The origins of the Wishart family tree database began with a chance encounter in 1974, when the late Jack Wishart (WIS0001) – an officer in the Royal Army Educational Corps, was posted to the Ministry of Defence in London and attended a diplomatic reception in Lancaster House. While chatting to a colleague, Major David Boobbyer, he inquired about his unusual name. Major Boobbyer replied that it was Cornish and there were few of them about. Jack said something similar about Wishart, and how the English can neither spell nor pronounce it properly – they say Wise Heart or WishART, whereas the Scots say WISHart. Major Boobbyer demurred, explaining that a neighbour of his was a Wishart and they both knew how to pronounce it correctly.

This chance remark by Major Boobbyer inspired Jack to write to the neighbour expressing an interest in where he came from and whether they were related. The neighbour turned out to be Scott Wishart (WIS0042), a retired pharmacist from Montrose in Scotland. He gave Jack his family tree, which had been compiled by a relative, and his brother’s address in Perth. So, on his next return to Scotland, Jack visited Scott’s brother David Wishart who readily volunteered more Wishart data.

Jack also quizzed his father about their forebears and began visiting New Register House, Edinburgh to search the statutory records of births, marriages and deaths for Scotland. Gradually he sketched out the details of his family. However, one name eluded him – his grandfather’s twin brother (and it took him until 2005 to find him)! Jack trawled wider and wider, collecting all the Wisharts he could find, and so the family database was started.

In 1976, Jack joined the Society of Genealogists in London and spent his lunch hours there, garnering more data on Wisharts (Jack asserts that working in the Empress State Building in Lillie Road was reason enough to lunch elsewhere). Initially he collated his data by drawing little trees and hanging names from branches, but this method quickly became impractical. As he had recently worked in in Army Intelligence at that time, he decided to employ hush-hush Intelligence procedures – he transferred his data to record cards, one card for every Wishart, and he now has over 21,000 cards. Therefore, if your name is Wishart, chances are you’ve a card in his file!

Each time he created a tree, Jack had to extract the cards relevant to the branch, lay them out in the right order, and then laboriously transcribe them to paper. This might seem clumsy and time-consuming in the computer age, but it was simple and allowed for missing branches to be slotted in easily as new data were submitted.

Postings to Cyprus, Edinburgh and the USA followed, and at every opportunity Jack garnered more Wishart data. When he had assembled a few thousand names he was able to exchange his data with others who had collected several generations. This added to his base, and Jack was soon corresponding with fellow Wishart enthusiasts throughout the world, amassing more cards with each new contact. Those who corresponded with Jack will doubtless recall his thorough, questioning approach, and many will be grateful for the extra details he has been able to add to their own family trees.

In 1995 Jack bought the Family Tree Maker program, and over the next two-decades produced more than 130 trees in electronic format. Sending a family tree to a fellow Wishart became so much simpler and more informative than it was when he used only record cards. After Jack’s sudden passing in 2015 the baton was passed over to another Scott Wishart (WIS006o) who had worked alongside Jack for many years on the family trees and had helped him create the popular Wishart Newsletters. The database now contains somewhere in the region of 26,000 Wisharts and following a major consolidation and restructuring of the trees in early 2019 there are currently 130 different genealogies.

Some variations on the name of Wishart are as follows:

UK, Rep. Ireland, Commonwealth, USA: Wishart, Wisheart, Wishert, Wishard, Wiseheart, Wisehart, Wiscard, Wissard, Wysard, Wysart, Wyscard, Wyschard, Wischeard, Wischert, Whichard, Wycharde, Wyscharde, Whisker, Wichard, Vicharde, Vizard

France: Guiscard, Guichard, Giscard

Benelux: Vis card

Italy: Guishard, Guiscardo

We believe the name is descended from Tancred de Hauteville La Guiscard of St. Lo (near Coutances in Normandy, France). See Wishart History for some more information. If Guiscard is written in script, it can easily be mistaken for Wiscard.

