View our terms and conditions for use of our web site and our privacy policy. Visit Electric Scotland's Aois Community, our social networking site. Find our contact information and learn more about us. The Home Page of Electric Scotland ES Common Header Bar
This is where you'll find a comprehensive resource on Scottish accommodations. Electric Scotland's Article Service where you can both read articles and post your own. Beth's Newfangled Family Tree is a monthly publication giving genealogy advice as well as what's hapening on the Scottish Scene around the world. This is where you'll find around 300 books on Scottish history that we've published on the site. Our pages where you'll find books and articles about Robert Burns and his work. Gives you some information on the business scene in Scotland. This is where you can view Scottish events around the world and add your own. Learn about the history of Clans and Families of Scotland and the Scots-Irish. The personal site of Alastair McIntyre where he's posted his own mini biography as well as his travel journals. 5 volumes worth of biographies relating to Significant Scots. A weekly newsletter about the political scene in Scotland from the Scots Independent Newspaper. Lots of Scottish recipes along with contributions from our visitors. Play our collection of online games. 6 volume Gazetter on the place names of Scotland. This is our page for trying to give you advice on Genealogy. A FAQ where you go to get answers to frequently asked questions. Information and pictures about Historic places in Scotland such as castles and other properties. Main index page for our very large history section. Children resources including over 800 children's stories and lots of online and offline games. A bit of a catch-all page where you find loads of pages about music, haggis, scots language, culture, religion, humor and lots more. Our nature page where you can explore information on Scottish Wildlife, Plants, Flowers and lots more. Our weekly newsletters archive. Thousands of pictures of Scotland for you to enjoy. Loads of poetry and stories for you to enjoy with many contributions from visitors to our site. Our very own Webcard program which you can use to send online postcard to friends and relatives. Huge resources about the Scots Diaspora around the world and here is where you can find this information. A continually building information resource on the Scots-Irish who emigrated to Ulster and then onto many parts of the world, especially the USA. Create your own family tree with our special software. You can also import and export gedcom files. Our web-based scottish search engine which is a free resource for Scottish companies as well as Scottish organisations around the world. Current Scottish News headlines and links to Scottish news resources. A range of services, both big and small, that we currently offer. Our Tartan pages, giving you access to information on Tartans as well as tartan search engines. Sponsored by House of Tartan. Our travel section where we have loads of suggested tours of Scotland as well as old historic travel books. A wee collection of videos some of which we've produced ourselves. Learn about the last 100 pages we've added to our site which is updated daily.

Click here to get a Printer Friendly Page
 

Send Flowers

Wilson
The name is first recorded in Scotland at the start of the 15th century and means 'son of Will' and James Wilson. His father from Eastforth, Lanark, bought the lands of Hinschelwood and Cleugh, Carnwarth, in 1655. In 1906 his descendant John Wilson (1809-89), of Airdrie, was created a baronet. David Wilson (1805-98), of Carbeth.

WILSON: The name is derived from 'Wil', a diminutive of William, introduced to Britain through Norman influence about the 11th century. From such origin the name became widespread throughout Britain and, although among the 10 most popular names in Scotland, such descent should not be assumed without evidence of ancestral links. It will also be evident that all Wilsons in Scotland are not allied by blood and share only the common bond of being descended from some remote ancestor who bore the root name. The popularity of William as a baptismal name gave rise to many quite distinct lineages throughout the whole of Scotland and, depending on dialect, or regional trait, it assumed many forms in addition to Wilson. Notable variants of spelling are Willison and Wilsone, both forms being those of families well established in the Stirling area by the 18th century. Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway are particularly rich in Wilsons, and a family from Hawick in the Borders greatly promoted pastoral farming in New Zealand. Two distinct lines of Wilsons are associated with Clans - those of Caithness who are said to be descended from a son of George Gunn, Coroner of Caithness; and those of Banffshire who are linked with the Innes family of Littlefield. Undoubtedly, Wilsons had links with other clans and families who had a tradition of William in their kin, but none have positively been identified. The most indelible mark on our understanding of the fabric which typifies the Highlands was left by a family of Wilsons who were merchant weavers at Bannockburn, near Stirling. The preserved records of their tartan trade spanning 150 years from c.1750 to 1906 have provided scholars with much information that would otherwise have been lost. The present Wilson tartan, originally named 'Janet Wilson sett', was devised about 1775 for the wife of the founder, and knowledge of the pattern lay dormant for over 100 years before it found new life adorning Wilsons worldwide. Individual Wilsons of Scottish descent contributed much to the worlds of literature and science, their works ranging from the abstract thoughts of philosophy to the development of the 'cloud chamber' and 'screw propulsion', and one had a major part in the formation of the Constitution of the U.S.A.

Back