Wallace Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Wallace Family History

Wallace Family History

The Wallace ancient family history was found in the irishsurnames.com archives.

Surnames developed a wide number of variants over the centuries. Many different spelling variations of the same name can be traced back to a single original root. Also, when a bearer of a name emigrated from Ireland it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books upon arrival at their new location. Some names have dozens of spelling variations. Some Surnames were also altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically, by their sound, and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another. This was especially so in Ireland where most Gaelic names were 'anglicized' at some stage.

Variants of the name Wallace include Wallis, Wallice, Walles and Wallas. The word Walenis was used to designate the Britons of Strathclyde. From this word the name Wallace was derived. These names were popular in Ayrshire and Renfrewshire in the thirteenth century and Richard Wallace was the first noted of the name. His grandson, Adam, had two sons, Adam and Malcolm. Malcolm was the father of Scotland's hero, Sir William Wallace, 1274-1305, who led the revolt against the English. His memorial was built in 1896 and stands in Stirling on the top of Abbey Craig. The modern day film 'Braveheart' tells the story of this great man.

In Ireland this name and its variants were introduced into Ulster Province by settlers who arrived from England and Scotland, especially during the seventeenth century. During the 'Plantations of Ireland' in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Ireland was colonized by the English Crown with this period marking the end of Gaelic supremacy in Ireland. This period brought an influx of settlers into the country but, unlike the earlier Anglo-Norman invasion of the twelfth century that resulted in a full integration into Irish society of the new arrivals, the same never occurred with the Ulster Planters who maintained their own distinct identity.

Wallace is sometimes an occasional variant of Walsh.The Wallace family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Wallace descendants.