According to the registers for Wootton Bassett and neighbouring parishes, the family name was originally GILMORE or GILLMORE (and other orthographic variations). From the early 1720s the name appears as GILLMORE alias WOOLLEY (or WOOLLY), then as WOOLLEY alias GILLMORE, finally dropping the name GILLMORE altogether.
While the origin of George Gillmore alias Woolley is uncertain, it seems likely that he was a member of the family of the same name which resided in both Wroughton and Swindon throughout the 1600s, including Richard Woolly alias Gilmor of Wroughton who wrote his will in 1730. Richard named among others his son Cornelius Woolly alias Gilmor, noting that the name Cornelius also appears among the descendants of George, beginning with his grandson. George may have been the same as George Gillmore son of another George, christened in Swindon on 5 Mar 1642. Swindon lies just over 3 miles due north of Wroughton which in turn is just over 6 miles east of Royal Wootton Bassett.
No burial record for George survives. He appears to have been living in 1696 when he appears as a plaintiff in a Bill as George Gillmore alias Woolley. 1
George married Anne Short, daughter of Thomas Short and Anne Parsons, about 1677. (Anne Short was christened 24 Feb 1650 in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, England and was buried on 14 Sep 1694 in Wootton Bassett St. Bartholomew & All Saints, Wiltshire, England.)
Research Notes: