'Wallace01'Index links to: Lead / Letter
Families covered: Wallace of Elderslie (Ellerslie), Wallace of Riccarton
[This family is still being researched. Although the page has been revised significantly (on 09.02.04), thanks to input from a contributor (HNK), there are still a number of issues to be resolved before the information shown here may be viewed as secure.]

                               
(1) The name 'Wallace' (probably derived from Galleius, with many variations such as Walleis) is believed to imply that this family originated in either Wales or (perhaps more likely) the Cymbric (Cimbric) kingdom of Strathclyde which at one time covered much of the middle-western half of Great Britain. It is thought likely that the family was one of the many that made a mark in Scotland in King David's 'administrative revolution' in the second quarter of the 12th century. However, it is not clear how long the family had been in Scotland by that time - it may have come to Scotland shortly before or even during King David's reign (1124-1153).
(2) Much interest has been focused on this family because of its most famous son, Sir William Wallace, who was Guardian of Scotland during a key part of 'The Wars of Independence'. However, rather than help clarify the genealogy of the family, that interest has managed to obscure it because so many contradictory descents have been produced. To date no 'definitive' pedigree has yet been found so we have pulled together below what we understand to be the main alternatives presently being considered.
Richard le Waleys of Richardton or Riccarton (a 1170)
1. Philip le Waleys (a 1211)
2. Richard le Waleys of Riccarton (a 1211)
Richard is shown by Ancestry.com as having married a daughter of William de Cathcart.
  A. Adam Wallace of Riccarton (a 1246)
(1) Adam is shown by Ancestry.com as having married Euphemia, a daughter of William FitzAlan or Stewart, 3rd High Steward. This is rejected because, at the time they would have been married if this was the case, she was actually married to Patrick, Earl of Dunbar.
(2) It seems to be generally accepted that Adam, son of Richard, had 2 sons - one (normally called Adam), who succeeded to Riccarton, and Malcolm who obtained Elderslie.
(3) 'The Wallace Papers' names Adam's son/successor at Riccarton as 'Sir Richard' and reports that he married Helen Bruce, daughter of the Earl of Carrick, and was father of Adam or Riccarton (father of the John who married the heiress of Craigie) and of Sir Duncan of Sundrum (whom we provisionally show below). However, the Helen (or Eleanor) known as the Countess of Carrick was Sir Duncan's wife rather than his mother (unless there were 2 generations of Sir Duncans) whilst making the common mistake in thinking she was a Bruce (rather than a Douglas - see below) reduces further the credibility of those papers on this matter. However, they do report that Sir Duncan had 3 daughters, the eldest of whom married "Lord Cathcart, chief of his name" which, allowing for some confusion on the generations, would allow for the existence of a daughter who was the heiress of Caprington (see below).
  i. Adam Wallace of Riccarton (a 1296)
  a. Malcolm Wallace of Riccarton (a c1350)
  (1) Sir John Wallace of Riccarton, later of Craigie (a 1369)
  m1. (sp) Elizabeth de Eglinton (dau of Ralph de Eglinton by Elizabeth de Ardrossan)
  m2. Margaret Lindsay (dau of Sir John Lindsay, 4th of Craigie)
'The Book of Wallace' suggests that Sir John and Margaret had only one son, John below. 'The Wallace Papers' reports that they had 2 other sons: William of Burn Bank (had issue) and Robert who dsp in France. 'History of the County of Ayr' (James Paterson, vol 1, 1847, p336) reports that John is said to have had 3 sons (Adam, his successor, Sir Duncan of Sundrum (but then adds that this "seems extrenely improbable") and John (m. Heiress of Wallace of Ellerslie) and a daughter m. Sir Alan Cathcart. We follow BLG1850 (Wallace of Kelly) which also suggests that they had 3 sons, the youngest being the ancestor of the later Wallaces of Elderslie.
  (A) Sir John (or Adam) Wallace of Craigie & Riccarton (b c1350) --
  m. Margaret Douglas (dau of Sir Henry Douglas of Lugton & Lochleven) --
  (B) son
  (C) James Wallace of Elderslie named John by Paterson
  m. ?? Wallace, heiress of Elderslie (dau of Wallace of Elderslie) @@ below
  (i) John Wallace of Elderslie (a 1432) presumed father of ...
