Fernand History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish families leaving Ireland for the distant shores of North America and Australia. These families often left their homeland hungry, penniless, and destitute due to the policies of England. Those Irish immigrants that survived the long sea passage initially settled on the eastern seaboard of the continent. Some, however, moved north to a then infant Canada as United Empire Loyalists after ironically serving with the English in the American War of Independence. Others that remained in America later joined the westward migration in search of land. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, though, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America, and those who arrived were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. In fact, the foundations of today's powerful nations of the United States and Canada were to a larger degree built by the Irish. Archival documents indicate that members of the Fernand family relocated to North American shores quite early:

Fernand Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

• Jean Baptiste Fernand, aged 22, who arrived in Louisiana in 1719 2

• Mentionnons Fernand Nault (1920-2006), dancer and choreographer in Montréal, awarded the Order of Canada (1977)
• Raymond Fernand Loewy (1893-1987), American industrial designer
• Aimé Fernand Cesaire (b. 1913), West Indian poet and playwright
• Fernand Joseph St. Germain (1928-2014), American politician, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island (1961-1989)
• Fernand Joseph St. Germain (b. 1928), American Democratic Party politician, Member of Rhode Island State House of Representatives, 1952-60; U.S. Representative from Rhode Island 1st District, 1961-89; Defeated, 1988 3
• Fernand Chapsal (1862-1939), French lawyer, administrator and politician, Minister of Commerce in 1926 and (1937-1938), and Minister of Agriculture in 1938
• Fernand Labrie (b. 1937), Canadian medical researcher who specializes in endocrinological research and prostate cancer research.
• Fernand Payette (1921-1993), Canadian wrestler who competed in the men's freestyle light heavyweight at the 1948 Summer Olympics
• Fernand Zago (1942-2022), French rugby union player who played as a prop and appeared in two matches for the French national team in the 1963 Five Nations Championship
• Fernand Bourret, Canadian economist in Quebec according to 1993 records