The Fearnley name mystery

One mystery is the origin of the Fearnley name. Where did it come from and what does it mean? I have found one claim to explain the name, but is it accurate? My own research on the subject is here.

Is there a family coat of arms? This question appears to have been answered by two visitors to this site - but what is the origin of these crests?

If you know then I'd love to hear from you.
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The Norway Mystery

I have known since I went to Norway on a business trip in 1970 that there are many Fearnleys living in Oslo and that there are a number of prosperous businesses carrying the Fearnley name. What I have never been able to discover - are they linked to the Fearnleys in the UK, and if so, how and when? Fearnley doesn't strike me as a Norwegian sounding name and in written Norwegian it looks distinctly out of place!

So, my question is: Did the Vikings bring the Fearnley name to England (I do hope so!) or did a Fearnley emigrate to Norway a few hundred years ago? My research suggests the latter and the earliest reference I have found is to the Norwegian artist Thomas Fearnley 1802-1842.

I am disappointed! I recently found the following on a genealogy web-board:

"Sorry but the earliest Fearnleys don't originate in Norway. All Fearnleys originate from the old West Riding of Yorkshire. A Thomas Fearnley born 1729 in Birstall WRY emigrated to Norway where he married Ingeborg Hedevicefordt at Fredrikshald in 1766. They had 5 children thereby founding a Norwegian branch of Fearnleys. They have now been in Norway for so long that Fearnley is thought to be a Norwegian name - a Rusken Fearnley was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Crown Prince Olav in the 1920s."

This was posted by Yvonne Fearnley on RootsWeb.com in reponse to somebody else pondering the same question.

Fearnley links in Norway

Thomas Fearnley, artist, 1802 to 1842. More of his pictures can be seen here, here and here.

I would be very interested to know where I can obtain a print of one of Thomas Fearnley's paintings to hang on my wall. Here perhaps, the Astrup-Fearnley Museum in Oslo?

This looks like a great place to holiday in Norway and I think you book it here.

See also the Fearnley Business page.

The British Embassy in Oslo (pictured below) was once owned by Thomas Fearnley, son of the artist Thomas.