I am inspired to write to the list after reading Arthur Carden's recent interesting
messages. I have been subscribing to the list for less than a year but in that time I
have only seen messages about American Carden family history. No disrespect to you
Americans: I am most envious of this great exchange of information you have and enjoy
reading about your various families. You may remember that some months ago I did put out
an enquiry for Edward Carden, a soldier in Yorkshire, but apart from that it has remained
a mystery to me as to why Cardens in other parts of the world never take advantage of the
list.
My husband, Fred, is descended from the Sligo/Mayo/Liverpool branch. At present we have
not been able to get any further back than Thomas Carden and Bridget Swift who married in
Liverpool in 1833. They were both born in Ballina, Co. Mayo and we have come across other
Cardens who arrived from Ireland around that time, and later, some of whom were or could
be related to Thomas. They are all Catholic though Edward the soldier mentioned above was
protestant and is the ancestor of another unrelated Carden interested in her family's
history. We have both kept Arthur informed of our findings.
For some reason various Carden relatives are convinced they are descended from the Spanish
Cardenas who ended up in Ireland after the their ships came to grief during the invasion
of the Spanish Armada. ( I have come across a Cardenas Steam-packet office in Liverpool
in the 1890s). I will have to show them Arthur's Origin of the Cardens to see what
they make of that!
Anyway, it would be great to hear from some other Carden branches and I see we have made a
start with today's message from Dave Collins.
Best wishes to all,
Lynn Bateman (Liverpool,UK)
Aigburthlynn(a)tesco.net