O'Donald History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

During the 19th century thousands of impoverished Irish families made the long journey to British North America and the United States. These people were leaving a land that had become beset with poverty, lack of opportunity, and hunger. In North America, they hoped to find land, work, and political and religious freedoms. Although the majority of the immigrants that survived the long sea passage did make these discoveries, it was not without much perseverance and hard work: by the mid-19th century land suitable for agriculture was short supply, especially in British North America, in the east; the work available was generally low paying and physically taxing construction or factory work; and the English stereotypes concerning the Irish, although less frequent and vehement, were, nevertheless, present in the land of freedom, liberty, and equality for all men. The largest influx of Irish settlers occurred with Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s. Research into passenger and immigration lists has brought forth evidence of the early members of the O'Donald family in North America:

O'Donald Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

• Charles, Roger, Thomas, and William O'Donald who, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1840 and 1860

O'Donald Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

• Miss. Catharine O'Donald, British Convict who was convicted in Liverpool, Lancaster, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Asia" on 9th March 1847, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 3

O'Donald Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

• Robert O'Donald, aged 21, a farm labourer, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Duke of Edinburgh" in 1873