Snape, I have been delving into this matter and the deeper I delve, the murkier it gets
For a start the Wallis Cast wasn't 'invented' by F. W. K. Wallis, but he popularised it better than the man who first devised this type of casting. This all came about as a result of the tournament casting competitions that were popular in the late 19th century. One of the better casters of the day was William Bailey, author of 'The Angler's Instructor : A Treatise On The Best Modes Of Angling In English Rivers, Lakes, And Ponds, And On The Habits Of The Fish' (1857) who was a Nottingham angler and self-professed King of Roach Fishing. A match was arranged between him and Joe Woodward, a Lea angler who used the pole rather than a running line. Bailey won the first match on the Lea but lost the next two, one of which was on the Trent.
Bailey devised what we now know as the Wallis Cast to increase distance when casting light weights using his wooden Nottingham reel. One competitor in these events was David Slater, the Newark reel maker. Another was a man called Crossle who together with the editor of The Fishing Gazette designed a light weight centrepin with a friction drag that out performed the traditional heavier wooden reels.
Allcocks were also involved in these competitions and supplied rods as prizes. They offered a leaflet giving advice to customers who wished to improve their casting. The Fishing Gazette naturally also championed the sport and published an extensive guide to how to get the best out of the Marston-Crossle reel. This involved adjusting the friction drag to the point when the weight just fails to turn the reel, just like is today we do when setting up bait casting reels or multipliers. It was said that when casting this way the reel would automatically stop without tangles when the lead stopped travelling. Tests were done using scientific methods and it was discovered that by adjusting the friction drag in the manner described as opposed to the spool free running no distance was lost during the cast. However, the method of casting at this time, devised by a Mr. Schooling involved the overhead style I mentioned earlier on the thread. It resembles how modern day carp anglers cast their baits out with the rod being held at both ends of the handle and the rod cast directly over the angler's head. Marston explains how the line is released. He describes how the thumb of the upper hand is pressed against the line, trapping it against the cork of the handle. During the cast, as the rod is compressed the line is supposedly automatically released at just the right point. The scientific tests indicated that the weight increased by around 16 times during the loading of the rod at the start of the cast. Marston advised slightly slowing the reel at midway through the cast just as the lead reaches its highest point.
Apparently all the top casters of the day used this method. One of them, Mr. J. T. Emery who along with the notables of the era; Marston and Crossle naturally, H. T. Sherringham and The Trent Otter and some others formed the Casting Club. Emery held the world record for several years despite being the unluckiest competitor. One of his records went out of bounds and ended up 10 foot off the ground embedded in a thatched roof and another record attempt bounced back 5 or 6 feet and he still won!
In 1887 the record was achieved using the Thames style coiled line, then the side cast became popular but by 1910 when the newly formed British Casting Club travelled to Paris for their first international event it was the overhead cast ruling the roost with the line being cast straight off the reel in the heavier weight classes and after that Mr. Schooling's double handed overhead cast was the one to beat. It was thought that the overhead cast avoided distance being lost due to the lack of accuracy of the side cast.
So, tomorrow, weather permitting I'm going to try this new-fangled overhead cast. I'll just make sure that I'm facing the other way, towards the field