This is a place for any Dowden families out there who have roots in Caribbean islands (possibly liked with Chandler, Gill, Greaves, Medford, Searles, Whitehead, and others).

Examples:
Doyle Percival Dowden (Trinidad) was nephew of Violet and Shirey Dowden. He married Addie Toyer. The Toyer family are linked with the WHITEHEAD family of Grenada.

On the 31 August 2009 Barbara Judy Dowden (Trinidad) wrote:
My mother Violet is daughter of William and Lousie (Millie) Dowden... Lousie Catherine (Mimmie) was her mother's aunt. I'd would like to know who are the two children that William Dowden had with Emily ...are they Miles and Willie Dowden?

Can anyone shed any light...

On the 31 August 2009 Stacey Searles writes:
"My great grandfather Percival was brother to the Eddie Searles that was married to LOUISE DOWDEN.  Percivals sister Emily (Emile) had children with WILLIAM DOWDEN.  Those children were Miles and Willie. Willie's 2nd wife was the sister of my Grandfather David Searles.....her name was Letitia 'Letty' Searles.  They had 3 kids together: Agnes, Louis and Valerie."

On 1 September 2009 Barbara Judy Dowden (Trinidad) wrote:
"My mother is a Dowden from Grenada, she is the oldest DOWDEN alive from the original clan. She is 90 years old, her father was WILLIAM (willie) DOWDEN and her mother was LOUISE DOWDEN whose maiden name was Chandler.

My mother's grandparents I believe was Howell Christopher Dowden (c.1856 B'dos-1895 G'da) and Elizabeth Frances 'Eliza' Munro (c.1853 Jam-1901 G'da).

My grandfather William Dowden had sisters - Florie Dowden (who was married Nathaniel Greaves), Lottie Dowden (who married Fredrick Greaves), Mimie Dowden, Lolie Dowden, Lousie Dowden (who married Eddie Searles), and a brother Dorsie Dowden (who married Emmie). William Dowden died on the 27 May 1936, my mother was 17 years when he died.

My mother's brothers and sisters are Lewis, Arthur (who married Norrie), Irene (who married an Edwards), Shirley (married Herman Edwards), Franklyn (married Nesta Chandler), Joe (married Doreen), Lenny (married Baby), Johnny (married Mary) and my mother Violet marry to Albert Dickson.

They also had two half brothers on their father's side Miles and Willie dowden their mother was Emile Hinds.....i will post more as the time goes on...i got some good stories from my mother.

Christianna Juanita Dowden's great grandparents were Franklyn Dowden and Nesta chandler Dowden.

After my grandfather (William Dowden) died my grandmother Lousie (millie) Dowden married Joe Daniel".

RIP: Alistair DOWDEN aka 'Bomb Blast' (born 1962)
Alistair of Mt. Mortiz, St. George died on the 25th May 2008. He was just 46 years of age. A funeral service was held on Thursday 5th June 008 (at 2pm that afternoon) at the Mt. Moritz Anglican Church. His final interment is in the Mt. Moritz Cemetery.

Are you able to shed light on "Bomb Blast's" life and family if you can feel free to share...?

RIP: Allin Peter DOWDEN (born 1938)
Recently Peter Dowden of Mt. Mortiz, St. George, passed away on the 16th June 2009 he was 71 years young. His funeral service was held on Monday 6th July 2009 (at two in the afternoon) at the Mt. Moritz Anglican Church, St. George, he was then accompanied to Bible Holiness Rites and finally his interment was at the Mt. Moritz Cemetery.

Will you be able to tell us his story and that of his family on Mt. Moritz...?

On 26 August 2009 Christianna Juanita Dowden (Trinidad) wrote:
"I remember that my grandmother, (Addie Toyer) maiden name..... she told me that her family name ie she is decendant from Whitehead's which in turn is my family... They were Irish if I'm not mistaken. Sooo cool.. My grandfather (her first husband) is Doyle Percival DOWDEN... He was from Grenada! My dad is Davidson Renrick DOWDEN (or fondly called Dave). I do know that Stella DOWDEN, Doyle's sister lives in Australia now... I do not know my great-grandparents on my Dad's side... But on Addie Toyer's side.... here goes... My great-grandmom was Miriam Toyer (Ma) and my great-granddad was Isaac Toyer (Pa)... Addie and Doyle had four kids... My aunt Carole DOWDEN, Uncles Allen DOWDEN and Ralph DOWDEN and my dad Davidson DOWDEN... But they are not close at alllll. I barely know my cousins... Ashley, Adrian, Brandon Sparkle, Marc Andre and one more boy... yea dats wat i mean..."

