This very interesting and much travelled name appears Germanic, and is in fact Scottish, from France The original "home" was pre 11th Century south west France and the early Scottish historian MacFarlane refers to the nameholders as "Valouns", now commonly called Vollum, and long ago from Valence". Philip de Valoniis was resident in Kilbride in the time of Malcom 1V of Scotland (1153 - 1185), the name being recorded as "de Valons" in 1357. Thereabouts the name spelling divided to become Vallance or Velham, John de Velham being a witness at Brechin in 1448. From the medieval period, many changes took place in the spelling, it being recorded as Vallem in 1603, when James Vallem was hung for "Stoughreif" (?), and as Wellom in 1638 Alexander being recorded at the Brechin Assize Court. The name entered England as Vollum (shown below), the variant Vollam being recorded at St. John's, church, Westminster, when Margaret Vollam was christened on January 9th 1736. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Jonathon Vollum, which was dated May 21st 1734, a witness at St. Botolphs church, without Aldgate, London, during the reign of King George 11, "The last soldier king", 1727 - 1760. 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.