If you would like us to check your Wishart ancestry, download the Wishart Family Tree form, complete it offline and submit it by email. To download the form, click DOWNLOAD now.

• WIS0001 – Descendants of Robert Wishart & Ann Henderson
• WIS0002 – Descendants of John Wishart & Elizabeth Mercer
• WIS0003 – Descendants of Andrew Wishart & Margaret Tod
• WIS0004 – Descendants of James Wishart & Margaret Laing
• WIS0005 – Descendants of John Wishart & Mary Marshall
• WIS0006 – Descendants of William Wishart & Mary Mitchell
• WIS0007 – Descendants of James Wishart & Isabel Johnston
• WIS0008 – Descendants of William Wishart & Mary Galatian
• WIS0009 – Descendants of William Wishart & Katherine Willock
• WIS0010 – Descendants of James Wishart & Elspeth Brown
• WIS0011 – Descendants of James Wishart of Norfolk County, Virginia
• WIS0012 – Descendants of William Wishart & Margaret Aitken
• WIS0013 – Descendants of James Wischart of Paisley
• WIS0014 – Original tree merged with WIS0004
• WIS0014 – Descendants of John Wischard of Pitarrow Branch
• WIS0015 – Descendants of James Wishart & Catherine Forsyth
• WIS0016 – Descendants of William Wishard & Susannah Lytle
• WIS0017 – Descendants of John Wishart & Margaret Dunlop
• WIS0018 – Descendants of George Wishart & Grizzel Robertson
• WIS0019 – Descendants of James Wishart of Fetteresso
• WIS0020 – Descendants of Alexander Wishart & Helen Clark
• WIS0021 – Descendants of George Wishart & Mary Greig
• WIS0022 – Original tree merged with WIS0020
• WIS0022 – Descendants of Robert Wishart & Jane McPherson
• WIS0023 – Descendants of James Wishart & Elizabeth McLaren
• WIS0024 – Descendants of Andrew Wishart &b Catherine Kennier
• WIS0025 – Original tree merged with WIS0020
• WIS0025 – Descendants of Adam Wyschard of Logie Branch
• WIS0026 – Original tree merged with WIS0002
• WIS0026 – Descendants of James Wishart & Jean Mitchell
• WIS0027 – Descendants of Robert Wishart & Janet Beveridge
• WIS0028 – Descendants of David Wishart & Janet Robertson
• WIS0029 – Original tree merged with WIS0027
• WIS0029 – Descendants of John Wishart & Elizabeth Laing
• WIS0030 – Descendants of Alexander Wishart & Catherine Martin
• WIS0031 – Descendants of David Wishart & Margaret Heugh
• WIS0032 – Original tree merged with WIS0082
• WIS0032 – Descendants of Alexander Wishart & Christina Mackie
• WIS0033 – Descendants of James Wishart & Mary Baxter
• WIS0034 – Descendants of Alexander Wishart & Mary McGregor
• WIS0035 – Descendants of Andrew Wishart & Katherine Bains
• WIS0036 – Descendants of Andrew Wishart & Cecilia Law
• WIS0037 – Descendants of Walter Wishart & Helen Anderson
• WIS0038 – Descendants of James Wishart & Janet Beverley
• WIS0039 – Descendants of Andrew Wishart of Orkney
• WIS0040 – Descendants of James Wishart & Margaret Anderson
• WIS0041 – Original tree merged with WIS0057
• WIS0041 – Descendants of Thomas Wishart & Allison Stuart
• WIS0042 – Descendants of James Wishart & Isobell Davidson
• WIS0043 – Descendants of John Wishart & Isobel Findlay
• WIS0044 – Descendants of James Wishart & Mary Stevenson
• WIS0045 – Descendants of David Wishart & Hannah Mitchell
• WIS0046 – Original tree merged with WIS0101
• WIS0046 – Descendants of David Wishart & Margaret Simpson