RIP: Ernest DOWDEN (born 1929)
Affectionately known as 'Sweat' of Grand Mal, Mount Moritz, Grenada, Ernest died on the 7th July 2007. He was 87 years old. On the 16th July he was placed in his final resting place amonst family in Mount Moritz Cemetery.

He was the son of William Seifert DOWDEN (b.1904 son of Wm Dowden & Louise Millie Chandler) and Myra CHANDLER (b.1906 dau. of Flavious Chandler & Louisa Greaves) who married in 1925. His siblings were Louise (b.1919), Florence (b.1920) and another boy (b.1925).

Can anyone tell any more of Ernest's story and share his family with us...?

On 2 September 2009 Yubi Dowden (Grenada) wrote:
Miles and William (Willie) DOWDEN were the children of William & Emily DOWDON.  Miles (b.1915) had a son Rex David DOWDEN who lives in New York and William had over 20 children.  Among them Courtney known as papacito, Rennie, Leo known as Satan, William (who died in Australia), Fisher & Lionel live in Australia, Daphne & Velda in New York, Ernest known as Swet (he died), John, Rex, Floyd etc.

On 2 September 2009 Stacey Searles (North Jersey, NJ) replied:
"Yubi, my grandfather's sister Letty (Letitia Donna Searles b.1917) was the 2nd wife of the Miles you mention above.  They had 3 children together (Agnes E b.1940, Lewis, Valerie M b.1952). Thank you for the information on some of the names from Willie. I had no children listed under him and I can add these....THANKS!"

On 3 September 2009 Zandrine Edwards wrote:
"Alistair DOWDEN (1962-2008) was the son of Ashley (son of Lenny DOWDEN and Baby) and Lorna. He had two brothers Christopher and David and a sister."

"Allin Peter DOWDEN (1938-2009) was the son of Lewis Ledress DOWDEN (b.1910 son of William Dowden and Louise Millie Chandler) and Mimi Marjorie GREAVES (b.1912). He was the brother of Adela Edwards nee Dowden; Lythet (sp) Dowden (who was married to William Dowden); Emily, Lurline, Ronald, Ivy."

On 03 September 2009 Christianna Juanita Dowden (Trinidad) wrote:
"Well my grandfather, Doyle Percival DOWDEN (who grew up in Patna Village).... also has a brother (my second uncle) named Foster Dowden who presently lives in Trinidad... He is in his seventies! He has one son named John Dowden... My second cousin!"

On 01 Aug 2009 Marianne Stevenson-Volpe wrote:
"I'm Irene Medford-Dittrich & Zan's cousin, my mom is from Mt. Moritz.  My grandma was Myra Chandler (b.1906), she was married to my grandpa in 1925, WILLIAM DOWDEN (b.1904).  I am born & raised in New York State USA but had the great pleasure of going to Grenada twice and when I was growing up there were always lots of my Grenadian relatives around.  My mother's family is huge."

On 07 February 2011 Ann Marie Dowden (Chaguanas, Trinidad) wrote:

Does any one have pics of Nesta Chandler and Franklyn Dowden ?
I would love for my kids to see their Great Grandparents...

Dowden - families who moved from Grenada (and other Caribbean Islands) to Australia:

Many would have come to the Caribbean via the Irish indentureship that took place that in 1625 the English King was James II, when he made a proclamation in that year requiring Irish political prisoners be sent and indentured to settlers who urgently needed workers in the West Indies (and later new world 'America' ). The records show that by the mid-1600's, particularly in Antigua and Montserrat, Irish indentured workers (almost exclusively Presbyterians) were the main population (70%).

The English kings, James II and Charles I, led continued efforts to enslave the Irish and in the decade between 1641 and 1652 some 300,000 were indentured (with another 500,000 killed meant that the Irish population was more than halved in that decade!). In the 1650's some 52,000 were indentured to Barbados. Later under Cromwell (1656) 2000 young Irish were exported to Jamaican English settlers.

Unfortunately if didn't end there, in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, many more thousands were sent to the Americas and Australia. Makes you think...!