It is widely believed that Carden, Carwardine, Calladine (and a lot of other
names such as Cardin, Cardon, Kerwin and so on) are variants of the original
CAWARDEN name found in Cheshire, England in the 14 century and before.
Indeed I have found evidence that Cawarden was actually pronounced Carden,
in the way that a place in Cheshire spelled Hawarden is pronounced Harden by
the locals. Sir Thomas Cawarden, knighted by Henry VIII, was often spelled
Carden in court correspondence.
So I was very pleased to persuade someone called Calladine to give a sample
for DNA analysis to find out if he matched any of us.
The amazing thing is that his closest match is to Terry Carden of Arizona
who traces his ancestry from County Mayo on the west coast of Ireland! As
those who have read my DNA reports will know I had pretty much decided that
the Co Mayo Cardens were a completely different 'sept,' nothing whatever to
do with the Cheshire Cardens to which most of us belong.
If anyone would like me to send them my rather lengthy analysis of this
amazing finding, please contact me direct and I will send it to them with
pleasure.
Arthur Carden of Horsham, England.