Whalon History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Whalon is one of the many new names that came to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Whalon family lived in Buckinghamshire, on Whielden Lane, Amersham. Today Weedon is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district to the north of Aylesbury and south of Hardwick in Buckinghamshire.

Early Origins of the Whalon family

The surname Whalon was first found in Northamptonshire where they held a family seat at two villages called Weedon Beck and Weedon Lois. They held these lands from the Count of Mortain, and were conjecturally descended from Hugh of Grand Mesnil in Normandy. The poet, Dame Edith Sitwell, is buried in the village.

Early rolls give a glimpse of the many spellings in use at the time. Robert de Wedonia was listed in Northamptonshire c. 1160. In Berkshire Ralph de Wedon was listed there in 1207 and the Feet of Fines for Warwickshire included an entry for William Wedon 1396-1397. 1

The root name was found in the Hundredorum Rolls for Dorset in 1273 as William Wede. William le Weed was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296. 1

Another source notes the Hundredorum Rolls include: John de Wedon, Buckinghamshire; and Ralph de Wedone, Bedfordshire. 2 The Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I. includes an entry for Nicholas de Wedon, Nottinghamshire, Henry III-Edward I. 3

Early History of the Whalon family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Whalon research. Another 109 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1582, 1606, 1608, 1611, 1612, 1734, 1777 and 1793 are included under the topic Early Whalon History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Whalon Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Weedon, Weeden, Weeton, Weton, Wedon and others.

Early Notables of the Whalon family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was George Weedon (1734-1793), American soldier during the Revolutionary War from Fredericksburg, Colony of Virginia. He served as a lieutenant under...
Another 27 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Whalon Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Whalon migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Whalon or a variant listed above were:

Whalon Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Edward Whalon, who arrived in Tippecanoe County, Ind in 1840 4
John Whalon, who landed in Tippecanoe County, Ind in 1840 4

Whalon migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Whalon Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Catherine Whalon, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Asterope" in 1867

The Whalon Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Credo
Motto Translation: I Believe.

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Testa de Nevill or "Liber Feodorum" or "Book of Fees," thought to have been written by Ralph de Nevill, for King John (1199–1216)
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)