A B C D E F G H I Ja J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Misc
These pages contain lists of Walkers
in Scotland sorted by christian name of husband and wife.
Each list is in alphabetical order by husband or father (or wife/mother if
a Walker) and also contain a reference number. There are approximately 83,000
records over the 27 lists. The Misc list contains names of Walkers where the
parents are not noted, details were supplied by a spouse or relative, or
information has been obtained from a will, documents, etc, and further
information is required. Some 3000 deaths are currently recorded in these lists
and I will add more as time goes by.
For those who are interested in such things, The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy
Foundation offers a free gene testing participation kit so that you can record your genealogy
and perhaps match people who have a common ancestor and extend your family tree
backwards in time.
Their website is at www.smgf.org and information can be obtained from there.
A list of the christian names used in Walker families and the total number
of uses of that name is available at Christian Names.
Note that names such as Mark, Luke, Patrick, Alice, and Maria, etc. were very common
in England or Ireland, but almost unknown in Scotland, as far as Walker's are
concerned, before 1850. Note also
that there are many duplications. People often married in the fathers parish and
then, two days later, married in the mothers parish as well. I am trying to
codify the lists but it will take some time for this to happen.
Information has been gathered from a variety of sources including Monumental
Inscriptions, the Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae (lists of Ministers and their
families), Services of Heirs, Burkes Armorial Peerage and similar, and it
is planned to expand the sources where possible to include Trade
Directories, Guild Memberships, Military records and the like. There is still
much information to be input and these pages are far from complete
There are too many James and Johns to contain in one list so these have been
split into a Ja file
and a J file. Note - these are still big files !
General Notes
The Session Clerks who recorded many of these details were not perfect. Spelling
errors, abbreviations, and assumptions were common. You should note that they
never recorded these details for posterity, but for their own information, a
record of what had occurred, and
because they were required to by law.
A record might, therefore, look something like this - "1675 June - Anw
Walker, y#, c. 20th. w. JWilkieo" which would translate as "Andrew
Walker, from this place or parish, christened 20th June 1675 witness J.
Wilkie" Other records are more complete, giving details of the father
and occupation, wife, including maiden name, witnesses to the christening
and sometimes grandparents names as well.
Abbreviation were common and prior to 1700 capital letters used indiscriminately
and not all capital letters were available. "fflorenceo" meant
"Florence" and this was occasionally a mans name as well as a women's.
The double "ff" was also used for "ss" and occasionally a
single "f" for "s"
While every effort has been made to maintain accuracy, dates are sometimes meaningless. For example, a birth in Fife may not have been recorded at the
Parish level because the Session Clerk was away. Sometime later the Sheriffs office (at Cupar) would record the birth in the Cupar church register. This
results in a christening in St Andrews Parish in 1800 and the birth record as
Cupar Parish in 1801, 12 months later. Other records obtain dates from Wills,
Services of Heirs, etc. If the birth had not been recorded or it was difficult
to establish the person concerned, only an approximate date of birth or marriage
can be assumed
Occupations were named slightly differently to those now in use. Cordiner = shoemaker, flesher = butcher, baxter = baker, beadle = a combination of church warden/town crier/constable. A baille was basically a person in charge, ie groundsman, fishing supervisor, constable - depending what he was baille of. A "writer" was the equivalent of a lawyer and a "WS" was a "Writer to the Signet". the equivalent of a modern days Queens Counsel. (the signet being the ring worn by the King and used to seal wax imprints on documents.) There are a number of internet sites that give more complete details of occupations.
The Alphabetical Lists
The details in the lists contain something similar to the
following -
Scotlands
People
a Govt site that has free access to indexes, but charges for details
- also has links for handwriting, abbreviations, trade names, etc
Coat of Arms
The Coat of Arms in Scotland are, generally speaking, registered to a particular
individual and, occasionally, their descendants. The Coat of Arms of a Borough
or City are a different category. It is illegal to use a Coat of Arms
that has not been issued to you.
The Coat of Arms registered to several Walker families are shown below. Note
that Walker is not a Clan and the three red stripes (three pallets gules)
and the St Andrews Cross (saltire) are not a requirement of Walker families
unless related. Sometimes they were simply chosen to be similar. The emblems
and colours on the chief (the top third) have distinctive meaning and imply
Head of, son of, relative of, etc. The stars are actually rowels (spurs used in
horse riding)
Errors and Omissions are (sadly
to say) all mine.
Norman Walker
For email, copy this address to your mailer :
hockeyv-at-alphalink.com.au
and replace the "-at-" with "@"
( I'm getting too much spam with the full email address on the web-site)
This page has been accessed
times since 20th April 2001.