Notable people

A few well-documented bearers of the name, past and present. Living people are included only for their public careers, using publicly available sources; details come from the sources named under each person; we have not yet confirmed whether any of them is related to the families on this site. If you know more about any of them, please tell us.

People who have died

Ernest Fernyhough (1908-1993)

Born at Wood Lane in Staffordshire on 24 December 1908 and died in Chester on 16 August 1993. He worked for the shop-workers' union before entering Parliament as Labour member for Jarrow, a seat he held from 1947 to 1979. He was parliamentary private secretary to Harold Wilson from 1964 to 1967, then a junior minister for Employment and Productivity from 1967 to 1969, and sat on the Council of Europe in the early 1970s. (Source: Wikipedia, Ernest Fernyhough, which draws on his obituary in The Independent of 19 August 1993; the years are as Wikipedia gives them.)

Eric Fernihough (1905-1938)

Born in the Wirral (sources give Liscard or Birkenhead) on 17 February 1905, a motorcycle racer who rode Excelsior machines with JAP engines. He won the 1931 European championship in the 175cc class and set world speed records of about 164 mph in 1936 and about 170 mph in 1937. He was killed in a crash during a record attempt near Budapest, Hungary, on 23 April 1938. (Source: Wikipedia, Eric Fernihough.)

Bernard Fernyhough (1932-2000)

An Anglican priest, born 2 September 1932 and died in February 2000 (sources differ on the exact day: Wikipedia gives 19 February, while a death record index shows 1 February at Oakham). He is buried at Exton in Rutland. Ordained in 1955, he began as precentor of Trinidad Cathedral, later served parishes in Northamptonshire, and was Archdeacon of Oakham from 1977 to 1999. (Source: Wikipedia, Bernard Fernyhough.)

William Fernihough

A railway engineer who was locomotive superintendent of the Eastern Counties Railway from 1843 to 1845. He is credited with fitting balance weights to locomotive driving wheels to steady them at speed, and told the Gauge Commission about the principle in 1845. He had trained at George Forrester & Co. in Liverpool and then worked at Edward Bury's works, succeeded John Braithwaite as superintendent in February 1843, and was replaced by Thomas Scott on 28 October 1845. In 1848 the South Eastern Railway asked him to build a locomotive, which was finished at Ashford as No. 126, Coffee Pot. In 1850 he patented a combined steam and gas turbine. We do not yet have his birth and death dates. (Source: Wikipedia, William Fernihough.)

Captain Thomas Fernyhough (1777-1844)

Captain Thomas Fernyhough was Governor of the Military Knights of Windsor in 1843-44, dying after about six months in office; he is recorded as the first person buried in the catacombs under St George's Chapel, Windsor (Wikipedia, Military Knights of Windsor, citing newspaper reports of January 1844). The user-contributed FamilySearch Family Tree has a Captain Thomas Fernyhough who was christened at Lichfield on 1 November 1777 (a birth date of 20 May 1777 is given, without a source), the son of John Fernyhough and Sarah Thornloe, married Sarah Clifford Allport at Rugeley on 1 July 1813, and died at Windsor Castle on 8 January 1844, which fits the Military Knight (person LZJK-KR7; this needs a free FamilySearch sign-in to view).

A Thomas Fernyhough is also named as the author of Military Memoirs of Four Brothers (Natives of Staffordshire), published in London by William Sams in 1829, which tells the stories of four brothers who served in the Napoleonic-era army and marines. Secondary sources, such as the Napoleon Guide and the blurb of the 2002 reprint, say the book's author ('the Survivor') was Thomas Fernyhough of the 60th Rifles, who later became Governor of the Military Knights of Windsor. The FamilySearch tree also lists three brothers, Henry, John and Robert, which matches the book's four brothers, so these are very probably the same man, although we have not yet seen a primary source (such as a contemporary review) that says so. (Sources: Wikipedia; Internet Archive catalogue record for the book.)

Living notable people

These are living public figures, listed only for their documented public careers, using publicly available sources. Nothing about their private lives is included.

Brian Ferneyhough (born 1943)

A composer and teacher, born in Coventry, widely seen as the central figure of the "New Complexity" movement in contemporary music, known for extremely dense and demanding scores. He studied at the Birmingham School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, taught in Freiburg and at the University of California, San Diego, and held a professorship in music at Stanford University from 2000. His honours include the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (2007). (Source: Wikipedia, Brian Ferneyhough; IRCAM biography.)

Charles Fernyhough

A psychologist at Durham University who researches inner speech and the experience of hearing voices, and directs the Centre for Research into Inner Experience. He is also the author of popular science books and novels, including Pieces of Light, shortlisted for the 2013 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books, and The Voices Within (2016). (Source: his own website.)

Rowland Fernyhough (born 1954)

A show jumper who rode for Great Britain in the team jumping event at the 1976 Olympic Games and later coached British junior and under-21 teams. (Source: Wikipedia, Rowland Fernyhough.)

Christine Fernyhough

A New Zealand philanthropist, farmer and author. She co-founded the Books in Homes literacy scheme with Alan Duff in 1994, was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and has written a memoir about Castle Hill station and several books for children. (Source: Wikipedia, Christine Fernyhough.)

Jodie Ferneyhough

A Canadian music publisher and rights-management executive. He began in music publishing in 1989, was managing director of Universal Music Publishing Canada between 2001 and 2011, founded CCS Rights Management in 2011, and has won Canadian music-publisher awards. (Source: Wikipedia, Jodie Ferneyhough.)

Image credits

Every image on this page, with its source. Rights remain with the credited owners; where a licence is shown it applies as stated. If you own a photo here and would like it credited differently or removed, please get in touch.

• Eric Fernihough at Reims, 1932: Agence Rol / Bibliothèque nationale de France, public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
• Eric Fernihough with his JAP machine; on the streamlined machine; on his racing motorcycle: shared on Ancestry.co.uk by Dawn Parker Randall (2024) and Rita Hayes (2015); rights with the original owners.
• Fernihough family grave, East Cemetery, Bournemouth: Grave Concerns, Find a Grave.
• Ernest Fernyhough, 1967 portrait: © National Portrait Gallery, London (Walter Bird, NPG x167523).
• Ernest Fernyhough newspaper clipping and detail: Your Week, 8 October 2005, shared on Ancestry.co.uk by VFernyhough (2022).
• Bernard Fernyhough headstone: ColinA on Find a Grave; also shared on Ancestry.co.uk by Claire Johnson.
• Bernard Fernyhough wedding clipping: shared on Ancestry.co.uk by Claire Johnson (2024); newspaper not named.
• Military Knights of Windsor (2006): Philip Allfrey, CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons.
• Military Memoirs of Four Brothers, title page (1829): Internet Archive, Bodleian Library copy, public domain.
• Eastern Counties Railway engravings (1851): J. W. Whimper, British Library, public domain, Wikimedia Commons (train, Stratford Works).
• Brian Ferneyhough: © Agathe Poupeney (ORF musikprotokoll); © Dylan Collard (Berliner Festspiele).
• Charles Fernyhough: charlesfernyhough.com, photographer not credited.
• Rowland Fernyhough: Popperphoto, via Olympedia.
• Christine Fernyhough investiture (2011): Office of the Governor-General of New Zealand, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.