Heferon History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

Early Origins of the Heferon family

Early History of the Heferon family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Heferon research. Another 52 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1719 and 1777 are included under the topic Early Heferon History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Heferon Spelling Variations

The general population of Ireland, like those of Europe and Britain during the Middle Ages, scribes recorded people's names as they saw fit. As a result, surnames often had many spelling variations. For Heferon some of these variations included: Heffernan, Heffernam, O'Heffernan, O'Heffron, Hefferen, Hefferney, Heffernon, Hefferon and many more.

Early Notables of the Heferon family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Paul Hiffernan (1719-1777), Irish miscellaneous writer, born in or near Dublin in 1719. "His parents, intending him for the priesthood of the Roman Catholic church, sent him to a classical school in Dublin. When very young he went with...
Another 48 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Heferon Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Heferon family

The 18th and 19th centuries saw many Irish families immigrate to North America in search of land and opportunities. The largest influx of Irish immigrants to the United States and British North America came during the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine laid waste to their homeland. Hundreds of thousands left the island in an attempt to escape the starvation and disease it brought. Although the arrival of such a large number of destitute Irish was not welcomed by the established population in the United States and what would become known as Canada at the time, these Irish were an essential element to the rapid development of these growing industrial nations. They filled the demand for the cheap labor needed for the work in factories and in the construction of bridges, roads, canals, and railways. An examination of passenger and immigration lists has revealed many immigrants bearing the name of Heferon or one of its variants: Patrick Hefferen settled in Alexandria Virginia in 1817; Bridget Hefferin settled in Pennsylvania in 1773; Edmund, Edward, John, Michael, Thomas and William Heffernan arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860.