• WIS0047 – Descendants of John Wishart & Grace Hogg
• WIS0048 – Original tree merged with WIS0020
• WIS0048 – Descendants of John Wishart & Agnes Lamb
• WIS0049 – Descendants of Jerome Wishart & Christina Coutts
• WIS0050 – Descendants of Joseph Wishart & Jean Stewart
• WIS0051 – Descendants of William Wishart & Charlotte Taylor
• WIS0052 – Descendants of John Wishart & Agnes Hilton
• WIS0053 – Original tree merged with WIS0028
• WIS0053 – Descendants of Thomas Wishart & Helen Wilderstoun
• WIS0054 – Original tree merged with WIS0052
• WIS0054 – Descendants of David Wishart & Marion Ferguson
• WIS0055 – Descendants of Unknown Irish Wishart & Dorothy
• WIS0056 – Descendants of John Wishart & Janet Duncan
• WIS0057 – Descendants of George Wishart & Janet Cree
• WIS0058 – Descendants of Henry Wishart & Margaret Blair
• WIS0059 – Descendants of David Wishart & Ellen Tyrer
• WIS0060 – Descendants of John Wishart & Margaret Jamieson
• WIS0061 – Descendants of Unknown Wishart & Catherine Scotland
• WIS0062 – Original tree merged with WIS0018
• WIS0062 – Descendants of James Wishart & Elizabeth Donaldson
• WIS0063 – Original tree merged with WIS0013
• WIS0063 – Descendants of James Wishart & Isabella Davison
• WIS0064 – Descendants of Henry Weisshardt & Elizabeth
• WIS0065 – Descendants of William Wishart & Mercy Ingram
• WIS0066 – Descendants of Andrew Wishart & Christina Watson
• WIS0067 – Descendants of James Wishart & Mary Gibb
• WIS0068 – Descendants of William Wishart & Elizabeth Ellis
• WIS0069 – Descendants of Alexander Wishart & Grace Reid
• WIS0070 – Original tree merged with WIS0036
• WIS0070 – Descendants of James Wishart & Magdalene Mitchell
• WIS0071 – Descendants of Abraham Wishart of County Tyrone
• WIS0072 – Descendants of James Wishart & Ann Wylie
• WIS0073 – Descendants of Thomas Wishart & Elizabeth Wilson
• WIS0074 – Descendants of Robert Wishart & Agnes Greig
• WIS0075 – Descendants of David Wishart & Katherine Robertson
• WIS0076 – Descendants of John Wishart & Euphamia Webster
• WIS0077 – Descendants of Robert Wishart of Strathmiglo
• WIS0078 – Original tree merged with WIS0047
• WIS0078 – Descendants of John Wallace Wishart & Mary Gillespie
• WIS0079 – Original tree merged with WIS0020
• WIS0079 – Descendants of James Wishart & Agnes Allan
• WIS0080 – Original tree merged with WIS0036
• WIS0080 – Descendants of John Wishart & Helen Bett
• WIS0081 – Descendants of Alexander Wishart & Euphamia Laing
• WIS0082 – Descendants of Nicol Wishart & Margaret Newgar
• WIS0083 – Descendants of George Wishart & Margaret Baxter
• WIS0084 – Original tree merged with WIS0031
• WIS0084 – Descendants of John Wishart of Dumfries
• WIS0085 – Descendants of Charles Wishart & Mary Stirling
• WIS0086 – Descendants of David Wishart & Jean Buck
• WIS0087 – Descendants of David Wishart & Sophia Gold
• WIS0088 – Original tree merged with WIS0018
• WIS0088 – Descendants of John Wishart & Marion Beith
• WIS0089 – Descendants of Samuel Wishart & Jane Hutchison
• WIS0090 – Original tree merged with WIS0047
• WIS0090 – Descendants of John Wishet & Nancy
• WIS0091 – Original tree merged with WIS0023
• WIS0091 – Descendants of John Wishart & Elizabeth Christie
