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 Troops were withdrawn from Anzac and Sulva in mid-December 1915, and the last Allied troops were withdrawn from Helles on the night of 8 January 1916.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

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 .

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.

 

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