295103 Petty Officer Stoker Edward CONDRON (1881 - 1914)

In the early months of the First World War, HMS Aboukir was part of a cruiser squadron assigned to patrol the North Sea in defence of the supply route between England and France. On 22 September 1914, the squadron was spotted by the German submarine U-9. The German U-boat closed in and fired a torpedo at the Aboukir. The boat sank within 20 minutes, with the loss of 527 lives. Its sister ships HMS Hogue and HMS Cressy rushed to assist the stricken Aboukir. As they were picking up survivors, the U-9 fired two torpedoes into the Hogue, sinking it. Seeing the submarine’s periscope, the captain of HMS Cressy realized that the squadron was being attacked by a submarine and tried to flee. However, the U-9 fired a further two torpedoes into the Cressy, sinking that ship also.

The engagement lasted only two hours. Britain lost three warships, and with them 62 officers and 1,397 other men. A complete list of the casualties and survivors can be found here . The losses shocked Britain and led to an official court of inquiry. The three warships, which were all Cressy-class armoured cruisers, were becoming obsolete by the start of the war. With their limited speed, they were supposed to progress in a zig-zag course to offer some protection from enemy attack. The court of inquiry held the two admirals of the cruiser squadron responsible for failings including disregard of advice that the ships should take a zig-zag course and that, on the torpedoing of the Aboukir, the other two ships should have steamed away in opposite directions rather than coming to the Aboukir’s aid.

Petty Officer Stoker Edward CONDRON (service no. 295103) lost his life on 22 September 1914 on board HMS Aboukir. He was born on 29 June 1881 in Battersea, Wandsworth, London, the son of Daniel and Hannah CONDRON.

Edward was admitted to the Sleaford Street School, Battersea, aged 3 years. Sleaford Street School opened in 1874 and was one of the 'Board Schools', which were established by the Elementary Education Act of 1870 and allowed children from poorer families to have a free education. 

Edward served in the South African War, according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and at the time of the 1911 census was a petty officer stoker aboard HMS Nubian. He married Sophia JACKSON in 1907 in the Wandsworth district of London. In the 1911 census Sophia is at home with their two children: Edward Daniel (born 1908) and Robert (1910).

Edward’s father Daniel CONDRON (or CONDRAN: this form appears in several records) was born in Maryborough, Queen’s County, Ireland, in about 1850. The modern name of Maryborough is Portlaoise. Daniel married Hannah WILSON in the Wandsworth district in 1880, and raised a family of at least five children. Their children were: Edward (born 1881), Mary (1883), Robert Daniel (1884), Florence (1886) and Hannah Ethel (1887): all were born in Battersea.

Edward CONDRON is memorialized on the Chatham Naval Memorial.

By coincidence, another stoker on the Aboukir who lost his life that day was married to a CONDRON. That man was Stoker James FLYNN, who married Mary CONDRON in 1898 in the West Derby district near Liverpool. As far as I am aware, there is no family link between Edward CONDRON and Mary CONDRON.

 

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

Senator Michael H. CONDRON

The Massachusetts State House, Boston (image copyright of  Shane Hawke - hawkebackpacking.com)

Michael Henry CONDRON, a three-term Democrat senator for Berkshire in the Massachusetts Senate, was born in Pittsfield, MA, on Feb. 13, 1882, and died there on 9 May 1966. A master plumber by trade, Michael CONDRON served a term in the Massachusetts House in 1939-1940 and three consecutive terms in the Massachusetts Senate 1945-1950. Following his defeat in the 1950 election, he was appointed director of civil service registration by Massachusetts Governer Dever.

Michael Henry CONDRON was the son of Irish immigrant Michael CONDRON, who married Maria KANE in Pittsfield, MA, on 12 April 1877. The 1900 census indicates that Michael and Maria had 14 children, of whom seven were still living at that time. These were: Lizzie (born 1879), John (1880), Michael Henry (1882), Katie (1884), Patrick (1886), Nellie (1888) and Annie (1891).

The marriage record of Michael CONDRON senior indicates that he was born in King's County, Ireland, in about 1851, and that his parents (and hence the grandparents of Michael Henry CONDRON) were Patrick and Bridget CONDRON. Interestingly, two other CONDRON men who were born in Ireland and lived and got married in Pittsfield also gave their parents' names as Patrick and Bridget. One was Patrick CONDRON, born in about 1845 in "Tolemore, Ireland" [possibly Tullamore, King's County], who married Mary LALLY (also variously recorded as LARLEY and LASLEY) in 1875. The other was John CONDRON, born in "Ireland" in about 1856, who married Susannah FEEHEY (or FERREY or FUREY) in 1889. Possibly Michael, Patrick and John were all brothers, though the evidence is not conclusive: Patrick and Bridget were quite common names in Ireland, and as yet I have not found three baptisms in Ireland to match these three men.

