Alaska and Hawaii didn't become states until 1959.)

 
In 1940, one in four CONDR*Ns (25%) lived in Pennsylvania, 11% in Texas and 10% in New York.

Almost two-thirds of the individuals counted were recorded as CONDRON, with CONDREN (20%) being the next most common, then CONDRAN (12%) and finally CONDRIN (5%).

The vast majority of CONDR*Ns in 1940 reported their birth place as being within the United States. Fewer than 4% reported being born in Ireland (Eire, Irish Free State and in one case Northern Ireland), and fewer than 2% were born in other European countries or Canada (mostly women who had married CONDR*Ns). This is in contrast with censuses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when far more CONDR*Ns were first-generation immigrants from Ireland: for example, in the 1910 census, nearly 10% of the CONDR*Ns in the US (about 125 people) had been born in Ireland.

The occupations of CONDR*Ns in the 1940 census reflected the changing times. While some 50 people reported working on the land as farmers or farm laborers, a similar number reported being a "clerk" (though that could mean a lot of things, from filing clerk to sales clerk). There were 10 salesmen and 7 managers, 18 teachers and 10 stenographers or typists. There were two movie-theater projectionists. There were also several owners or attendants at gas stations and several beauticians - occupations that probably wouldn't have existed (or at least wouldn't have been common) in earlier times. Quite a few also reported that they worked in Works Projects Administration (WPA) programs. The WPA, which was the largest agency in Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, provided jobs to the unemployed during the depression of the 1930s: it existed from 1935 until 1943.

There are a number of sites where you can search the 1940 census (for free, I believe):
Official 1940 census site
FamilySearch.org
Ancestry.com
FindMyPast .

I am happy to answer search queries - email me at Condran [AT] one-name.org (replace the [AT] with an @) or at CondranONS [AT] gmail.com. I am also happy to try to provide further details about CONDR*Ns you have found in the 1940 census.

It has taken me several months to index the CONDR*Ns in the 1940 US census, so I am relieved that it will be four years before the 1950 US census is released in 2022 under the "72 year rule"!  The 1921 census of England & Wales will also be released in 2022, under the "100 year rule", so I expect I'll be very busy then!

1914: one hundred years on

Exactly one hundred years ago today, on June 28th 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It was an event that quickly precipitated the start of the First World War (1914-1918).

I shall be taking a short summer break from my series of blog posts commemorating the 17 CONDR*Ns who gave their lives serving in that war. I have seven more still to write about.

On a happier note, I see from my database that there were 30 CONDR*Ns born in the British Isles in 1914: 15 in Ireland, 11 in England, 3 in Scotland and 1 in Wales. Of these, two were CONDRENs (one each in Northumberland and in County Kilkenny) and 28 were CONDRONs. The greatest concentration was in Dublin, with two born in Dublin North and three in Dublin South. The most popular boys' name was James (3) and the most popular girls' name was Margaret (3). Other names included Cecil, Herbert, Hubert, Irene, Ivy, Jessie and Olive.

3015 Private Lawrence CONDREN (1877 - 1915)

I have written previously about the Gallipoli campaign from its beginning through June 1915. In July 1915, the British government decided to send a further five divisions of troops to strengthen the seven divisions already on the Gallipoli peninsula. The land forces commander, Sir Ian Hamilton, planned an operation to  sever the middle of the peninsula with attacks from both Anzac Cove and Sulva Bay, five miles to the north of Anzac. Troops landed at Sulva Bay on 6 August and initially took the Turkish forces by surprise, but the offensive failed and the Allied forces found themselves pinned down. New Australian troops landed at Anzac in August and September. But soon the autumn rains came, and in London the British government began to explore withdrawing Allied forces from Gallipoli. Hamilton opposed the withdrawal plan, and was promptly replaced as commander by Sir Charles Munro. Lord Kitchener visited the peninsula in November and decided that evacuation was inevitable. Troops were withdrawn from Anzac and Sulva in mid-December 1915, and the last Allied troops were withdrawn from Helles on the night of 8 January 1916. The Gallipoli campaign was over.

In his History of the First World War, Liddell Hart writes, “Thus the curtain rang down on a sound and far-sighted conception, marred by a chain of errors in execution almost unrivalled even in British history.”

Estimates of the total casualties in the Gallipoli campaign vary, but one source estimates that the Allied casualties (excluding those due to illness) were 56,700 dead (including nearly 9,000 Australians and over 2,700 New Zealanders) and 123,600 wounded. The numbers of casualties amongst the Turkish troops were similar.

Private Lawrence CONDREN (service no. 3015) was killed in action on 15 August 1915 in Gallipoli. Lawrence CONDREN was born in 1877 in Cardiff, Wales, and was christened on 12 September of that year at St. David’s Roman Catholic church. He was the son of David and Sarah (nee ROSSER) CONDREN.

David CONDREN (born 1850, died 1916) married Sarah ROSSER (born about 1849, died 1909) in Cardiff in 1870. David was a ships’ rigger. The couple had a number of children in Cardiff, including Rosavena (born 1872), Mary Jane (1875), Lawrence or Laurence (1877), William (1883) and Arthur (1890). Other children could be David, Albert and Violet.

