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Scotland

In Scotland, early Wanless families were not Highlanders. They were often religious dissenters, turning to Presbyterianism and Methodism. The earliest recorded christenings are for a Wandles or Wanles family as follows:

• 1620s: Kinfauns, Perthshire
• 1640s: a Wandles family appears in Dundee, Angus (Forfar) and Dysart, Fife.
• 1650s: a Wandles family appears in Kettins and Auchterhouse in Angus and Kilspindie in Perth
• 1660s: a Wandlace family appears at Auchterhouse (Angus) and a Wandles at Longforgan (Perth)

Between 1700 and 1750, they were concentrated in the following areas:

• Angus (formerly Forfar): Auchterhouse, Dundee, Liff & Benvie, Invergowrie, Kettins, Coupar Angus
• Fife: Aberdour, Dysart
• Perthshire: Abernyte, Errol, Inchture, Kinfauns, Kilspindie, Longforgan, Meigle
• Roxburghshire: Linton

By 1800, Wanless families continued to populate the areas above and had spread to:

• Berwickshire: Fogo
• Perth: Alyth
• Roxburghshire: Nether, Auchope near Morebattle, Yetholm, New Edmiston

Naming Patterns - Many Scots families followed a fairly strict naming pattern for their children. This can enable you to trace back 3 or 4 generations, armed with the name of a child who was named for her paternal great-grandmother. Of course, the pattern cannot be relied upon without additional documentation of relationships, but it can often serve as a good guide.

Civil Registration of Births, Marriages, and Deaths

• Wan*l*s births, marriages, deaths (from Scotland's People) post-1855
  

Parish Records

• Baptisms
• The Romeril File: Many births, marriages, and deaths of Wanless (all spellings) names extracted from various parish registers of Scotland from the early 1800s through the 1940s. More about this file.
  
• Burials from Old Parish Registers (OPR) (from ScotlandsPeople) - index to deaths before 1855 NEW Oct 2009
• Dundee, Angus, Scotland Burial Register 1772-1835
• Births & Marriages in Scotland of people with Wanless as a middle name & notes on their ancestry
• Monument Inscriptions (Tombstones, Headstones, Gravestones, etc.)

Census

The information supplied for each person recorded in the census is: place of residence, name, relationship to head of household, marital status, age, occupation, and place of birth (except 1841, which has less info). Married women were often listed under their maiden surname, at least in 1841 and 1851.

1841 (complete)	1851 (complete index, some extracts)
1861 (complete index, some extracts)	1871 (complete index, some extracts)
1881 (complete)	1891 (complete index, some extracts)
1901 (complete index, some extracts)

Census Dates - what night was the census taken on?

Newspapers

• The Scotsman 1817-1939 (from The Scotsman Archive) and The Edinburgh Advertiser (from ancestry.com)

Other

• UK Seamen's Registers - some Scottish seamen are listed here, with their home ports and birth dates
• Trade Directories & Voter Registers
• National Archives of Scotland - any spelling of Wanless listed in their online catalogue - some interesting-looking documents here need to be looked at!