Cliffords in the Wilson Family

Date: 14 May 1814
Surname/tag: Wilson, Clifford

Use of the name "Clifford" in the Wilson family

The Story Passed Down

There is a story, known to a number of the descendents of William Clifford Wilson (who was known as Clifford), about how the name Clifford came to be given to first born sons in the Wilson family.

It is said that the family descended from the De Clifford family of Skipton Castle. A certian (unknown) De Clifford researched his roots and was not happy about what he had learned. He therefore changed his name to Wilson (his father having been called William). Later, a decendant of Wilson, wanting to reclaim connection to his De Clifford ancestors, gave his first son the name Clifford. It thereafter became a tradition to give the first son this name.

The story may have originated from someone employed to research the family by William Clifford Wilson, or perhaps by his brother or one of his children.

To date (May 2020), no evidence has been found to support this story. If you have evidence, futher information or know a different version of the story (or even a completely different story), do please leave a comment or message Chris Orme, who will be deligted to hear from you! Like all the pages on WikiTree, this page can be updated and improved at anytime!

The Story of the Discovered Sources

From the source documents discovered, of which there are sufficient to be quite confident in the story they tell, it appears that the name Clifford entered the Wilson family when George Wilson married Sarah Clifford Swan on 14 March 1814. Sarah was granddaughter of Sarah Clifford, who was the daughter of George Clifford.