Contents [hide]

Ferry History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Ferry History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

Early Origins of the Ferry family

The surname Ferry was first found in Lanarkshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig) a former county in the central Strathclyde region of Scotland, now divided into the Council Areas of North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, and the City of Glasgow, where they held a family seat at Rutherglen from early times, some say before the Norman Conquest in 1066. An ancient couplet says "nae man can tell, nae man has seen, when the Faries Haena in Ruglen been." A rough translation of this couplet: "no man can remember when there hasn't been a family of Faries at Rutherglen." 1

Early History of the Ferry family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ferry research. Another 90 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1766, 1791, 1792, 1826, 1851 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Ferry History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ferry Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Fairie, Fairrie, Farie, Fairey, Ferry, Ferrie, Fairy, Faireye and many more.

Early Notables of the Ferry family

More information is included under the topic Early Ferry Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ferry Ranking

In the United States, the name Ferry is the 3,839^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 2 However, in France, the name Ferry is ranked the 405^th most popular surname with an estimated 10,485 people with that name. 3

Migration of the Ferry family to Ireland

Some of the Ferry family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 77 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ferry migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Ferry Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Jean Ferry, who arrived in Virginia in 1700 4
James, Joseph and Robert Ferry, who arrived in Virginia in 1774

Ferry Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Maurice Ferry, who arrived in Connecticut in 1811 4
Philip Ferry, aged 44, who landed in New York in 1812 4
Daniel Ferry, aged 35, who landed in New York in 1812 4
Thomas Ferry, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1813 4
Charles Ferry, aged 45, who arrived in America in 1822 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Ferry migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Ferry Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Patrick Ferry, who settled in Bona Vista, Newfoundland in 1830 5
Susan Ferry, aged 22, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Billow" in 1833
Henry Ferry, aged 24, a farmer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Highlander" in 1834
Andrew Ferry, aged 23, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Highlander" in 1834
Miss. Mary Ferry who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Lady Flora Hastings" departing from the port of Cork, Ireland but died on Grosse Isle in 1847 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Ferry migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Ferry Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Timothy Ferry, a locksmith, who arrived in New South Wales, Australia sometime between 1825 and 1832
Mr. Simeon Ferry, (Simeon), (b. 1813), aged 25, Irish labourer who was convicted in Donegal, Ireland for 10 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Clyde" on 11th May 1838, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1869 7
Thomas Ferry and his wife arrived in Port Adelaide aboard the ship "Apolline" in 1840 8
Thomas Ferry, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Apolline" in 1840 8

Ferry migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Ferry Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. John Ferry, (b. 1851), aged 26, Scottish settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Marlborough" arriving in Bluff, South Island, New Zealand on 4th November 1877 9
Miss Mary Ferry, (b. 1853), aged 24, Scottish settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Marlborough" arriving in Bluff, South Island, New Zealand on 4th November 1877 9
Mr. Daniel Ferry, (b. 1855), aged 22, Scottish settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Marlborough" arriving in Bluff, South Island, New Zealand on 4th November 1877 9
Mr. Bryne Ferry, (b. 1858), aged 19, Scottish settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Marlborough" arriving in Bluff, South Island, New Zealand on 4th November 1877 9
Miss Hannah Ferry, (b. 1859), aged 20, Irish domestic servant, from Donegal travelling from Clyde aboard the ship "Nelson" arriving in Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand on 28th August 1879 9

Contemporary Notables of the name Ferry (post 1700) +

David Russell Ferry (1924-2023), American poet, translator, and educator who won the National Book Award for Poetry for his 2012 collection Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations
Robert Dean "Bob" Ferry (1937-2021), American professional basketball player, assistant coach, and general manager (GM) in the National Basketball Association (NBA), twice NBA Executive of the Year (1979, 1982)
Elisha Peyre Ferry (1825-1895), American politician, 10th Governor of Washington Territory (1872-1880), 1st Governor of Washington (1889-1893)
William Montague Ferry (1871-1938), American Republican politician, Mining business; Member of Utah State Senate, 1911-15; Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, 1915-19 10
William M. Ferry, American Democratic Party politician, Member of Democratic National Committee from Utah Territory, 1888 10
William M. Ferry (1824-1905), American politician, Member of University of Michigan Board of Regents, 1858-63 10
William H. Ferry, American politician, Member of New York State Senate 19th District, 1860-61 10
William H. Ferry, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Connecticut State House of Representatives from Bethel, 1916 10
Walker Ferry, American politician, Member of Connecticut State Senate 11th District, 1871 10
Mrs. W. Mont Ferry, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Utah, 1924 10
... (Another 30 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0
Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 28)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th February 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/clyde
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) APOLLINE 1840. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1840Apolline.gif
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 2) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html