Michael Henry CONDRON married Mary Louise CULLEN on 11 October 1905 in Pittsfield. They had eight children: Edward Henry (1907), Mary Elizabeth (1908), Marjorie Louise (1910), Michael Harold (1912), John Farley Francis (1916), Francis Joseph (1918), Elizabeth Helen (1919) and Joseph James (1924). Francis Joseph CONDRON followed in his father's footsteps of public service, serving as city clerk for Pittsfield from 1971 until 1983.

As usual I welcome corrections or additional information, and would be particularly pleased to hear from anyone related to these CONDRONs. Leave a comment here or email me at CONDRAN[AT]ONE-NAME.ORG .

Finally, Happy New Year 2014 to Condrans, Condrens, Condrins and Condrons everywhere!

CONDR*Ns of County Durham

Painting of a colliery at Seaham, County Durham, in the mid-nineteenth century(courtesy of Google Art Project)

There were 208 CONDR*Ns in the 1881 census of England. After Lancashire (which then included both Manchester and Liverpool) and the greater London area, the county with most CONDR*Ns was County Durham in the north-east of England. The CONDR*Ns of County Durham were coal miners.

In County Durham in 1881, there were 21 CONDR*Ns in six households. (I include the family group of Thomas, Elizabeth and Elinor [sic] CONDEN, because earlier and subsequent records indicate that their family name was actually CONDRON.) These can be arranged into four (as yet) unconnected families.

Living in Brandon & Byshottles in 1881, Thomas CONDRON and his wife Ann were born in Ireland in about 1830. Thomas was a coal miner and died in Durham registration district (RD) in 1887. Ann died in 1896 and is buried in Redhills Roman Catholic Cemetery, as are various other family members. Thomas and Ann had children James (born about 1852), Thomas (1855), Michael (1862) and Patrick (1865). All the children were born in County Durham except Thomas, who was born in Ireland. Thomas (1855-1911) married Susannah THORNTON (1862-1927) in 1880 in Lanchester RD and they had children Mary Ann (1881), Catherine (1882), Susannah (1885), Jane (1886), Joseph (1888), Ellen (1890), Francis (1892), Veronica (1894) and Margaret (1896). Joseph married Maria O’DONNELL and there are CONDRON descendants of this couple in County Durham to this day. Michael (1862-1914) married Harriett  PAYNE in 1888, surprisingly in Kensington RD in London, and they had children John Thomas (1889), Ann (1890), Kathleen or Cathrine (1892), Mary Ellen (1894), Ann (1901) and Margaret (1908).

Living in Hutton Henry in 1881, James CONDREN, a coal miner, was born in Queens County, Ireland, in about 1843 and married Mary Ann McDERMOT(T) in Easington RD, County Durham, in 1869. James and Mary Ann had children Catherine (1871), John (1873), Alice (1874), Michael (1876), Mary (1878), Eliza Jane (1885) and Catherine Ann (1892), all born in Easington RD. Michael (1876-1957) married Sarah Ann SPELLMAN and there are still CONDREN descendants of this couple in the north-east of England.

Living in Wingate in 1881, William CONDREN, a coal miner, was born in Ireland in about 1844 and married Margaret GOUGH in about 1870 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. William and Margaret had children John (1871), Ann (1872), James Thomas (1880), Mary (1884) and Hugh (1890), all born in Easington RD. Interestingly, the family migrated to the USA in 1892, arriving into Philadelphia on board the British Princess on April 26^th of that year. The ship’s passenger list has: William CONDRON (40), miner; Margaret (35), wife; John (20), laborer; Ann (19), spinster; James (10), child; Mary (8), child; and Hugh, infant. Yet the family (or at least some of its members) returned to the UK, because William died in 1909 in the Sunderland RD, John got married in 1905 in the Houghton RD, etc.  John (1871-1932) married Dorothy SCORER and they had children Margaret (1905), Thomas William (1906), Michael (1908), Ann (1909) and Hugh (1911). Hugh had a son (also Hugh) and I believe that CONDREN descendants continue to live in the north-east of England.

Finally, living in Crook & Billy Row in 1881, Thomas CONDRON, a coal miner, was born in about 1856 in Queens County, Ireland. In 1878, he married Elizabeth PURCELL, who was born in about 1857 in County Kilkenny. They had children Eleanor (1878), James (1881), Elizabeth (1882), Thomas (1886), Andrew (1888), John (1891) and Margureta/Margaret (1896).