• WIS0092 – Descendants of David Wishart & Elspeth Bisset
• WIS0093 – Descendants of Thomas Wishart & Isabella Whitehead
• WIS0094 – Original tree merged with WIS0100
• WIS0094 – Descendants of Andrew Wishart & Isobel Wilkie
• WIS0095 – Original tree merged with WIS0043
• WIS0095 – Descendants of Unknown Wishart of County Tyrone
• WIS0096 – Descendants of John Wishart & Janet Kinnear
• WIS0097 – Descendants of Alexander Wishart & Mary Gibson
• WIS0098 – Descendants of Robert Wishart & Margaret Kellock
• WIS0099 – Original tree merged with WIS0043
• WIS0099 – Descendants of James Wiseheart & Ann
• WIS0100 – Descendants of Alexander Wishart & Margaret Hart
• WIS0101 – Descendants of Thomas Wishart of Finglassie
• WIS0102 – Original tree merged with WIS0036
• WIS0102 – Descendants of James Wishart & Susan Finnison
• WIS0103 – Descendants of John Wishart & Barbara Paton
• WIS0104 – Original tree merged with WIS0072
• WIS0104 – Descendants of Thomas Wishart & Amelia Nelson
• WIS0105 – Descendants of John Wishart & Margaret Howe
• WIS0106 – Descendants of William Wishart & Margaret Dyer
• WIS0107 – Descendants of James Wishart & Jessie Petrie
• WIS0108 – Descendants of James Wishart & Catherine Hammiger
• WIS0109 – Descendants of John Wishart & Mary Booth Reid
• WIS0110 – Original tree merged with WIS0035
• WIS0110 – Descendants of Alexander Wishart & Elizabeth Frazer
• WIS0111 – Descendants of John Wishart & Agnes Airmot
• WIS0112 – Descendants of William Wishart & Margaret Greig
• WIS0113 – Original tree merged with WIS0028
• WIS0113 – Descendants of John Wishart & Siruel Barnes
• WIS0114 – Descendants of George Wishart & Janet Grant
• WIS0115 – Original tree merged with WIS0043
• WIS0115 – Descendants of John Wishart & Mary McFarlane
• WIS0116 – Original tree merged with WIS0047
• WIS0116 – Descendants of George Wishart of Orkney
• WIS0117 – Original tree merged with WIS0120
• WIS0117 – Descendants of Colin Wishart & Christina Adam
• WIS0118 – Original tree merged with WIS0128
• WIS0118 – Descendants of George Wishart & Mary McDonald
• WIS0119 – Descendants of Robert Wishart & Elizabeth Robertson
• WIS0120 – Descendants of Jerome Wishart of Shetland
• WIS0121 – Original tree merged with WIS0097
• WIS0121 – Descendants of John Leslie Wishart & Elizabeth Prust
• WIS0122 – Descendants of David Wishart & Janet Bishop
• WIS0123 – Descendants of John Wishart & Katherine Fraser
• WIS0124 – Original tree merged with WIS0066
• WIS0125 – Original tree merged with WIS0008
• WIS0125 – Descendants of Robert Wishart & Margaret Howieson
• WIS0126 – Original tree merged with WIS0082
• WIS0126 – Descendants of Thomas Wishart & Mary Brown
• WIS0127 – Original tree merged with WIS0059
• WIS0127 – Descendants of David Wishart & Catherine Milne
• WIS0128 – Descendants of William Wishart & Margaret Stove
• WIS0129 – Descendants of George Wishart & Margaret Watson
• WIS0130 – Descendants of Andrew Wishart & Jean Key
• WIS0131 – Descendants of Thomas Wishart & Euphemia Wilkie
• WIS0132 – Descendants of Alexander Wishart & Margaret Anderson
• WIS0133 – Descendants of Alexander Wischart
• WIS0134 – Descendants of John Wiseheart & Sarah Stewart
• WIS0135 – Descendants of John Wishart & Catherine Craig