Lawrence’s grandfather was William CONDREN (born about 1824), who married Jane NEWTON in 1849 at St. Mary the Virgin’s church, Cardiff. I have written previously about this family.

Lawrence CONDREN joined the Royal Munster Fusiliers, and served in “C” Company, 6^th Battalion. He was killed in action on the Gallipoli peninsula on 15 August 1915. He is memorialized on the Helles Memorial, Turkey.

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

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

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 .

Descendants of Morgan and Winifred CONDREN

Extract from the marriage register of the Old Cathedral, St. Louis, Missouri, for 25 May 1853 (from the Drouin Collection, online at ancestry.com)

Morgan CONDREN / CONDRON is a fairly rare name, and all the instances in my database seem to trace back to the Arklow area on the borders of County Wicklow and County Wexford, Ireland. I think it's a fair bet that all male CONDR*Ns with first name Morgan and most who have Morgan as a middle name derive from families who lived in this area in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Continuing the occasional series on CONDR*Ns from County Wicklow, this post focuses on the descendants of Morgan and Winifred CONDREN who had at least eight children baptised in Arklow in the 1820s and 1830s. Their children that I know of are Sarah (born about 1820), Michael (1822), Edward (1827), Alexander (1829), Mary (1831), Winifred (1833), Eliza (1834) and Morgan (1835).

Alexander CONDREN married a Frances Maria PARR at St. Mary's Pro Cathedral in Dublin on 5 February 1857. They had three children baptised in Avoca, Co. Wicklow: Catherine (1858), John Morgan (1859) and Frances Winifred (1860). Alexander died in 1866, and his widow Frances subsequently remarried a James REDMOND in 1868. John Morgan CONDREN and his wife Sarah Annie had a daughter, Mary (1886), in Dublin, but then migrated across the Irish Sea to north Liverpool where they had three more children: Frederick (born 1889 in Bootle), William (born 1891 in Litherland) and Joseph Morgan (born 1897 in Litherland). Frederick married a Mary Jane EDGE in 1911 and hereafter this branch of the family seem to have gone by the name CONDRON. The couple had four children: Edmund (1911), Frederick (1912), William J. (1915) and Sidney (1922). A number of present-day CONDRONs in north Liverpool and in Southport are descendants of Frederick and Mary Jane CONDRON.

Of Morgan and Winifred CONDREN's other children, I know of the marriages of only two of them. Morgan junior married a Margaret TUKE in St. Nicholas church in Dublin in 1859: I don't know whether they had any children. And Mary (1831) turns up in an unexpected place. The marriage register of the Old Cathedral, St. Louis, Missouri, shows the marriage of a Mary CONDRAN and a Charles LAMBERT. The bride's parents are given as Morgan CONDRAN and Winefried LACY. Given the rarity of the name Morgan, and the coincidence of his wife's first name, I think that these parents must indeed be the Morgan and Winifred who were baptising children in Arklow in the 1820s and 1830s. In that case, we have learned also that before her marriage to Morgan CONDREN, Winifred's maiden name was LACY.

I'd be pleased to hear from any descendants of these CONDR*Ns, in Ireland, England, the US or anywhere else! And if you have a Morgan CONDR*N in your family, also please let me know. I can be contacted by leaving a comment below or by emailing me at condran[AT]one-name.org (replace the [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!

An old Wicklow family

Bond Street bridge, Wicklow

County Wicklow, which lies to the south of Dublin on the east coast of Ireland, held 26 households containing at least one CONDR*N in the 1901 Irish census, and 28 such households in the census of 1911. Throughout the nineteenth century, few CONDR*Ns are to be found in the interior of the county, but there are quite a number of CONDR*N baptisms and marriages along the west side of county - particularly in the Roman Catholic parishes of Clonmore and Dunlavin - and along the eastern seaboard - particularly in the Roman Catholic parishes of Kilquade, Wicklow and Arklow (though in the last case, many of these CONDR*Ns were actually living across the county border in Co. Wexford).

In the coming months I shall attempt to establish the family lineages of a number of the Co. Wicklow CONDR*Ns, but for now I focus on just one such family, who are found in the county town of Wicklow Town in both the 1901 and 1911 censuses. In 1901, the widow Maria CONDRON is living in Bond Street, Wicklow Town, with four daughters. In 1911, the same widow is still living in Bond Street but with just two of her daughters.

In Irish genealogy, it is generally hard to trace most families back before the 1820s or so, because of the paucity of parish records and the destruction of the all-Ireland censuses that took place before 1901. In the case of this family, however, I have made a reasonable reconstruction back to the eighteen century ... just. The family are variously recorded as CONDREN and CONDRON. Here I shall refer to them consistently as CONDRON, while noting that e.g. in the 1901 census they appear as CONDREN.

Pat CONDRON was father to four children who were baptised in the Roman Catholic parish of Wicklow in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries: Owen (baptised in 1798), Edward (1802), Hanna (1806) and Pat (1810). So Pat the father was probably born in the 1770s or earlier. His son Owen himself fathered four children also baptised in the parish of Wicklow: Pat (baptised in 1827), Edmund (1830), Owen (1833) and James (1837). I infer from the rarity of the name "Owen" that this is the same James who marries Maria CONWAY in Wicklow parish in 1872, because his father's name is recorded as "Owen". James and Maria had nine children, all baptised in Wicklow parish: Robert (1873), Eugene (1875), George (1876), Maria L. (1878), Edward (1880, died 1884), Rose (1883, died 1884), Jane Frances (1884), Elizabeth (1891) and Christina (1893).

