Defais History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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• France

Early Origins of the Defais family

Early History of the Defais family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Defais research. Another 454 words (32 lines of text) covering the years 1145, 1220, 1309, 1360, 1393, 1400, 1500, 1669, 1674, 1700, 1709, 1731, 1757, 1764, 1806 and 1814 are included under the topic Early Defais History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Defais Spelling Variations

History has changed the spelling of most surnames. During the early development of the French language in the Middle Ages, a person gave his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, there spelling variations of the name Defais, some of which include Fay, Fait, Fais, Faie, Faite, Faies, Fez, Fée, Faye, De Fay, De Fait, De Fais, De Faie, De Faies, De Fez, De Fée, De Fé, Fé, De Faye and many more.

Early Notables of the Defais family

Notable amongst the family was Claude-Florimond De Fay, Captain of the Ponthieu Regiment during the 1700's. Jacques de la Faye was a 17th-18th century French writer whose Defensio Religionis ('Defense of Religion') a 251-page critique of the pantheism of John Toland, was...
Another 40 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Defais Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Defais family

Immigration to New France was slow; therefore, early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had reached 500. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported to Louisiana. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The distinguished family name Defais has made significant contributions to the culture, arts, sciences and religion of France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Defais were C. Fay, aged 31; settled in New York in 1823; Eugène Fay settled in Philadelphia in 1876; Gabriel Fay settled in Philadelphia in 1865; John Fay settled in Philadelphia in 1838.