McDavid History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

To escape the religious and political discrimination they experienced primarily at the hands of the English, thousands of Irish left their homeland in the 19th century. These migrants typically settled in communities throughout the East Coast of North America, but also joined the wagon trains moving out to the Midwest. Ironically, when the American War of Independence began, many Irish settlers took the side of England, and at the war's conclusion moved north to Canada. These United Empire Loyalists, were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Other Irish immigrants settled in Newfoundland, the Ottawa Valley, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, however, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America and Australia. Many of those numbers, however, did not live through the long sea passage. These Irish settlers to North America were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name McDavid or a variant listed above, including:

McDavid Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

• Thomas McDavid, who landed in America in 1812 [2]
• Patrick McDavid, who arrived in Texas in 1835 [2]
• William McDavid, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1856 [2]
• James McDavid, who sailed to Philadelphia in 1880
• Edward McDavid, aged 18, originally from Donegal, Ireland arrived in New York City in 1894 aboard the ship "City of Rome" from Greenock, Derry [3]

McDavid Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

• T.W. McDavid, originally from Greenock, Scotland, who arrived in New York in 1919 aboard the ship "Rhodesia" from Port Talbot [4]
• Roland Severt McDavid, aged 15, who arrived in New York in 1919 aboard the ship "Jackson" from Buenos Aires, Argentina [5]
• William James M. McDavid, aged 35, originally from London, England, who arrived in New York in 1919 aboard the ship "Adriatic" from Liverpool, England [6]
• Roland McDavid, aged 16, who arrived in New York in 1920 aboard the ship "Jackson" from Karskar, Sweden [7]
• Joseph McDavid, aged 39, originally from Glasgow, Scotland, who arrived in New York in 1921 aboard the ship "Algeria" from Glasgow, Scotland [8]

• Connor McDavid (b. 1997), Canadian NHL ice hockey centre and captain for the Edmonton Oilers from Richmond Hill, Ontario
• Raven Ioor McDavid Jr. (1911-1984), American linguist who specialized in dialectology
• Ray Darnell McDavid (b. 1971), former American Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the San Diego Padres from 1994 to 1995
• Eric McDavid (b. 1977), American green anarchist and vegan
• Robert McDavid (b. 1952), professional Australian rules footballer
• Murray McDavid, Scottish independent bottler of single malt Scotch whisky