Clan Wallace:
Origins of the Name:
The name Wallace is believed to originate from the Old French word 'Waleis' meaning 'Welshman'. However the Scottish form is thought to refer to a Strathclyde Briton (being of similar genetic stock). Early records show that the name was common in Renfrewshire and Ayrshire.
History:
The first record of the name was in 1160 when Richard Walensis witnessed a charter by Alan, son of Walter the High Steward. Richard's lands were named after him and survived as the name of the parish and town of Riccarton (Richard's Town). His Grandson, adam had two sons; Adam 4th Laird of Riccarton and Malcolm who received the lands of Eldershire and Auchinbothie in Elderslie, Renfrewshire. While tradition claims Sir Malcolm Wallace of Elderslie as the father of three sons, Malcolm, John, and William Wallace, the seal of William Wallace, rediscovered in 1999, identifies William as the son of Alan Wallace of Ayrshire, who appears in the Ragman Roll of 1296 as "crown tenant of Ayrshire". Dr. Fiona Watson in "A Report into Sir William Wallace's connections with Ayrshire", published in March 1999, reassesses the early life of William Wallace and concludes, "Sir William Wallace was a younger son of Alan Wallace, a crown tenant in Ayrshire". William Wallace led the revolt against English rule but died before the Scottish victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 when the Scottish won their freedom under Robert the Bruce. In his early years Wallace and his mother had to take refuge near Dunipace from the English because they refused to pay homage to King Edward I. While Wallace was still young he became the leader of a company of patriots who used harassing tactics against the English and won the support of many Scottish nobles. Wallace's military genius made him "hated and feared" by Edward I.
Scottish Wars of Independence:
During the Wars of Scottish Independence William Wallace and Andrew de Moray won a great and stunning victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. Wallace was also in command at the Battle of Falkirk (1298), but was defeated. Unfortunately for the Scots, Wallace was eventually captured by treachery at Robroyson near Glasgow and delivered to Edward Longshanks of England by Sir John Mentieth. Wallace was subjected to a mock trial, in which he was found guilty of treason and brutally hanged, drawn, and quartered at Smithfield, London in 1305.
After William Wallace:
During the centuries that followed, the Wallace family continued to leave its marks, cultural and political, on Scotland and on Europe. In the 15th century, General John Wallace commanded Scotland's armies to victory over England at the Battle of Sark. Among those who joined him were the forces of George Douglas from the powerful Douglas family.
Civil War:
A contemporary Wallis, Sir Hugh Wallace, celebrated Cavalier, raised the regiment for King Charles Stuart during the Puritan revolution of Oliver Cromwell. Also in the 17th century, mathematician John Wallis was the first to deal with the concept of infinity mathematically and paved the way for the development of calculus and binomial theorem in his 1657 work Arithmetica Infintorum. [edit] Wallaces in the 19th Century In the 19th century, imminent naturalist and author, Alfred Russel Wallace, developed his own theories on evolution, based on his studies of flora and fauna in South America and in the West Indies, independently of Charles Darwin. Both theories were published simultaneously in 1858. Thomas Wallace served as the vice-president of the British Board of Trade, who in 1821, cut the duties long imposed on Baltic timber; the act herald the end of the mercantile system that had existed since England had first established colonies. Sociologist Graham Wallis was an early leader of the Fabian Society, along with George Bernard Shaw, an organization which promoted the peaceful and democratic "permeation of (British) politics with socialist and collectivist ideas." Sir Richard Wallace was a great collector of painting, sculpture and furniture; primarily 18th century French. His estate bequeathed his collections to the people of Britain in 1897, and is now known as the National Wallace Collection. |
