The Freer Coat of Arms illustrated above was drawn by an heraldic artist from information officially recorded in ancient heraldic archives. Documentation for the Freer Coat of Arms design can be found in Burke's General Armoury. Heraldic artists of old developed their own unique language to describe an individual Coat of Arms. In their language, the Arms (shield) is as follows:
"Sa. a chev. ar. betw. three dolphins naiant ppr.
When translated the Arms description is:
"Black, a silver chevron between three dolphins swimming in natural color.
Above the shield and helmet is the Crest which is described as:
"A dolphin, as in the arms.
A translation of the Crest description is:
"A dolphin as in the shield.
Family mottos are believed to have originated as battle cries in medieval times.
A Motto was not recorded with the Freer Coat of Arms.
Individual surnames originated for the purpose of more specific identification. The four primary sources for second names were: occupation, location, father's name and personal characteristics. The surname Freer appears to be occupational in origin, and is believed to be associated with the English and French, meaning, "one who was a friar". The supplementary sheet included with this report is designed to give you more information to further your understanding of the origin of names. Different spellings of the same original surname are a common occurrence.
Dictionaries of surnames indicate probable spelling variations. The most prominent variations of Freer are Freers, Frere, Freres and Freeres.
Information available to us indicates that in 1971 there were approximately 950 heads of households in the United States with the old and distinguished Freer name. The United States Census Bureau in 1970 estimated that there were approximately 3.1 persons per household in America which yields an approximate total of 2945 people in the United States carrying the Freer name. There is an estimated 1,300 households throughout the world including Belgium, France, Netherlands, Switzerlands,New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, England, and Canada. Although the figure seems relatively low, it does not signify the many important contributions that individuals bearing the Freer name have made to history.
No genealogical representation is intended or implied by this report and it does not represent individual lineage or your family tree.
(These estimated numbers of Freers were derived in the early 1970s and are now outdated.)
The Freer Coat of Arms that is present on the Home Page of this site is a copy of the Freer Crest displayed as part of Colonel Arthur William Wellington Freer's artifacts on display at the Strathroy Middlesex Museum in Strathroy, Ontario, Canada and also found in a book on history of the local area. Actually Crests were assigned to individuals (in Great Britain) so that there are variations in what is on the Coat of Arms within the larger Family name. For example Colonel Freer's Coat of Arms is different than Richard Freer's Crest, and Freer of Blaby, Leicester; however most all Freer Coat of Arms contain the main themes of Dolphins, Chevron, and water as a background. According to the Richard Freer Crest the Crest Motto is "Aime Ton Frere" or "Love Thy Brother" matching the origin of the Freer name which comes from the latin word Frater meaning "Brother". As noted elsewhere (Origins of Freer Name)the name is associated with clergy. Mottos are not considered to be hereditary in England but are in Scotland. There are other mottos associated with other Freer Crests such as "Traditum ab antiquis servae" of a Frere and "Non sine periculo" associated with George Freer Esq., of Glascow, Scotland and "Frere ayme Frere"
To Photograph of Freer Coat of Arms Plaque in Strathroy Middlesex Museum
To Enlargement of Freer Coat of Arms in Strathroy Middlesex Museum
To Hand-drawn copy of Freer Coat of Arms
To Richard Freer Coat of Arms of 1569
To a List of Freer Coat of Arms
To History and Interpretations of Coats of Arms
To Freer Family Genealogy
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