After months of investigations I, Adiberts (Eddie) Ferrer, son of Octavio Ferrer, grand son of Don Pilar Ferrer, great grand son of the Marques Enrique Ferrer, the last, from Sevilla, Andalucia, Spain have decided to make this special page about the History of the Family Ferrer.

According to my investigations the name "Ferrer" or "Ferriers" is originally from Normandy, France.  The word Ferrer/Ferriers is a Latin word and was brought down by the Romans to France and has the meaning of Iron or he who puts iron shoes on horses. This is why the crest of the Ferrers always bear horse shoes.

According to Juan Facundo Ferrer, (Electronic Engineer) from Argentina, in his investigations, he states that family Ferrer first originated in France, the name comes from the French noble's "De Ferrers"  the "de" before the name Ferrer in France indicates a higher rank among the noble families.  I have confirmed the "de" factor, I have seen it being used by a Spanish Site on the internet about the Family Ferrer history and they used "de Ferrer" all through the article.  http://www.ciudadfutura.com/apellidos/origen/FERRER.htm 

Other investigations done by me and other people are the following, in 1066 the "Guillaume De Ferriers" from France  crossed the English Channel with William Duke of Normandy later called William I (the Conqueror) to the battle of Hastings to battle Harold II Saxon King of England, to claim the English throne promised to William I by his cousin King Edward the Confessor after his death.

William I The Conqueror defeated the Saxons.  De Ferriers stayed in England as nobles and the "de" was not used in England and the "de" was dropped and the "i" was dropped and  was left just plain Ferrer.  In England the Ferrers live for centuries and there are still Ferrers living there now. They were known to be expert horse breeders and riders. This could be another reason that the crest bears horse shoes.  Not all crests bear 3 horse shoes from the Ferrers, I saw one that bears 6 horse shoes and I have seen one that bears one, the ones with 3 and 1 horse shoes had a Knight in Amour.  Juan F. Ferrer  just sent me 4 different crests that he found in his investigations.  The 3rd one is from Germany and does not bear the classical horse shoes. The 4th one is Juan F. Ferrer's Family's crest it bears one horse shoe. Thank you Juan.

http://www.my-ged.com/db/page/dorsett/8167 

   Here is more information sent by Juan, the Ferrers had 2 Castles and hundreds of manors in England click below to see the Castle and the history.

http://www.hdd.co.uk/heritage/tutbury.htm 

  In the early 1263, Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, married to the King's niece and put together a private force (Army) to operate in the west of England.  This Army violently attacked and destroyed the city of Worcester.

The de Ferrers were powerful landowners.  In Tutbury, the castle occupies a strong defensive position on the Stafforshire side of the River Dove, where it marks the border with Derbyshire.  William the Conqueror transferred the ownership to Henry de Ferrers in 1071 and Tutbury became his principal residence in the holding of over two hundred manors.  Before he died in 1089 he is said to have built a castle in Duffield, a few miles to the north of Derby, near the A6.  In Norman times it was the approach to Frifth a Royal Forest some thirty miles in circumference, well stocked with deer.  Duffield Castle, built on the mound now know as Castle Hill, was without doubt the largest and most spectacular of Derbyshire's vanished castles.

Check out the "Derbyshire Connection" below for more interesting information.

http://home.freeuk.net/evesham/newsletters/xmas1999/xmas1999.htm 

Thank you Juan.

So how did the Ferrers get to Spain?  According to Juan Facundo Ferrer and some investigating I did myself.  In the year of 1099 the Spanish Hero "El Cid" had died in Valencia, Spain, after the death of El Cid the Moors took over Valencia.

In 1238 Don Jaime the I of Aragón and his Army went to Valencia, Spain to restore Christian control and defeat the Moors.  According to Juan F. Ferrer with him went two Knights of the Ferrer's Family, they were Bernardo Ferrer, Earl of Derby and Muxias Ferrer, Milord of Scotland, because of their service in the battle they were awarded with territories and towns that belonged to the Ali-Boix, the Muslim Governor.