  (a) George Wallace of Elderslie (a 1466, 1499)
  ((1)) Patrick Wallace of Elderslie (a 1499)
((A)) John Wallace of Elderslie & Helington (a 1530)
  m. Catherine Cuninghame (dau of William Cuninghame, 2nd of Craigends)
  (ii) Thomas Wallace of Auchinbothy (a 1398) ancestor of Wallaces of Johnston
  (D) daughter mentioned by Paterson
  m. Sir Alan Cathcart
  After the death of Malcolm Wallace of Elderslie (below) Elderslie is thought to have passed to a younger brother of the laird of Riccarton, possibly of this generation.
  (2) ?? Wallace of Elderslie presumed father or grandfather of ...
  (A) daughter, heiress of Elderslie
  m. James Wallace of Elderslie @@ above
ii. Malcolm Wallace of Elderslie
  Many sources note that Malcolm married Margaret Crawford but a few also report a first marriage. The attribution of the elder children between the marriages is not certain but it is known that at least (Andrew and) William was (were) by Margaret Crawford.
  m1. ??
  a. Malcolm Wallace of Elderslie (dsp)
After Malcolm's death, the estate of Elderslie passed back to the senior line of Riccarton. Its ownership over the next few generations is obscure. It appears that it passed to a younger son (of Riccarton - see just above) whose male descendants died out, leaving an heiress who married a younger son of a later generation of Riccarton & Craigie.
  b. daughter
  m. Thomas Halliday
  c. daughter
  m. _ Little
  m2. Margaret Crawford (dau of Hugh de Crawford of Loudoun)
  d. Andrew Wallace (dsp) omitted by some sources
  e. Sir William Wallace 'the patriot', Guardian of Scotland (b 1276, d 23.08.1305)§G
  p. Marion Braidfoot
  (1) daughter --
  m. William Baliol or Baillie, 2nd of Hoprig --
  iii. Margaret Wallace
  m. Alexander Cleland of Kneland (b c1235)
  B. Richard Wallace of Hackenrow or Auchincruive
  The following comes from 'The Book of Wallace' but support for this descent has not (yet) been seen elsewhere.
  i. Alan Wallace of Auchincruive (a 1253, 1296)
  a. Richard Wallace of Auchincruive
  m. (after 04.1304) Alianore
Alianore is described as step-mother of King Robert the Bruce, being the last wife of Sir Robert de Bruce, 6th Lord of Annandale.
  (1) William Wallace (of Auchincruive)
  (2) Robert Wallace of Ballmekeran and Sundrum, Sheriff of Ayr (a 1340)
  (A) Sir Duncan Wallace of Sundrum, Sheriff of Ayr (d c1376)
  It should not be forgotten that it is possible that the alternative ancestry for Sir Duncan reported in item (3) above is correct rather than this one.
  m. (by 1368) Eleanor Douglas, 'Countess of Carrick' (dau of Sir Archibald Douglas of Liddesdale)
(1) Eleanor is sometimes assumed to have been of the Bruce family because she was a Countess of Carrick but that title came through her first marriage, which was to Alexander Bruce, Earl of Carrick, rather than by inheritance.
(2) 'The Book of Wallace' reports that Sir Duncan died without issue but BLG1952 (Cuninghame of Caprington) identifes a Sir Duncan Wallace of Sundrum (presumed to have been this one although the dates do leave some unease on this matter) to have been father (possibly grandfather ?) of the daughter mentioned below. As she inherited Caprington, it is presumed that she was legitimate.
  (i) daughter, heiress of Caprington --
  m. (c1425) Adam Cuninghame, 1st of Caprington --
  BLG1952 (Cuninghame of Caprington) reports that they married about 1425. As her father died about 1376, this would normally suggest that she would have been at least 49 when she married. As reported on 'Cunningham04', they did have at least one child who may have been born about 1426 (and died in 1497) but it may also be that he was born a few years before his parents were formally married.
  (B) daughter (being sister of Sir Duncan Wallace of Sundrum) --
  m. Sir Alane of Cathcart --
  (C)+ other issue - Sir Robert, daughter
  ii. Richard Wallace (a 1260)

Main source(s):
(1) 'The Book of Wallace', volume 1, along with 'The Wallace Papers', both by the Reverend Dr. Charles Rogers, printed in 1889 for The Grampian Club, Edinburgh
(2) 'Wallace, the Hero of Scotland' by James Paterson, published in Edinburgh by William P. Nimmo in 1881
(3) BLG1952 (Wallace of that ilk), BLG1850 (Wallace of Kelly)
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