James died sometime before the 1901 census, for it is his wife Maria who is the widow living in Wicklow Town in 1901, together with daughters Maria L., Jane F., Elizabeth and Christina. Two of her sons, Eugene and George, are recorded in the 1901 census of England on board a vessel in Bristol, Eugene being the captain and George a mate. In 1911, Maria is still living in Wicklow Town with daughters Maria L. and Christina, while son George is now a ship's captain himself, on board a vessel in New Ross, Co. Wexford. Maria declares that she had nine children, of whom six are still alive at the time of the 1911 census. I believe that Maria herself died in Co. Wicklow in 1935, and that George died in 1944.

It would be interesting to know whether James and perhaps others in this family were also seafarers. If you are related to this CONDRON/CONDREN family, or know anything about them, I would love to hear from you: condran[at]one-name.org .


[The picture above of Bond Street bridge is copyright of panoramio.com user "speurder". The map below is copyright of Google.]

Map showing Bond Street and Wicklow harbour today

Condr*n as a given name

Some weeks ago I had a few hours to spare in Washington DC and visited the library of the Daughters of the American Revolution (see picture), which is located close to the White House. I didn’t have high hopes of finding any CONDR*N leads, but in fact there was one book in the library catalogue with CONDR*N connections: “The Ancestors and Descendants of Michael Dan Mitchell (1759-1995)” compiled by Marlene Wilkinson (revised July 1996).

The book details the genealogy of Michael Dan MITCHELL, son of Charles Reeves MITCHELL (1890-1953) and Grace Lenora CONDRAN (1887-1962). As stated there, Grace was the daughter of Patrick CONDRAN and Rachael MORRISEY, both offspring of unknown parentage. Grace was born on 15 May 1887, married Charles MITCHELL on 1 August 1910 in Mitchell, South Dakota (Grace’s home town), and died on 18 February 1962. Charles worked for the Chicago Milwaukee Pacific Railroad and the family lived variously in Aberdeen, South Dakota; Spokane, Washington; and Linton, North Dakota. Charles MITCHELL and his wife Grace (nee CONDRAN) had five children as detailed by the book:

            Condran Finch MITCHELL (1913-1921)

            Charles Thomas MITCHELL (b. 1915)

            Rachael Beverly MITCHELL (b. 1918)

            Mary Patricia MITCHELL (b.1924)

            Michael Dan MITCHELL (1926-1994).

Has anyone else come across Condran, Condren, Condrin or Condron used as the given name (first name, Christian name) of a child, as in Condran Finch MITCHELL?

The U.S. 1910 census shows Grace CONDRAN (aged 22) shortly before her marriage to Charles, living in Mitchell, South Dakota, with her parents Patrick (born in Iowa about 1861 of an Irish-born father and Canadian-born mother) and Rachael, and her younger siblings Michael (aged 20), Anna (18), Harry (17), William (15) and Lucy (13). All the children were born in Iowa. Another child (Patrick and Rachael had seven in total, following their marriage in about 1883) is not present in the household.

Do you know anything more about this family?

Incidentally, ancestry.com announced this week that they have completed the indexing of the U.S. 1940 census. According to the ancestry.com indexation, there are 1352 CONDR*Ns in that census: 164 CONDRANs, 277 CONDRENs, 78 CONDRINs and 833 CONDRONs. There’s quite a bit of research to be done to fit all these people into CONDR*N trees! I happened to note that only one male CONDR*N in this 1940 census was born in England: that was Edward CONDRON (aged 13) in Passaic, New Jersey, son of John (aged 39, a dyer, born in Ireland) and Emma CONDRON (aged 41, born in England). Their other child, Mary (aged 12), was born in New Jersey. Research in the UK births and marriages records reveals that John CONDRON married Emma TAYLOR in the Salford registration district (in the county of Lancashire) in the second quarter of 1924, and Edward CONDRON was born also in Salford registration district in the first quarter of 1925.

Kilkenny CONDR*Ns

County Kilkenny lies in the Irish province of Leinster. It is bordered on the north by Co. Laois or Leix (Queens County), on the east by Co. Carlow and Co. Wexford, on the south by Co. Waterford and on the west by Co. Tipperary.

CONDR*Ns are uncommon in Co. Kilkenny, but historically there are some living there: between 1864 (when universal civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began in Ireland) and 1910, a span of 46 years, there were 23 CONDR*N births registered, 13 marriages and 18 deaths. Fifty of these life events were recorded in the Castlecomer registration district, which covers the north-east corner of the county, and the remaining 4 events in the Kilkenny registration district which covers a band from west to east across the northern half of the county. This geographical restriction to the northern part of the county lends support to the idea that the Kilkenny CONDR*Ns perhaps migrated from Queens County. The most common variant of CONDR*N to be found in Co. Kilkenny is CONDREN.

