Tuesday, May 4, 2010

William Wanless (1792-1862) NOT James's Father

In new Family Search, William Wanless (1792 – 1862) is shown as the father of our James Wanlass (1825-1995). We know that relationship is false and it has been appropriately disputed by “Sharon Wilbur1” who is a descendant of William Wanless. It’s true that Murrell H. Cornish (now deceased) submitted a record to the Pedigree Resource File, showing that our James Wanlass (1825) was the son of William Wanless and “Hannah Wanless.” Elsewhere in the Pedigree Resource File that “Hannah Wanless” is shown to be “Hannah Tattersall.” From research described on the WanlessWeb site, the name “Tattersall” should have been “Hattersley.”
http://www.wanlessweb.org/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I191&tree=3
It appears that “Hanna Tattersall’s” maiden name was Ann Henson (1780-1825) who married William Hattersley in 1808. Her husband died in 1816. Her second marriage was to William Wanless in 1817. They indeed had a son James Wanless in 1824, but it was not our James Wanlass born 1825. The 1851 census shows William and Ann’s unmarried son James Wanless living with his father William and his step sister Mary Ann in Hunslet, Leeds, Yorkshire, England.
http://www.wanlessweb.org/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I190&tree=3
Proof comes from the 1851 census, which shows our James Wanlass was living in Newbattle, Edinburgh, Scotland with his wife Margaret Neilson and their three children. So we can be sure that William Wanless and “Hannah Tattersall Wanless” were not the parents of our James Wanlass, despite the listing in new Family Search.