Other investigations I came across is that the Ferrers that came from England established themselves in Cataluña (Catalunya), Baleares, Aragon y Valencia.  They proved their noble blood on various occasions in the orders of Santiago, Clatrava, Montesa, Carlos III and San Juan de Jerusalén.

On the 21 of Dec. 1784 Don Antonio Ferrer was awarded the title of Baron of Sabasona, and Don Melchor Ferrer was authorized to use the title in Spain of Baron Ferrer.

I also found in my investigations that there is a Saint in the family known as Saint Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419).  He is the Patron Saint of Carlet and in Spain they celebrate some of the extraordinary miracles he did,  they celebrate this on the 5th of April each year.  He was a Spanish Monk and Teacher.  His brother Boniface Ferrer was General of the Carthuians.

Mrs. Micheal Solek Ferrer the "Artist" just sent me 2 very good sites about St. Vincent Ferrer.  There is a complete history about St. Vincent on this site, that you will find interesting,  thank you Mrs. Micheal. Check this out.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15437a.htm

Here's one site that speaks of all his extraordinary miracles in detail, some which are unbelievable, judge for yourself.  Check it out, you will find this history very interesting.

http://olrl.org/lives/ferrer.html 

One historian wrote; "It is a immense enterprise, to write a life of which every incident was a miracle."

Here is a interesting history about the "Ferrers"  written by my cousin (Historian, Writer) from Australia, "Attilo Ferrari", it has recent (11/29/08) DNA testing proof about different surnames of "Ferrer", plus a interesting history about "Robert de Ferrers" being the famous Robin Hood.  Read it, it is very interesting at (a must to read); http://wwwgensferreria.blogspot.com/2008/11/post-80-robin-hood.html

By use of DNA testing on me by "Family Tree DNA" company,  they managed to find the origins of my family, thru DNA group testing.   This test proves that the origin of the Ferrer, came from France, England, Wales U.K., Scotland and Spain. These 5 nations had highest marks.   Here is a link to the chart that you can down load.  (Chart DNA origins)

Here is a clearer DNA origin message from the Tim Farr from "Family Tree DNA".  In this message he states that National Geographic's is taking part in this testing world wide.   Click on the link to down load the message.

http://hatillo_pr.tripod.com/originmessage.rtf

Here is a text file with more info about the Ferrers in Spanish/Latin, click on the link below.

Ferrer's History Text;

Here is a link to a site that has the Crests of the Ferrers, notice that, Ferré, Fabrés, Farré o Farrés also bears the horse shoes like the Ferrer crest does and bears the same colors.   More proof that Ferré, Fabrés, Farré o Farrés are surnames from Ferrer. This info was sent to me by Tim Farr from "Family Tree DNA", thank you once more Tim.

http://heraldicahispana.com/ApA/fayas-ferrer.htm

Here is a "Adobe" PDF file you can download to view photo page copies from the Book "The General Armory" where you can read about the Ferrer's noble family line, plus there is info about the different Crests the Ferrers used. Also take note of the surnames used.    Courtesy of Tim Farr from ""Family Tree DNA".".

Click here; "The General Armory"

Here is a interesting page with a brief history of the Ferrers, on this page you will see names of other Famous Ferrers world wide.

http://tripatlas.com/Ferrer

There are other famous Ferrers, here is list of some of them with links to their history.

★ Albert Ferrer (born 1970), Spanish footballer

★ Alex Ferrer, judge in the courtroom television show ''Judge Alex''

★ Bernard Ferrer (fl. 13th century), English noble coming to Valencia, Spain, in 1238 to aid in the restoration of Christian domination.

★ Chucho Ferrer (born 1929), Mexican composer

★ Danay Ferrer (born 1974)

★ Dennis Ferrer, American Deep House music producer and DJ

★ David Ferrer (born 1982), Spanish tennis player.