Although I have not yet fitted all nineteenth-century Kilkenny CONDR*Ns into family trees, those found there in the 1901 and 1911 censuses are mostly accounted for. In each of 1901 and 1911, there are five households in the county containing CONDR*Ns, in addition to one nun in 1901 and two nuns in 1911 who were living in religious houses in the county but were born in Co. Wicklow. Apart from a widow Margaret CONDRON who is living in Clogh in both 1901 and 1911, and a widower Martin CONDRON living in Greenshill in 1901, all households in the censuses are related to just two married couples. Although they are variously spelt CONDREN and CONDRON in the censuses, in what follows I use the spelling CONDREN throughout.

The first couple is Brian (sometimes recorded as Bernard) CONDREN, who married Mary COLLINS in the Roman Catholic parish of Muckalee, Co. Kilkenny, in 1861. I believe that the following 14 children are theirs: Bridget (1861), Ellen (1863), Mary (1865), Margaret (1866), Edward (1868), Anne (1870), Michael (1871), Martin (1873), Bernard (1876), Margaret (1878), Bernard or Brian (1880), Thomas (1882), James (1884) and Patrick James (1887). Brian CONDREN senior died before 1901, but his widow Mary is found in the 1901 census with her daughter Mary and sons Michael, Martin and Bernard. Mary CONDREN senior died in 1904. In 1911, son Michael is living with his wife Mary (nee HARDING), whom he married in Clogh in 1907, and their three children. Martin, who is recorded as a widow (he may have married a Bridget HARDING - Mary's sister, perhaps? - in 1908, in which case she probably died in 1910), is living with his brothers Bernard and Thomas. All these households are living in the townland of Chatsworth, near Clogh. Another son, Edward, is living with his wife Mary (nee BROPHY), whom he married in Castlecomer in 1901, in the townland of Croghtenclogh with their three children. All these places are less than a mile from the border with Queens County.

The second couple is also - confusingly - Brian (sometimes recorded as Bernard) CONDREN, who married Bridget FOGARTY in 1873. I believe they had two children: John (1876) and Thomas (1878). By 1901, Brian has died and his widow Bridget and son John are living in the townland of Uskerty, together with Brian's sister Eliza. By 1911, Eliza has died but Mary and her son John are still living in Uskerty. Two years later, in 1913, John married a Julia BANIM in Coon, Co. Kilkenny, and their descendants now live in Ireland, England and Australia. I am grateful to correspondent Kathy Clare who has given me information about this CONDREN line.

As always, I would welcome any corrections or additional information about the topic of this post: email condran [AT] one-name.org .

Marriages and Deaths

Newspapers provide a great additional resource for tracing family ancestors, particularly from the second half of the nineteenth century onwards. Below are some announcements of marriages and deaths that appeared in the Dublin newspaper, The Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser, between 1874 and 1895.

According to the British Library newspapers website, The Freeman's Journal was established in Dublin in 1763. It was a four-page daily paper until it doubled in size in 1872. In 1854 at least three Irish newspapers enjoyed far larger readerships than the Journal, but by 1900 it could claim to be the leading Irish newspaper. 

Marriages

Wed Oct 18, 1876
CONDRON and CULLEN - Oct. 15, at the Church of the Star of the Sea Irishtown, by the Rev. Thomas Leahy, CC, Mr. Francis Condron to Alicia, second daughter of Mr. Wm Cullen.

Sat Feb 14 1880
WHITE and CONDREN - Feb. 9, at the Church of SS. Mary and Peter, Arklow, by the Rev. J. Dunphy, P.P., Michael, third son of the late James White, of Killabegs, to Honora (Oney), second daughter of Morgan Condren, Scarnagh, county Wexford.

Wed Feb 20 1884
CONDREN and WOOLOHAN - Feb 19, 1884, at Ballycooly Catholic Church, by the Rev P Germain, PP, Avoca, assisted by the Rev J Dunphy, PP, Arklow, and the Rev N Barry, CC, Avoca, Daniel Condren, TC, Arklow, youngest son of the late Thomas Condren, to Julia, eldest daughter of the late Edward Woolohan, Ballykilagar, county Wicklow.

Sat Aug 8 1891 
CONDREN and SHEEHAN - July 29, 1891, at the RC Church, Johnstown, Co Wicklow, by the Rev Pierce O'Donnell, Edward, youngest son of Morgan Condren, Scarnagh, to Mary, second daughter of Andrew Sheehan, PLG, Barnaclay, Arklow.

Sat Oct 22 1892
GRANELL and CONDREN - October 17, 1892, at St Patrick's Church, Castletown, by the Rev James Dunphy, PP, assisted by the Rev LJ Farrelly, CC, Rev P Doyle, CC, &c, Peter, son of the late John Granell, Esq, Curranstown, Arklow, to Sarah, eldest daughter of the late John Condren, Esq, Hill View, Arklow.


Deaths

Mon Mar 9 1874
CONDRON - March 8, at her residence, 2 Little Strand-street, Mrs. Mary Condron, the beloved wife of Mr. Michael Condron, aged 87 years. Her remains will be removed on to-morrow (Tuesday) morning at ten o'clock to Glasnevin Cemetery. Friends please accept this notice.

