Charles CONDRON silk manufacturer

One of the more well-to-do CONDRONs I have found in 19th century England was Charles CONDRON, silk manufacturer of Macclesfield, Cheshire. Charles CONDRON was born in about 1805 in Macclesfield, a town renowned for its silk manufacture. He appears in the 1841 census as a clerk, and in 1851 as a silk manufacturer. With his wife, Ann, he had five daughters and one son, all born in Macclesfield: Emma (born c. 1825), Anne (born c. 1830), Elizabeth (born c. 1833), Mary (born c. 1835), Harriette (born 1841/2) and Henry Ainsworth CONDRON (born 1838). Emma married John TURNER in 1846/7; Ann married John Gerhard TIARKS, sometime rector of Loxton, Somerset, in 1862/3; Harriette married William Lawrence KENT in 1868. Harriette was evidently musical: she was "specially commended" in the first competition for the Potter Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Music, according to a report in the Daily News (London) of 22 December 1860.

On 23 January 1866 at St. Saviours, South Hampstead, Henry Ainsworth CONDRON married Johanna Louisa Augusta BISHOP, daughter of Sir Henry R. BISHOP, professor of music at the University of Oxford: they were married by Henry's brother-in-law the Rev. J. Gerhard TIARKS. Johanna died on 25 September 1875 "after a short illness", but not before the couple had had two sons and two daughters: Henry Bishop (b. 1866/7), Charles Percy (b. 1868), Emma Louise (b. 1872) and Alice Riviere (b. 1874). Captain Henry Ainsworth CONDRON, by then of Blundellsands near Liverpool, subsequently married Jane Lawrence KENT in 1880: he died in 1889. His widow Jane died on 9 March 1900. Henry Bishop CONDRON died in Santos, Brazil, of the yellow fever in April 1893, aged 26 years, as reported in the Liverpool Mercury of 15 April of that year. The other son, Charles Percy CONDRON, married Florence Alice E. HUNT, made his living as a ship store dealer, and died in 1946 in Liverpool.

Charles CONDRON was declared bankrupt in 1855: in 1861 he is described as a "manager in a silk mill". He died on 19 Feb 1869. His widow Ann outlived him by 14 years and died in 1882/3.

As always, I would be delighted to hear from any descendants.

CONDR*N update

Its been a while since I posted, though the CONDR*N one-name study has not been inactive! New records of births for County Wicklow have been put online by the Irish Family History Federation (IFHF - see the blog entry for 5 April 2008), which is an important county for CONDR*Ns with over 250 entries, particularly in Arklow. Also I'm happy to have had contact with a couple of people decended from the Condron brushmakers featured in the posting of 12 October 2008. And I discovered recently two more Facebook Groups devoted to Condrons: "Condron Family Tree" and "Condrons" - it's great to see some younger(!) Condr*ns also interested in tracing family roots.

In the UK the 1911 census for much - not yet all - of England has been released online. To date I have traced 231 CONDR*Ns, and no doubt this number will increase particularly when County Durham goes online, as well as the Welsh counties.

Another important development has been the pilot-version release of Irish civil births, marriages and deaths indices for 1845-1958 at the Family Search Record Search. Previously these were only available as far as I know by visiting the records office in Ireland. Of course I am extracting all the CONDR*Ns and so should be able to help if anyone is looking for a CONDR*N in Ireland in that time frame.

That's a quick update. Do keep those emails coming!

William Condron of HMS Strafford

The oldest CONDR*N document of which I have a copy is the will of William Condron, dated 1744:

I William Condron Mariner now belonging to his Majesty's Ship Strafford being of sound and disposing Mind and Memory, do hereby make this my last Will and Testament. ...[A]s for such worldly Estate and Effects which I shall be possessed of or intitled unto at the Time of my Decease, I give and bequeath the same as followeth that is to say unto my loving Friend Ann Grafton of Portsmouth in the county of Hants. All such Wages Sum and Sums of Money Goods Chattles Estate Rights and Credits whatsoever that I shall be possessor of at the time of my Decease I give and bequeath to the said Ann Grafton her Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns. And I do hereby nominate constitute and appoint the said Ann Grafton sole Executrix of this my last Will and Testament. ... In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twentieth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand and seven hundred and forty four and in the eighteenth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second ... .

Does anyone have any older CONDR*N documents?

The oldest CONDR*N events in my database are a marriage and christening in St. Giles, Cripplegate, London, in 1578: Ann, daughter of John CONDRON, christened on 24 August; and John CONDRON marrying Katheren HEWETT on 16 November of the same year. Both of these are from the International Genealogical Index (IGI).

The next oldest events, over 100 years later in Dublin and also from the IGI, are at St Michan's, Dublin: the marriage of Robert CONDRAN and Mary CARLETON on 31 July 1695, and the christening of their son Richard on 31 August 1697.

Does anyone know of any older CONDR*N events?

CONDRANs of Nova Scotia

I'm grateful to Darrell Condran of Nova Scotia, Canada, administrator of the Condran Clan group on Facebook, for permission to share this picture of Condran's Grocery in Woodside, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. John Condran, who was Darrell's ggg-grandfather, was one of the original settlers of Woodside, Dartmouth, in the mid-nineteenth century. There have been CONDRANs in Nova Scotia ever since. The store in Woodside was founded by Darrell's g-grandfather. Darrell took the picture about 30 years ago, since which the store has been demolished.

The Condran Clan group connects Condrans from across the world, including Australia, Canada and the USA. If you are a Condran I encourage you to go and find the group on Facebook!

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!

CONDRON ancestor pictures?

Does anyone have pictures of their CONDR*N ancestors from the 19th or early 20th century? If so, I would be delighted to feature them in this blog with some biographical detail of the ancestor. Please email me at condran@one-name.org and share with the rest of us the pictures of your CONDR*N ancestors.

CONDRON brush-makers of North London

Today I feature a CONDRON family in 19th century North London. These CONDRONs were brush-makers for at least two generations. One of them (probably Richard CONDRON, see below) was interviewed on 12 September 1893 about conditions in the brush-making trade: the interview (of which I have a copy) can be found in the collection of social reformer Charles Booth (pictured left) in the library of the London School of Economics. The patriarch of this family was Thomas CONDRON, brush-maker, who was born in Blackfriars, Surrey (UK) in c.1809 and died in the St Pancras district of North London in 1858. He married Charlotte BARRETT and they had three children of whom I am aware: Thomas William (b. c.1834), Richard (b. c.1835) and Charlotte (b. 1843). Charlotte married a Charles DUTTON in Islington in 1861. The brothers were both brush-makers. Thomas married Mary Ann BRAY in Islington in 1861, and died in Islington in 1908: the family are to be found in Wedmore Street in the 1891 census and not far away in Hargrave Park ten years later. Richard and his wife Sarah are found in Offord Road in 1891 and in Thornhill Crescent in the 1901 census. Both are close to the Caledonian Road in North London, which is apparently where the Mr Condron interviewed by Charles Booth had his premises. Mr Condron made "fancy work": hair brushes, clothes brushes and hat brushes. It is evident that by the 1890s times were not so easy for the English brush-making trade: the good times were the 1870s in the aftermath of the Franco-German war when those two nations were struggling to recover from the dislocation of their trade.

I have more extensive information about this family into the twentieth century if any members of the family wish to contact me off-line.