In my recent post, I suggested that Doonane in Queens County is a good place to look for coal mining CONDR*N ancestors who came from Ireland. Although the above information does not definitively link any of these miners to Doonane, it is not inconsistent with the idea either. Indeed, the two who state their county of origin both identify it as Queens County. Thomas (1855), son of Thomas and Ann, who was born back in Ireland, may be the Thomas who was baptised in Doonane parish in 1855. Alternatively, the Thomas living in Crook and Billy in 1881 could be identified with the Thomas baptised in Doonane in 1855, or else perhaps the Thomas son of James who was baptised in Doonane in  1853. Interestingly, in the 1911 census (where people often gave more detail about their origins) there is a 38-year old miner James CONDRON living in Esh Winning, Co. Durham, who states he was born in Doonane, as was his wife Mary and eldest child (also Mary).

As always, I welcome corrections or additional information: please note that quoted birth dates and so on may only be correct to within one year. I would also love to hear from descendants of any of the CONDRENs and CONDRONs mentioned here. Please send comments etc. to me at condran[AT]one-name.org .

Coal-mining CONDR*Ns in Ireland

Mines in Ireland - courtesy of the Northern Mine Research Society.

Sometimes we get a fixed idea that turns out to be unfounded. Until recently I thought that there were no coal mines or coal miners in Ireland: that’s why the Irish traditionally burned peat for cooking and heating. But there were CONDR*Ns in the censuses for England, Scotland and the USA who were coal miners. Indeed, there were also a few coal miners in the Irish censuses of 1901 and 1911.

I then obtained the marriage certificates of two CONDRONs getting married in the 1850s, near the coal-mining area of Shotts in Scotland. On 3 December 1855, Michael CONDRON/CONDRAN (a coal miner) married Bridget STAPLETON, both of Cleland, parish of Shotts. Michael gave his date and place of birth as 1830 in Queen’s County, Ireland, and his parents as Patrick CONDRON, coal miner (deceased) and Dolly CONDRON. On 21 February 1859, Patrick CONDRON/CONDRIN (an iron miner) of the parish of Shotts married Maria GORMLY: he too gave his parents as Patrick CONDRON, coal miner (deceased) and Dolly CONDRON. Clearly Michael and Patrick were brothers, and their father Patrick was a coal miner, presumably in Queen’s County, Ireland.

My erroneous assumption about coal mining based on the use of peat is perhaps understandable.. Samuel Lewis, in ‘A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland’ (published in 1837) writes: “The coal at Newtown and Doonane is equal to the best Kilkenny coal, and sells at 20s. per ton at the pits; that of the other collieries, though somewhat inferior, never sinks below the price of 17s. per ton. Hence the poor people, even in the immediate vicinity of the pits, cannot afford to use it, and it is entirely purchased by maltsters, brewers, distillers and smiths … .” So the common people did burn peat rather than coal for cooking and heating.

The map above, which shows locations of coal mines in Ireland through the last two hundred years, indicates from the clustering of symbols where coal mining was most abundant. (A few of the symbols, such as the one in County Wicklow south of Dublin, indicate mining of materials other than coal.) There are three main areas: a major cluster in the central midlands (north of Kilkenny) denoting the rich coalfield of Castlecomer, County Kilkenny, which extended north into Queen’s County around the area of Doonane; a distributed coalfield in the south west of Ireland, located west of Limerick and extending down into County Cork near Mallow; and a cluster in the northwest, east of Sligo, in County Tyrone. There is also a smaller cluster west of Kilkenny, in mid County Tipperary, and less significant occurrences in the northeast in County Antrim.

The coal mining area where CONDR*Ns were to be found in some numbers is in Queen’s County. Indeed, the six CONDR*N coal miners in the 1901 Irish census are in Doonane (4 men), Ballylehane, and Newtown, all in the southeast corner of Queen’s County. Doonane is in Rathaspick civil parish, Ballylehane and Newtown are in the next-door parish of Killabban. So, if you are looking for where a coal-mining CONDR*N ancestor came from in Ireland, this corner of Queen’s County is a good place to start.

A turtle called Condron

Condron the turtle (or friend). Photo courtesy of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.

I was lucky enough to spend the past few days snorkeling in the sea around Hawaii, swimming with green sea turtles and fish of all colors and sizes and seeing wonderful coral. It was like being right inside an aquarium. Which gives me the perfect excuse to write a blog post about a turtle called Condron!

Condron is a juvenile Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle that got stranded on South Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on April 21, 2013.  He (or maybe she?) was rehabbed by the wonderful folks at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island, Georgia, and was released back into the sea in Ponte Vedra on August 9, 2013.