Thu May 7 1874
CONDREN - May 6th, at his residence, Main-street, Arklow, Thomas Condren, aged 58 years. His remains will be interred in Castletown on to-morrow (Friday).

Fri Jan 24 1879
CONDRAN - Jan. 22, at Cork-street Hospital, Patrick Francis Condran, late of Kiltegan, county Wicklow, aged 30 years, deeply and deservedly regretted. R.I.P. American papers please copy.

Tue Aug 19 1879
CONDREN - Aug. 18, at his residence, 2 Little-strand-street, Mr Michael Condren, aged 76. Interment at 10 o'clock on to-morrow (Wednesday) at Glasnevin.

Mon Feb 2 1880
CONDRON - Jan. 31, at his residence, 10 Poplar-row, Spring-gardens, Mr John Condron, aged 82 years, fortified by the rites of the Holy Catholic Church. His remains will be removed to Glasnevin Cemetery at 10 o'clock on to-morrow (Tuesday) morning. R.I.P.

Tue Sep 12 1882
CONDRON - Sept 1, 1882, at her residence, 133 North Strand road, fortified by the rites of the Catholic Church, Mrs Bridget Condron, aged 75 years. RIP.

Fri Sep 14 1883
CONDREN - Sept 9, 1883, at his residence, Hill View, Gorey, John Condren, aged 80 years, deeply regretted by his wife and family and numerous firends. R I P. American and Australian papers please copy.

Tue Sep 22 1885
CONDRON - Sept 21, 1885, at 24 Little Mary street, after a short illness, to the inexpressible grief of his [...] and family, Charles Condron, aged 29 years. RIP. Funeral will leave above address at 2 o'clock to-morrow (Wednesday) for interment at St Margaret's.

Mon Sep 6, 1886
CONDRIN - August 30, 1886, Anna Maria, eldest daughter of the late John Condrin, Hill View, Gorey. R I P. Interment on yesterday after Solemn Office and High Mass.

Mon Jun 4 1888
CONDRON - June 3, 1888, at her residence, 4 Nicholas street, Mrs Elizabeth Condron, aged 34 years, to the inexpressible grief of her sorrowing husband and family. RIP. Interment on to-morrow (Tuesday) morning at 10 30 o'clock for Glasnevin Cemetery. Provincial papers please copy.

Wed Jun 20 1888
CONDRON - Jun 19, 1888, at his residence, 6 Green street, after a short illness, Michael Condron, fortified by the rites of the Holy Catholic Church, to the inexpressible grief of his wife and family. RIP. Interment at two o'clock on to-morrow (Thursday) at St Margaret's.

Sat Mar 23 1889
CONDRAN - March 22, 1889, at 105 Upper Dorset street, Mr John Condran, late of Tullamore, of acute bronchitis, deeply and deservedly regretted by his sorrowing wife and a large circle of friends. On his soul sweet Jesus have mercy. Interment at Rincle, Tullamore.

Wed May 25 1892
CONDRON - May 24, 1892, at her residence, 41 Lower Sheriff street, Mrs Bridget Condron, after a long and painful illness, fortified by the rites of the Holy Church. May she rest in peace. Interment in Glasnevin Cemetery at 10 30 o'clock on to-morrow (Thursday) morning.

Thu Aug 4 1892
CONDRON - August 3, 1892, at Jervis street Hospital, Thomas Condron, aged 31 years. RIP. Funeral at 10.30 to-morrow (Friday) morning from 4 Nicholas st. Provincial papers please copy.

Sat Feb 10 1894
CONDRON - Feb 8, 1894, at Clarendon street, Mary Madeline, the darling child of Mary and Edward Condron, Stn-Sergt DMP, aged 1 1/2 years. Funeral will leave at 10 30 o'clock on this (Saturday) morning for Glasnevin Cemetery.

Tue Aug 13 1895
CONDRON - August 12, 1895, at her residence, 39 Belton[?] street, Mary, the beloved wife of John Condron, and daughter of the late Michael Byrne, Garr. King' County. RIP. Interment in Glasnevin cemetery on to-morrow (Wednesday) morning, 14 inst, at 11 o'clock. Friends please accept this notice.


 

CONDR*N migrants to the USA from Ireland

I have barely begun to scratch the surface of researching CONDR*Ns in the USA. It's a big area of research: according to ancestry.com, there were 1,086 CONDR*Ns in the 1900 US census, 1,315 in the 1910 census, 1,497 in the 1920 census, and 1,537 in the 1930 census. The 1910 US census seems as good a place to start as any.

Given my databases of CONDR*Ns in Ireland in the nineteenth century and in the Irish censuses of 1901 and 1911, I decided to look first at CONDR*Ns in the 1910 US census who were born in Ireland. I have restricted myself initially to looking only at male heads of household who were born in Ireland. There are 37 of them. They are listed below in alphabetical order of state, with their town of residence, occupation, year of birth, year of arrival in the USA, and year of marriage and wife's name if applicable. Note that all dates are somewhat approximate, as they are based on the information given to the census collector and may be out by one year or even more.

