Question

does any one have information regarding a John Wallace changing last name to wallace of Burnside?

Comments

Felicite, do you have a profile for the person in question?

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All I really have are family stories and rumors. But there are enough of them to make me wonder. From the stories I have gathered the Wallaces that were from Elderslie, Scotland near paisley had changed their name to Wallace of Burnside out of need because there were so many John Wallaces. This Family of John Wallace lived on the side of a Byrne or Burn (river).  I am still new to wiki and trying to make sure the names I provide in my tree are accurate. So I am still researching dates. Any suggestions would be of help.

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Members of a family would not legally be entitled to change their name to "Wallace of Burnside" unless they had been granted a Baronial title. Under Scots Law "of X" has a specific legal meaning though most people don't realise it. As for a William Wallace connection, given that he died without children, any suggested link to him would need to be seriously scrutinised. Even the experts have recently changed their mind as to his parentage!

Answer 1

This comes from John O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees

https://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees2/burnside.php

But he changed his name to Burnside, not Wallace of Burnside.

You can take it or leave it.  There's unlikely to be any evidence.

Burnside was of course already a surname long before that, with more than one origin.

Comments

Thank You.

Answer 2

Thank for the information. I don't recall asking about a William Wallace connection. I guess you assumed that's something I was fishing for?

Comments

Hi Felicite, I can't speak for Mark, but the mention of Wallace of Elderslie immediately brings to mind William Wallace to most researchers.

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Oh I see. Thank you for your reply.

Answer 3

I've previously encountered statements that "the" Burnside family (or rather, "a" Burnside family) had originally been Wallaces. R. J. Horace has already shown you the O'Hart pedigree. In my own records, I see that my late grandmother has photocopies of some pages from Walter Clark Armstrong's "Burnside-Underwood Genealogy" (1971). On page 9, Armstrong writes, "Records indicate that the Burnsides were originally Wallaces of the Wallace Clan of Scotland." But Armstrong doesn't bother to say what records he means.