Shann History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

In the 18th and 19th centuries, thousands of Irish families fled an Ireland that was forcibly held through by England through its imperialistic policies. A large portion of these families crossed the Atlantic to the shores of North America. The fate of these families depended on when they immigrated and the political allegiances they showed after they arrived. Settlers that arrived before the American War of Independence may have moved north to Canada at the war's conclusion as United Empire Loyalists. Such Loyalists were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Those that fought for the revolution occasionally gained the land that the fleeing Loyalist vacated. After this period, free land and an agrarian lifestyle were not so easy to come by in the East. So when seemingly innumerable Irish immigrants arrived during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s, free land for all was out of the question. These settlers were instead put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Whenever they came, 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 Shann or a variant listed above, including:

Shann Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

• Charles E. Shann, aged 24, originally from Wolverhampton, who arrived in New York, N.Y. in 1903 aboard the ship "Etruria" from Liverpool, England [1]
• Alfred Shann, aged 32, originally from Leeds, England, who arrived in New York in 1913 aboard the ship "Mauretania" from Liverpool, England [1]
• George Shann, aged 36, originally from Birmingham, England, who arrived in New York in 1913 aboard the ship "Mauretania" from Liverpool, England [1]
• Charles E. Shann, aged 37, originally from Tamworth, England, who arrived in New York in 1916 aboard the ship "Cameronia" from Liverpool, England [1]
• George Shann, aged 29, who arrived in New York, N. Y. in 1919 aboard the ship "Siamese Prince" from Hull, England [1]
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

• George Shann (1876-1919), British politician, Birmingham City Council member in 1911
• Sir Keith Charles Owen "Mick" Shann CBE (1917-1988), Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian Ambassador to Indonesia (1962-1966), Deputy Secretary in the Department of External Affairs in 1970, Chairman of the Public Service Board (1977-1978)
• Shann Schillinger (b. 1986), American NFL football safety for the Oakland Raiders