Do you know more about any of these people, where in Ireland they came from, or what ship they arrived on when they came to the USA? Perhaps you are descended from one of them. If so, I'd be very pleased to hear more from you, either by adding a comment to this blog or by email to condran[AT]one-name.org (replace the "[AT]" with "@").

CONDR*N male heads of household in the US 1910 census who were born in Ireland

• Bernard CONDRON, Hartford, Connecticut (Gardener), born about 1874 immigrated to US 1881, married about 1906, Mary
• Patrick J. CONDRON, Hartford, Connecticut (Painter), born about 1864, arrived in USA 1880, married about 1904, Mary
• Michael CONDRON, Hartford, Connectict (Conductor), born about 1882, arrived in USA 1905, married about 1906, Helen
• Luke F. CONDRON, Chicago, Illinois (Laborer), born about 1867, arrived in USA 1884, married about 1882, Kate
• James CONDREN, La Salle, Illinois, born about 1848, arrived in USA 1855, married about 1877, Sarah
• Robert CONDRON, La Salle, Illinois, born about 1842, arrived in USA 1868
• Patrick CONDRON, Clay, Indiana (Farmer), born about 1855, arrived in USA 1880, married about 1894, Jane
• Mike CONDRAN, Eminence, Kentucky (Farmer), born about 1846, married about 1880, Phoebe
• John CONDRON, Berkshire, Massachusetts (Laborer), born about 1857, arrived in USA 1870, married about 1890, Susan
• Patrick CONDRON, Berkshire, Massachusetts (Turnkey), born about 1849, arrived in USA 1868, married about 1876, Mary
• Michael CONDRON, Berkshire, Massachusetts (Saloon proprietor), born about 1852, arrived in USA 1875, married about 1877, Maria
• James CONDRON, Jersey City, New Jersey, born about 1838, arrived in USA 1860, married about 1864, Mary
• John CONDRON, Auburn, New York (Laborer), born about 1857, arrived in USA 1875,, married about 1881, Catherine
• James CONDRON, Bronx, New York (Laborer), born about 1866, arrived in USA 1885, married about 1891, Nora
• Matthew CONDRON, Brooklyn, New York (Clerk in grocery store), born about 1867, arrived in USA 1893, married about 1887, Sarah
• Patrick T. CONDRON, Brooklyn, New York (Engineer), born about 1868, arrived in USA 1883, married about 1893, Hattie
• Simon CONDRON, Buffalo, New York (Engineer), born about 1867, arrived in USA 1879  
• Robert J. CONDREN, Buffalo, New York (Coachman), born about 1865, arrived in USA 1888, married about 1895, Margaret
• Matthew CONDRON, Lewiston, New York (Farmer), born about 1843, arrived in USA 1856, married about 1888, Bridget
• Thomas[?] CONDRON, Manhattan, New York (Guard), born about 1882, arrived in USA 1898, married about 1905, Nellie
• Bernard CONDRAN, Manhattan, New York (Driver), born about 1860, arrived in USA 1874, married about 1894, Mary
• Michael CONDRON, Manhattan, New York (Watchman), born about 1850, arrived in USA 1872, married about 1874, Bridget
• Michael CONDREN, Manhattan, New York (Clerk – grocery), born about 1866, arrived in USA 1888, married about 1895, Ellen
• James CONDRON, Manhattan, New York (Clerk –groceries), born about 1875, arrived in USA 1897, married about 1901, Mary
• Thomas J. CONDREN, Queens, New York (Driver), born about 1867, arrived in USA 1884, married about 1895, Julia
• Lawrence CONDREN, Royalton, New York (Farmer), born about 1846, arrived in USA 1868, married about 1883, Johanna
• Robert CONDRON, Washington, New York (Laborer), born about 1852, arrived in USA 1868  
• John J. CONDRON, Ashtabula, Ohio (Engineer), born about 1874, arrived in USA 1876, married about 1898, Jennie
• Michael CONDREN, Cincinnati, Ohio (Chauffeur), born about 1868, arrived in USA 1885, married about 1903, Julia
• Thomas B. CONDRON, Springfield, Ohio (Machinist), born about 1847, married about 1875, Margaretta
• John CONDRON, Lower Merion, Pennsylvania (Coachman), born about 1880, arrived in USA 1901, married about 1906, Margaret
• Thomas CONDRON, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Laborer), born about 1869, arrived in USA 1889, married about 1891, Annie
• Dennis CONDRON, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Melter - US Mint), born about 1858, arrived in USA 1881, married about 1890, Mary
• Patrick CONDRON, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Dyer), born about 1862, arrived in USA 1884, married about 1887, Jennie
• Daniel CONDRON, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Paster), born about 1874, arrived in USA 1901, married about 1906, Cathrine
• Patrick R. CONDRON Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Warehouse man), born about 1865, arrived in USA 1883, married about 1886, Mary
• Patrick CONDRON, Watertown, Wisconsin, born about 1820, arrived in USA 1851  

I'll post here more about the origins of these CONDR*Ns in Ireland and their journeys to the USA as I research them. If you know about any of these people, please help me add those details by commenting or emailing me: condran[AT]one-name.org (replace "[AT]" with "@"). Thank you!

