Dolly History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Under the rule of England, land ownership in Ireland changed dramatically, and many native Irish families found themselves renting out land to farm from absentee owners. This was one of the prime reasons that immigration to North America began in the late 18th century: Irish farmers dreamed of owning their own parcel of land to work for themselves. At this point, the immigrants were at least of modest means for the passage across the Atlantic was often quite dear. In the 1840s the Great Potato Famine created an exodus of people of quite different means. These people were most often destitute: they either sold anything they had to gain a passage or they were sponsored by philanthropic societies. Many of these immigrants were sick from disease and starvation: as a result many did not survive the long transatlantic journey. Although those settlers that did survive were often despised and discriminated against by people already established in these nations, they were critical to rapid development of the powerful industrial nations of the United States and the country that would later become known as Canada. An examination of immigration and passenger lists shows many persons bearing the name of Dolly or one of its variants:

Dolly Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

• William Dolly, who landed in Virginia in 1653 3
• Teage Dolly, who arrived in Maryland in 1663 3

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Dolly Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

• Miss. Margaret Dolly who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec but died on Grosse Isle in 1847 4
• Miss. Theresa Dolly who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec but died on Grosse Isle in 1847 4

• Wilbur Dolly, American Republican politician, Chair of Pendleton County Republican Party, 1917
• Abijah Dolly, American politician, Member of West Virginia State House of Delegates from Hardy County, 1864-66; Member of West Virginia State Senate 10th District, 1867-68
• Dolly Rebecca Parton (b. 1946), American Country singer /songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actress, author, and philanthropist with an estimated 177 million in album sales
• Dolly Buster (b. 1969), stage name of Nora Baumberger, Czech-born, film producer and director, actress, author and a former adult film actress
• Dolly Domingos Menga (b. 1993), Angolan professional footballer
• Dolly Vanderlip Ozburn (b. 1937), born Dolly Vanderlip, nicknamed "Lippy", American former pitcher who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1952-1954)
• Dolly Haas (1910-1994), German-American actress
• Dolly George, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Alaska, 1964 5
• Dolly Justice, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from South Carolina, 1996 6
• Dolly L. Elizondo, American Democratic Party politician, Chair of Hidalgo County Democratic Party, 2013 7