There are three possible sources of this interesting Anglo-Saxon name, the first being an assimilated form of Waldeman, derived from the Old English pre 7th Century "Wald", wood or forest, with "mann", man, thus a forest dweller. An alternative explanation is that Wallman is an occupational name deriving from the Middle English "wale", meaning excellent, noble, and used in the sense of "men of merit", with "man" meaning the servant of this nobleman. Lastly it may be that Wallman is an occupational name for someone in charge of maintaining a wall, perhaps the town fortification, or a sea wall. The derivation in this instance is from the Old English "weall", wall, and an early recording from this source is of one Ralph Walleman (1332, Subsidy Rolls of Cumberland). Among the early recordings in London are the christenings of Roger Wallman on March 27th 1666, and of Cassandra Wallman on August 4th 1696, both at St. Sepulchre. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ailwin Waleman, which was dated 1166, Pipe Rolls of Huntingdonshire, during the reign of King Henry 11, "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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