CONDR*Ns of County Cork

County Cork is the largest county in Ireland, at 2,895 square miles. Cork city is the largest city in the province of Munster, and the second largest city in the south of Ireland. It is therefore not surprising at first sight that a number of CONDRONs I’ve had contact with on email and Facebook relate their roots back to Co. Cork. 

Yet in fact, the nineteenth century and early twentieth century records show that there were not many CONDR*Ns in Co. Cork, and most of those came from the small Roman Catholic parish of Shandrum in the north of the county, close to the border with Co. Limerick. (There were even fewer CONDR*Ns in Co. Limerick.)

From the start of civil registration of births in Ireland in 1864 through to 1911, there were only 30 CONDR*N births registered in Co. Cork. Nineteen of those (nearly two-thirds of the total) were in the registration district of Kanturk, which contains the parish of Shandrum. And seven births in the neighbouring registration district of Kilmallock are all for the family of James CONDRON who was baptised in Shandrum parish in 1853, son of Patrick CONDRON and Margaret REIDY. The names Denis and Michael seem to be common amongst the male Shandrum CONDRONs, but John, William, George, Richard, Patrick, James, Timothy, Simon, Arthur, Jeremiah and David also occur.

There were 24 CONDR*Ns in Co. Cork in the 1901 census by my count, out of 839 CONDR*Ns in the whole of Ireland, and 25 in Co. Cork in the 1911 census. The only CONDR*Ns in Co. Cork in the 1911 census who were not born in that county were:  

• Joseph CONDREN in Ballymurphy, who was born in Stradbally, Queen’s County (Co. Laois) in about 1896 to James CONDRON and Bridget HEWITT;
• Denis CONDRON and his family in Knocktemple, who was born in London in about 1855 (though I have not found any record of this birth); and 
• Michael CONDRON in the city of Cork, who was born in Queen’s County in about 1835, married Elizabeth PRICE in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and had eight children (born variously in Wales and Scotland) before he returned with Elizabeth to Ireland.

After 1911 the number of births and marriages in Kanturk registration district declined. More and more births and marriages took place in Cork registration district, which includes the city of Cork, starting with the marriages there of Thomas CONDRON in 1915, Albert CONDRON in 1920, and James CONDRON in 1924.

 

Name variants

Today is the Thanksgiving holiday, so first of all Happy Thanksgiving to all U.S. Condrans, Condrens, Condrins and Condrons! I don't know exactly how many people that is, but at the time of the 1930 census (the most recent U.S. census to be publicly viewable), the index on ancestry.com shows there were 1488 people in the U.S.A. with the name CONDR?N (where ? stands for any one letter), namely 226 CONDRANs, 336 CONDRENs, 31 CONDRINs and 906 CONDRONs. (The reason these numbers don't add up to exactly 1488 is presumably that a few entries have been indexed under more than one spelling.)

As this one-name study has developed, I have realized that surnames can often be misspelled, and that names people go by can evolve according to local pronunciations etc. particularly in the nineteenth century and earlier, before widespread literacy. I do still regard CONDON as a distinct name different from the ones under study here (even though CONDRON can sometimes be misspelled in the records as CONDON). But the following name variants can I think all be considered to be related, and therefore relevant to this one-name study. I have grouped them according to their being most common, uncommon, rare, and then those instances that possibly only occur as misspellings.

Most common
CONDREN, CONDRON, CONRAN

Uncommon
CONDRAN, CONRON

Rare
CONARON, CONDERAN, CONDRIN, CON(N)ERAN, CON(N)ORAN, CONRYN

Possibly only occur as misspellings
CONARAN, CONDERON, CONDORAN, CONDORON, CONDRUN, CONERIN, CON(N)ERON, CONORON, CONREN, CONRIN

I stand ready to be corrected!

It is interesting to speculate whether CONDRON and CONRAN, for instance, are more ancient in usage than CONDRAN, say, and if so whether CONDRAN is a corruption deriving originally from CONDRON or from CONRAN.

So to summarize, the names whose instances need to be collected in pre-twentieth century records in order to try to understand present-day distributions and origins of CONDRANs, CONDRENs, CONDRINs and CONDRONs are of the form CON*R?N, where ? is a single letter and * is any number of letters (including none); but excluding names of the form CONC*R?N which I consider to be distinct from those under study here. In searching indices etc. for possibly occurrences of the study names, I use these searches with the wildcards * and ? when the search engines permit:
CONA*R?N
COND*R?N
CONE*R?N
CONN*R?N
CONO*R?N
CONR?N

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

CONDR*N News - 1881

To continue this occasional series, I turned to the papers in the British Library on-line collection for 1881. It appears not to have been such an eventful year as 1871 for CONDR*Ns, though I did find a new piece of information about my great-grandfather Joseph CONDRAN.

Two CONDR*N policemen testified in court proceedings. In the Leeds police court, Police Constable CONDREN made a report; and in a Dublin coroner's inquest into the death of a policeman during an affray, acting-Sergeant 24C Edward CONDRON testified.

[Leeds Mercury, 9 Aug; Freeman's Journal, 27 Sep]

Another witness in a coroner's court was Joseph CONDRAN, butler, who was called as witness at the inquest into the death of his employer Samuel John TRUMAN, surgeon, who resided at Basford, Nottingham. The jury found that the deceased died from heart disease.

