SpanglefishWallator, Walliter, Woliter, Wallater, Wolleter Family History | sitemap | log in
This is a free Spanglefish 1 website.

The website dedicated to the surnames:

"Wallator", "Woliter", "Wolleter" (& all other spellings)

When I first started setting up this website, almost twenty years ago, my aim was to pull together all the information I had on the surname Wallator, including all the different spellings recorded (Wallater, Walletter, Walletor, Wolleter, Wollitor, Woliter, Wallador etc).  My intention was to add new information as it became available to me - unfortunately I have not always managed to do that as frequently as I hoped.  However, I have now (February 2025) pulled together all the information that I have available to me at this point and I have compiled it into a Single Name Wallator (and variants) Family Tree.  In creating this, in the absence of conclusive new information, I have had to go with some of my original hunches (as set out on this site) regarding the relatedness of some past Wallators.  My preference, before assuming people I am researching are related, is to identify several relevant pieces of data such as names, dates, place and ideally relationship. This is relatively easy when they appear together in a Census record, but these are not available before 1841 in the UK. So sometimes assumptions have to be made.  However, I am reluctant to make such assumptions without ideally three of those pieces of information pointing to a relationship.  I also seek data that disproves a relationship.  We also now have available DNA tests.  These can be very useful in confirming genetic links between different branches of families.  Hopefully more evidence will emerge on this in the coming years.

My own connection

My great grandmother was born with the surname Wallator.  It was that discovery that prompted me to begin researching the family, back in the 1990s.  Her family was from Shropshire, England. When I began my research it involved visiting local history libraries such as the one in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, which is where a lot of the data originally posted on this site was found.  Now much more is available online, which certainly makes things easier.  My great grandmother was the last member of my family to bear the Wallator name.  It also appears she was one of the last people in the UK to have the Wallator surname with this particular spelling - although it was still in use as a middle name.  Some members of the same family from which I am descended emigrated to Canada and the USA, where the name "Wallator" continues to thrive.

Interestingly, the surnames Woliter and Wolleter still survive in the UK and there were people with the surname spelt Wallater up until at least 2001.  They were mainly found in recent history in the Staffordshire and Warwickshire areas. Over the years I have gathered clear evidence that the people bearing these names are all linked with the surname Wallator and the families in Shropshire. It is difficult to find absolutely conclusive evidence of a direct link to my ancestors, but the evidence available does suggest they are all linked back to a common ancestor (Thomas Wallator 1767-1840).

It is also certain that the various alternative spellings arose due to illiteracy or due to assumptions about the name's spelling by the writer, since they all share the same phonetic characteristics. Some of the variations may have resulted from differences in dialect too.

While my Wallator ancestors came from Shropshire, further research has made it clear that other people with these surnames were living elsewhere in the UK in the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.  I now have quite a long list of people from earlier centuries.  That makes me reluctant to accept that the Shropshire Wallators came from Cadwalladers based on the evidence currently available.  But I am open-minded enough to accept it may be true, especially given the proximity of Shropshire to Wales, where the Cadwallader name originates, and the fact that the largest number of people bearing one of the Wallator surnames was recorded in Shropshire - at least during the 19th century.

One of my contacts also enlightened me to the existence of the name Wolleter in Chile too!  A link back to the UK in the early 1800s has been provided, but I have not properly investigated that as yet.  See Chile and the Wolleter Name.

The Future

My original aim was for this site to bring together all the available information about the different Wallator family surname branches so as to assist other researchers.  The site has attracted many positive comments over the years as well as useful information and confirmation from some people about their own connection with the name.  Thank you to all those who have been in touch.

Now I have created a single name tree on Ancestry.com, I expect most of my updates to be added there.  However, where appropriate I shall continue to add information here.  Please feel free to contact me about Wallator people if you have information to add or if you think I may be able to help you with your family history.  You can either use this website (Feedback or leave a comment using Guestbook) or through Ancestry.


Note on confidentiality

The information on this site will only concern family members who are deceased, in order to protect the confidentiality of living members.  However, if I am asked to publish information about living members I may agree to do so, provided I have the express permission of those concerned.

Trevor Shaw

Site Last Updated - 25/02/2025 16:30:59
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