History of the Surname

WILSON

      "The Ancient History of the Distinguished Surname Wilson"

   Few have not heard of the legendary prowess of the Vikings.  This fierce sea-faring race acquired settlements in the 9th century at the northern tip of Scotland.  It was from this group that the family name WILSON emerges.

   Professional researchers found the origin of this surname WILSON by referring to such documents as the Viking Sagas, the Orkneyinga Sagas, the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, the Inquisitor and translations of local manuscripts, parish records, baptismal, and tax records.

   The first record of the name WILSON was found in Berwickshire where they had been seated from very ancient times.

   In ancient times it was not uncommon for a person to be born with one spelling of his name, married with another, and yet another to appear on his headstone.  Amongst the spellings recorded were:

                                     Wilson, Willson, Wilsone, Wilson, Wilson

but this does not preclude other spellings, particularly those adopted in North America.

   The Vikings landed and settled the Orkneys, Shetlands, and parts of mainland Scotland, sometimes penetrating as far south as Caithness, and beyond. They arrived in the Orkneys soon after the year 888 when King Harold of Norway routed the rebellious northern clans in his Norwegian Kingdom, and they abandoned their homeland in Norway forever.  Remarkable accounts of the voyages of this seafaring race can be found in the chronicles called the Ynginga Saga, Islands Landnamabok, Lansabla Saga, and the Orkneyinga Saga.  They are believed to have explored Greenland and the Northern American coastline, Vinland, Newfoundland and Maine, from that time, about

800 A.D. onward.

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                                     The Coat of Arms for the family name of Wilson is:

                          On a black background a gold wolf and three gold starfish.

                                                 The Crest is:  A gold wolf.

                                                            The Motto :

                                              AUT PAX  ~ AUT BELLUM

                                             ' EITHER PEACE ~ or  WAR '   

                                     Source and Credit to Zeta Peterson for the Text History

    The Sinclairs were the early chiefs of the settlement.  Their early

successes found them as far south as Northumbria in England, but King Malcom Canmore of Scotland gathered the border clans and drove them back northward to Sutherland about the year 1057.

   The family name WILSON emerged as a Scottish Clan or family in this territory of Berwick.  They were descended from Will Gunn, and in a minor conflict with the Chief, moved the family to the southeast coast of Scotland.  By virtue of the family's relation- ship to Will Gunn, they were of Viking origin descending from the Earls (or jarls) of Orkney, who settled in Scotland about 895 A.D.  The Earls of Orkney were originally from Norway, of the royal Norwegian Vikings who were

banished from Norway and settled in northern Scotland.

   John Wulson was a merchant in the service of Sir John of

Montgomery in 1405.  Michael Wilsoun was Burgess of Irvin in 1418, and John Wilson was Burgess of Berwick in 1467.  Thomas Wolsoun was tenant of Neubotel Abbey in 1563.

   They moved south into England when the border clans were disbanded from the border in 1603. Major branches of the family were

established at Eshton Hall, in Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Melton, and Bankhall, Penrith in Cumberland, Sneaton Castle in Yorkshire, Casterton Hall in West- moreland, Forest Hall in Northumberland and Rivington Hall in Lancashire.

   They were predominantly in northern England.  Meanwhile in

Scotland they had branches at Fraserburgh, Fingach, Kelton, Glenderston, Glasgow and Edinburgh.  Notable amongst the Clan from early times was Will the Crowner Gunn, scion of the family.  (Also of note at this time was George Taylor of Pennsylvania, signer of the American Declaration of Independence.)

In Ireland the Plantation of Ulster seeded many Scottish families who were granted lands previously owned by the Catholic Irish, mostly in the six northern states of Ulster.  They became known as the Scotch Irish.  In Ireland they settled in county Wexford at Scarr, Roseville, and in Donegal and Dublin.

   Some, disillusioned, migrated to the New World from Ireland, but most

migrated from northern Scotland and the Isles.  They sailed aboard the tiny, overcrowded sailing ships which plied the stormy Atlantic called the "White Sails".  Frequently, they lost 30 to 40% of their passenger list to diseases and the elements. From the port of arrival many settlers joined the wagon trains west- ward, some to the mid west, others  to the west coast.  During the American War of Independence some remained loyal to the Crown and moved northward into Canada, becoming known as the United Empire Loyalists