[Nottinghamshire Guardian, 11 Mar]

Private John CONDRON of the 41st Regiment, stationed in Cardiff, was charged with smashing two windows: he was fined 1 shilling for being drunk, and was sentenced either to pay for the glass or else to face seven days' hard labour: it is not recorded which he chose. And in Liverpool, Ann CONNOLLY and Bridget CONDRON were each sentenced to five years' penal servitude for stealing money from the persion of Patrick Kearney.

[Western Mail, 6 Jan; Liverpool Mercury, 21 Apr.]

The British government was engaged in fighting the Boers in the Transvaal War. Many newspapers reported the casualties, which included Private CONDRON of the 58th Regiment who was seriously wounded at Mount Prospect.

[The Standard (London) 22 Feb]

On a more domestic front, Miss F. CONDREN (listed amonst the people of Arklow and Woodenbridge) donated to the Political Prisoners' Sustenation Fund, and J. CONDREN of Avoca donated to the collection for Our Holy Father Pope Leo XIII. Also, D. CONDREN (or J. D. CONDREN) was reported several times as having attended the weekly meeting of the National Land League in Uppers Sackville Street [, Dublin]. And a pupil called CONDRON ("CONDRON II") at the Merchant Taylors' school in Crosby, Lancashire, was commended for English Subjects at the annual school Prize Day.

[Freeman's Journal, 17 Dec; ibid, 2 Aug; ibid, 25 May, 13 Jul; Liverpool Mercury, 30 Jun]

Most mentions in the year are of Caption CONDRON, who is listed in many advertisements in the Liverpool Mercury as caption of the City of Brussels of the Inman Line. This Royal Mail steamer was at this time sailing the route between Liverpool and New York, via Queenstown. I believe this is Capt. Henry Ainsworth CONDRON referred to in my blog post of 23 February 2009 concerning Charles CONDRON, silk manufacturer

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!

CONDR*Ns in the Proceedings of the Old Bailey

The historical records of proceedings of the Old Bailey, London's central criminal court, which have recently gone on-line at http://www.oldbaileyonline.org, reveal a few CONDRENs and CONDRONs who paid dearly for breaking the law.

1726 December 7 James COWDON alias CONDRON Theft - grand larceny
James Cowdon, alias Condron , was indicted for stealing a Fustian Frock, Value 10 Shillings, a Wig 7 Shillings, a pair of Shoes 3 Shillings, a Leather Apron and 2 Linnen Handkerchiefs , Oct. 29 .
John Baxter depos'd. That he found the Goods upon the Prisoner in Clement's Lane in Clare-Market, the Sunday was Sev'night after.
The Prisoner said he was sorry for it, and intended to bring the Goods again. The Jury found him guilty to the Value of 10d.
Punishment: Transported.

1748 July 6 Thomas CONDRON Theft - receiving
Catharine Bourne was indicted for breaking and entering the dwelling-house of William Simpson , about the hour of two in the night, and stealing two silver spoons, a ham of bacon, a table-cloth, two pewter dishes, and one hundred and eight glass bottles, the property of William Simpson , in his dwelling-house. Thomas Condron was indicted for receiving a ham of bacon, and two pewter plates, part of the said goods, knowing them to be stolen , June 12 .
Punishment: Thomas CONDRON was sentenced to be transported for 14 years.

1831 October 21 John CONDREN Theft - stealing from master.
JOHN CONDREN was indicted for stealing, on the 29th of September , two 100l. Bank notes, and an order for payment of 30l. , the property of John Phillips Beavan , his master.
MR. JOHN PHILLIPS BEAVAN . I am a solicitor , and live in Sackville-street - the prisoner was in my service as porter for about eight months. On Thursday, the 29th of September, I gave him two 100l. Bank notes and a cheque for 30l.; I desired him to leave the two 100l. notes at my bankers, Sir C. Scott and Co., and to bring me the money for the cheque - he did not return; I found him in custody at Liverpool on the following Monday; when I went into the room I said."I am sorry to see you in this situation: you are the last man in the world I should suppose would be guilty of such conduct" - he said he was very sorry for it, that it was the first time he had ever committed a wrong act, and he said a 100l. note which was found on him was mine also one hundred and three sovereigns, which he said he got in exchange for the other 100l. note and the cheque- I have recovered 203l.
Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. You believe it is his first offence? A. Yes - he bore an excellent character from several masters with whom he lived many years- he could have robbed me of 700l. the day before.
JOHN McCOMB . I am an officer of Liverpool. I apprehended the prisoner - Mr. Beavan's evidence is correct.
GUILTY . Aged 27.
Strongly recommended to Mercy by the Prosecutor and Jury.
Punishment: Transported for 7 years.

1887 April 25 George Stratford CONDREN Theft - mail theft
GEORGE STRATFORD CONDREN (22) PLEADED GUILTY to three indictments for stealing while employed in the Post-office three letters containing orders for the payment of money, the property of Her Majesty's Postmaster-General, also to four indictments for forging and uttering receipts to the said orders.
Punishment: 5 years' penal servitude.