The Surname Whatnall, Whatnell, Watnal etc.

Whatnall is my paternal great grandmother's family name. It is often seen as Whatnell and in the past as Watnal and on rarer occasions as Wootnal or Watenal and other obscure variations.

The origins of the name seem to lie in the East Midlands, in particular Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. There is village/town called Watnall north west of Nottingham near to Eastwood. Whether the place or the name came first I do not know.

From their origins in the East Midlands, various families moved in the 1800s to Essex, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire in the east and Lancashire and Cheshire in the west.

Several branches have been identified originating in the Leciestershire area in the late 1700s and it is likely that these will be linked a little further back, but the evidence has not been found so far.

My earliest proven Whatnall ancestor is James Watnal and this descendant report shows all descendants from him in my tree except where it joins the Jacombs descendant report. A link joins the two reports.

Descendant charts for the following Whatnall family groups which I have not connected to my own tree so far can be found by following the links.

• Daniel Whatnall (m.1706, Leicester.)
• Thomas Whatnall (mid 1700s, Leicestershire.)
• Richard Whatnell (m.1832 Coventry)
• Charles Whatnall (b.1837 Loughborough)
• Henry Whatnall (b.1844 Leicestershire)
• William Watnall (1840s, Dumfries, Scotland.)
• James Watnall (1850s, Dumfries, Scotland.)
• William Whatnall (1850s Cheshire and Lancashire)
• James Horace Whatnall (b.1898 Loughborough)
• Thomas F Whatnall (b.1906 Barrow-on-Soar)
• Harold Whatnall (b.1910 Ashby de la Zouch)
• ? Whatnall (early 1900s Leicestershire)
• ? Whatnell (1920s Northern England)

I have details of several other isolated Whatnall families in my records.

Last updated on 5th December 2011