This interesting surname, of Irish origin, is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic O' Fearadaight, the prefix "O" meaning descendant of, plus the personal name "Fearadach", composed of Old Celtic elements meaning "man" and "wood". Variations in the spelling of the surname include Fayreday, Fereday, Ferreday and Faraday. Church Records include the marriages of Rebecca Ferreday to John Ragg on the 4th July 1692 at St. Mary's, Marylebone Road, London, and John Ferriday to Mary Perry on the 16th July 1786 at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, London. Joseph Fereday married Mary Ann Galvin in Carrick on Suir, County Tipperary, on the 25th October 1849. One Bill Farraday, aged 30 yrs., a famine emigrant, sailed from Liverpool aboard the "Junius" bound for New York on the 1st May 1846. Michael Faraday (1791-1867) was an English physicist and chemist who discovered electromagnetic induction, leading to the invention of the dynamo. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Fayreday, which was dated 22nd March 1591, witnessed the christening of his daughter Margaret at St. Andrew's, Holborn, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st, "Good Queen Bess", 1558-1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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