Paisley Clan History

Paisley is a name of local origin, coming from the town of the same name in Renfrewshire.

William Passeleue, or Passelaw, witnessed charters, sometime between 1179 and 1190, by William the Lion, and circa 1202, as William Passelewe, he was witness to a charter by Alan filius Walteri.

This William may have been the same person as William de Passele who, around 1199, was witness to a donation of the church of Kincardin to the Abbey of Cambuskenneth.

The canon of Glasgow, dominus Johannes de Passelet, was witness to the gift of half of Litel Guvan to the Hospital of Polmade in 1320.

In 1600, Henry Paslaye was a burgess freeman of Glasgow, whilst in 1616, in Aberdeen John Paislie was made burgess.

In Dumfriesshire there was a family of Pasleys, and a number of them distinguished themselves in public service, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

In Hawick, in 1689, there is a shoemaker by the name of William Paislaw recorded, and the notorious ‘priest’ of Gretna Green, Pasley or Paisley, may have taken their name from (How)pasley, originally in the barony of Hawick.