★ Eduardo Blasco Ferrer (born 1956), Spanish-born specialist in the Sardinian language

★ Fernando Ferrer (born 1950), American politician in The Bronx, New York City

★ Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia (1859–1909), Catalan educator, anarchist, and free-thinker who founded the ''Escuela Moderna''

★ Frank Ferrer, American rock drummer and session musician

★ Ibrahim Ferrer (1927–2005), popular Cuban musician best known for his participation in the Buena Vista Social Club project with Ry Cooder

★ Jorge Ferrer, author

★ José Ferrer (1909–1992), Puerto Rican actor and film director

★ José Figueres Ferrer (1906–1990), three-time President of Costa Rica

★ Llorenç Serra Ferrer (born 1953), Spanish football manager

★ Lupita Ferrer (born 1947), Venezuelan telenovela actor

★ Manuel Y. Ferrer, American virtuoso guitarist

★ Marina Ferrer, fictional character of ''The L Word''

★ Mel Ferrer (born 1917), American actor, film director, and film producer

★ Mercedes Ferrer (born 1963), Spanish singer-songwriter

★ Miguel Ferrer (born 1955), Puerto Rican-American actor, son of José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney

★ Muxias (?) Stewart Ferrer (fl. 13th century), Scottish lord coming to Valencia, Spain, in 1238 in order to aid in the restoration of Christian domination

★ Nino Ferrer (1934–1998), French-Italian singer, actor, and jazz musician

★ Rafael Ferrer (born 1960), American actor

★ Renée Ferrer de Arréllaga (born 1944), Paraguayan contemporary poet and novelist

★ Sean Hepburn Ferrer (born 1960), son of Mel Ferrer and Audrey Hepburn

★ Séverine Ferrer (born 1977), French singer

★ Saint Vincent Ferrer (1350–1419), Valencian Dominican missionary and Roman Catholic saint

★ William Stewart Ferrer (fl. 14th century), father of Saint Vincent Ferrer

★ Ysa Ferrer (born 1972), Algerian-born French actress and singer

★ Sonia Ferrer (born 1977), Spanish model and TV presenter
;Places

★ Church of St. Vincent Ferrer (New York)

★ Misión San Vicente Ferrer

★ Two parishes in Brazil called 'São Vicente Ferrer' (Portuguese for 'Saint Vincent Ferrer'):

★
★ São Vicente Ferrer, Pernambuco

★
★ São Vicente Ferrer, Maranhão
;Other

★ Ferrer Schools, or Modern Schools, socially progressive American schools formed in the early 20th century after the model of Francisco Ferrer’s ''Escuela Moderna''

Around 1840 my great grand father the Marques Enrique Ferrer came to Puerto Rico and that is where my family line comes from here in Hatillo, Puerto Rico.

If you know any more information and are sure it is correct about the Family's History, please contact me at:

ericferrer@hotmail.com 

If the information you give is used, you will be given credit.

I hope you have found this information interesting, I as a Ferrer sure did.

References:

My references were my father Octavio Ferrer, Juan F. Ferrer, Encyclopedia Encarta, Family History. com, "The Catholic Encyclopedia", "Our Lady of the Rosemary Library", the internet, various sites and other Ferrers on the internet.

Juan F. Ferrer, his references were: "Arcivo Historico de Madrid", " Biblioteca Nacionial de Madrid", "Linajes de la Governacion del Tucuman",  " Archivo parroquiales y de los ayuntanimentos de diferentes localidades de Espana", " Archivo General de Indias, Sevilla Espana", " Archivo Historico de Cordoba Argentina", " Archivo de Curia Eclesastica de Cordoba Argentina",  "Archivo Municipal de Cordoba, Argentina", "Enciclopedia Heraldica y Genealogica Hispano American de Alfredo y Arturo Garcia Caraffa" and " Obras completas de Juan Carlos de Guerra".

Web Master: Adiberts (Eddie) Ferrer