Revision of Wallace's Genealogy from Mon, 2012-11-12 10:44

By George Beccaloni 

Below is the most detailed account so far compiled on the dates of the births and deaths of all of Wallace's close relatives. Much of the information was taken from three pages of hand-written notes in a 1723 prayer-book, which had been owned by Wallace's paternal grandfather, and which has been passed down through the Wallace family and is still owned by them. The original pages can be seen HERE, HERE and HERE.

In his autobiography, My Life, Wallace recounts the family belief that they were descended on the male side from the Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace. ARW says "As all the Wallaces of Scotland are held to be various branches of the one family of the hero Sir William Wallace, we have always considered ourselves to be descended from that famous stock; and this view is supported by the fact that our family crest was said to be an ostrich's head with a horseshoe in its mouth, and this crest belongs, according to Burke's "Peerage," to Craigie-Wallace, one of the branches of the patriot's family." His more immediate relatives are listed below.

NOTES ON SOME OF ARW's OTHER RELATIVES

ARW's Maternal Grandparents

ARW's maternal grandfather was John Greenell (1747 - 15 July 1824). He married his first wife ? Hudson (? - ?) in 17?? and they had 2 children: Martha (1790 - January 26th 1858) (who married Thomas Wilson), and Mary Ann Wallace (1792 - 15 November 1868), ARW's mother. John Greenell second and final wife was Rebecca Greenell (? - 18 October 1828 [died aged 76]).

ARW's Paternal Grandparents

ARW's paternal grandfather was William Wallace (? - ?). He married Elizabeth Dilke in Hanworth, Middlesex in 1765. They had two children - William Greenell (17 May 1770 - 16 August 1770), and ARW's father, Thomas Vere (20 June 1771 - 27 April 1843).

John Wallace's (ARW's brother) Family

The only one of Wallace's siblings to have children was his brother John, who emigrated to California in 1849. John married Mary Elizabeth Webster in England on the 18th January 1855 and they had 6 children (see the new Image Galleries for pictures of them). Interestingly, the town of Wallace in Calaveras County, California is named after John – see http://westcalaverashistory.org/node/42 Also see http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~npmelton/sfbwal.htm

William Greenell Wallace's (ARW's son) Family

The only one of Wallace's children to have offspring was William. William married Elizabeth Carr Whittle (2 January 1888 - 11 August 1976) in 19?? and had three children: Elizabeth Anne (25 December 1920 - 3 January 1921), Alfred John Russel Wallace (6 March 1922 - ), and Richard Russel Wallace (13 January 1924 - ). John has a daughter and Richard has two sons.

ARW's Inlaws

ARW's father-in-law was the chemist and amateur bryologist William Mitten (30 November 1819 - 20² July 1906). Mitten married Anne Jordan (1812/15 - >1906) on 19th December 1844 and they had four daughters, all of whom were born at Hurstpierpoint, Sussex: Annie (12 February 1846 - 10 December 1914) [ARW's wife - see above], Rose Elizabeth (1847/48 - ), Flora (1850 - ), and Bessie Jordan (1854 - 1935?).

ARW's Australian Family³

Thomas Wilson (1788 - 31 March 1863), ARW's uncle, emigrated to Adelaide, Australia, with his wife Martha (née Greenell) (1790 - 26 January 1858), the sister of ARW's mother, and 5 of his 8 children in 1838. His children were: Dorothea Greenell (1813 - ?), who married George Birmingham and remained in England, never visiting Australia; George (1815 - 1894), who emigrated to Australia later but never married; Charles Algernon (1818 - 20 June 1884) [see below]; Theodore Percival ("Percy") (1819 - 1881), who married Sophia Cameron. He went out briefly to Adelaide later, before returning to England; Edmund Major (1826 - 1906), who married Ellen Gosden; Agnes St. John (1828 - 1895) who married Major S. Reynell; Theodore Augustus Greenell (1831-?), who never married; and Minna Florence (1833 - ?) who married ? but had no children.

Charles Algernon Wilson (1818 - 20 June 1884) and his wife Matilda (née King) (? - 1909) had 5 children: Ella Dorothy Martha (1867 - 1907); Algernon Theodore King ("Ally") (1863 - 1925); Emily Annie Layard (1865 - 1953); Percy Major Graham (1868 - 1931); and Charles Ernest Cameron (1875 - 1951).

ENDNOTES

1. Slotten (2004) says that the death certificate reads 15th March, but I read 9th March on the copy I have of it.

2. Taken from death certificate.

3. The information for ARW's Australian relatives was kindly supplied by John G. Wilson. Algernon Theodore King was his grandfather.