McLeary History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Under the rule of England, land ownership in Ireland changed dramatically, and many native Irish families found themselves renting out land to farm from absentee owners. This was one of the prime reasons that immigration to North America began in the late 18th century: Irish farmers dreamed of owning their own parcel of land to work for themselves. At this point, the immigrants were at least of modest means for the passage across the Atlantic was often quite dear. In the 1840s the Great Potato Famine created an exodus of people of quite different means. These people were most often destitute: they either sold anything they had to gain a passage or they were sponsored by philanthropic societies. Many of these immigrants were sick from disease and starvation: as a result many did not survive the long transatlantic journey. Although those settlers that did survive were often despised and discriminated against by people already established in these nations, they were critical to rapid development of the powerful industrial nations of the United States and the country that would later become known as Canada. An examination of immigration and passenger lists shows many persons bearing the name of McLeary or one of its variants:

McLeary Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

• Samuel McLeary, aged 23, who arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1864

McLeary Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

• Mr. John Mcleary, (b. 1839), aged 23, British shepherd travelling from London aboard the ship 'Mermaid' arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 26th December 1862 3
• Elizabeth McLeary, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Berar" in 1865

• Samuel H. McLeary (1881-1924), American aviation pioneer, one of the first 24 people chosen by the Aviation Section of the U.S. Signal Corp to be pilots
• Marty Lee McLeary (b. 1974), American former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 2004 to 2007
• Kindred McLeary (1901-1949), American architect, artist and educator
• Don McLeary (b. 1948), American politician and former college football player and coach, Member of the Tennessee Senate (2002-2006)
• Don McLeary, American 21st head college football coach for the Ottawa University Braves, Ottawa, Kansas (1976-1977)
• Larry "Max" McLeary (1948-2014), American umpire in minor and independent league baseball
• James Robert Ewan "Jamie" McLeary (b. 1981), Scottish professional golfer
• Alan McLeary (b. 1964), retired English football defender who played from 1981 to 1999 and managed Millwall from 1999 to 2006
• Harry McLeary Wurzbach (1874-1931), American Republican politician, U.S. Representative from Texas 14th District, 1921-29, 1930-31; defeated, 1928; 4