Fordice History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

While the family hails from Fordyce, Banffshire, Scotland, the name dates back to the 13th century when the name literally meant "the South Woodland [O.Gael, fothir (th mute) (= Irish folhar) =ictish for, woodland; Gaelic deas, south]." 1

Another source explains in more detail: " The name of this place, which appears to have undergone no orthographical variation since the most ancient times, is supposed to be derived from the two Gaelic words fuar, cold, and deas, south, which, from their original appropriation as descriptive of the southern portion of the parish, have been subsequently used as an appellation for the whole of it. The lands once belonged to the family of Sinclair, but afterwards came into that of Ogilvie, in which they have remained for about 400 years to the present time." 2

Early Origins of the Fordice family

The surname Fordice was first found in Banffshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Bhanbh), former Scottish county located in the northeasterly Grampian region of Scotland, now of divided between the Council Areas of Moray and Aberdeenshire, where they held the lands of Fordyce in a parish of that same name. 3

One of the first records of the family was "John Fordise was vicar of Athy, 1460, and Johannes Fordys, perhaps the same person, was vicar of Garvok, 1464." 3 The Fordyces were a sept of the Clan Forbes from which they inherited the three muzzled bears heads on their coat of arms. For difference, the Forbes Clan has three silver bears' heads on a blue shield.

Early History of the Fordice family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Fordice research. Another 181 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1460, 1464, 1541, 1567, 1574, 1608, 1659, 1690, 1702, 1711, 1720, 1724, 1736, 1743, 1751, 1763, 1764, 1765, 1789, 1792, 1796 and 1802 are included under the topic Early Fordice History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fordice Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Fordyce, Fordise, Fordys, Fordyce, Foirdyse, Foirdyse and many more.

Early Notables of the Fordice family

Notable amongst the Clan at this time was Alexander Fordyce (d. 1789), Scottish banker, youngest son of Provost Fordyce of Aberdeen, and brother to David, James, and William Fordyce. In London, he became the most active partner in the firm of Neale, James, Fordyce, & Down. Under his guidance this firm speculated freely, and gained a large sum by obtaining early intelligence of the signature of the preliminaries of the peace of Paris in 1763, and a still larger one when East India stock rose greatly in 1764-1765.David Fordyce (1711-1751), was a professor at Aberdeen, born at Broadford, near Aberdeen, and...
Another 126 words (9 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Fordice Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Fordice family to Ireland

Some of the Fordice family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 30 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fordice migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Fordice Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mr. John Fordice U.E. who settled in Canada c. 1784 4

Citations +

Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
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)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X