And why is a turtle called Condron? Well, Condron was named after the person who found this turtle stranded on the beach. They have done a lot for the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, and so the turtle was named in their honor. I’m not going to speculate who that person is, but if they want to respond to this blog that would be great!

It turns out that this isn’t the first time that Condron has spent time with humans. Condron already had a transponder tag, and after a bit of searching it was discovered that Condron’s name used to be “Little Sunny”, and he/she was rehabbed over the winter of 2010 at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center on Topsail Island, North Carolina.

I am indebted to Kristin at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center for information about Condron the turtle. And if you are a CONDR*N in the Florida/Georgia area, it would be great to hear from you. As usual, you can leave a comment or email me at condran[AT]one-name.org (replace the [AT] with an @).

From Surrey, England, to Texas and the battlefields of France

Two soldiers of the 75th Battalion Canadian Infantry with a German prisoner, northern France, 1918. (Courtesy of Les Fowler and the Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group)

Next year is the centenary of the start of World War I (the Great War), and I shall mark the occasion with a series of blogs about CONDR*Ns who gave their lives in that war. But this blog is about the family of a man who bore the name "Condron" only as a middle name, who served in the 75th Battalion Canadian Infanty and who died in the fighting in northern France.

William Condron BRAY was born on September 19th, 1883, probably in Newington, Surrey, England, son of Joseph Sidney BRAY and Sophia Martha BRAY (nee CONDRON). His grandfather was William CONDRON, a bookseller in south London, who was born in about 1814 in Christchurch, Surrey. William (senior) married Sophia Martha HEATON in 1838. Sophia died in 1845 and was buried on January 23rd of that year at St. John's, Waterloo, Surrey, by which time the couple had already had two children: William CONDRON (born about 1839) and Sophia Martha CONDRON (born 1841).

At the time of the 1851 UK census, William CONDRON (senior) had apparently married a woman called Ann, but they still only had the two children William and Sophia Martha. Subsequently, a daughter Rebecca was born in 1851 and a son Henry Joseph was born in 1853. Daughter Sophia Martha married Joseph Sidney BRAY at St. Mary's, Newington, Surrey, in November 1869. I'm not sure what happened to William senior's wife Ann, but in 1860 he married Lydia PALLETT (nee PAINTER) at St. Peter's, Newington, Surrey. At the time of this marriage, William declared that his father was "William CONDRON, Gentleman". Possibly his father was the William CONDRON born in Blackfriars, in about 1787, who with his wife Frances had at least four other children, including Thomas (1810) and Sarah (1812) baptised at St. Ann's, Blackfriars, in the City of London, and also likely Elizabeth (1821) and John (1824). This William was an upholsterer (according to the 1861 census) and died in 1863.

Henry Joseph CONDRON, who was noted as a clerk in the 1871 UK census, emigrated to the USA in 1874, arriving into New York aboard the ship "Denmark" on May 9th of that year. In 1880, Henry was recorded in the US census of that year as a timekeeper and living in Galveston County, Texas. A year later, the 1881 UK census shows Lydia CONDRON (widow) and Rebecca CONDRON (unmarried) living in Newington, Surrey, in the household of Joseph and Sophia BRAY. Lydia died in Lambeth, Surrey, in 1892.

Sophia Martha BRAY (nee CONDRON) emigrated to the USA in 1889 with her husband Joseph Sidney BRAY, six children, and her sister Rebecca CONDRON, arriving into New York aboard the "Buffalo" on August 12th of that year. Her children and their given ages were Harry BRAY (19 years), Mabel (17), Esther (16), Sophia (12), Margaret (11) and William (5). The 1900 US Census for Galveston County, Texas, shows Sophia as widowed and living with three of her children and with her sister Rebecca in the household of brother Henry Joseph CONDRON and his wife Corrine. William C[ondron] BRAY is living with his married sister Esther HUGHES not far away.

The World War started in 1914, and somewhere William Condron BRAY joined the 75th Battalion Canadian Infantry. It is recorded that his parents were Joseph Sidney and Sophia Martha BRAY, and that he had a wife, Clara BRAY , of Houston, Texas. William travelled with his comrades to northern France and there, in the closing days of the war, he was killed in action by enemy shell fire on November 6th, 1918, during the attack and capture of town of Marchipont, just east of Valenciennes. The armistice that ended the war was declared five days later.

If anyone knows more about the families mentioned in this post, I would be grateful to hear from them. Also I am keen to hear from anyone the stories of their CONDR*N ancestors who died in the Great War. Please email me at condran[AT]one-name.org .