[4][5] The name mudla wirra comes from the Kaurna language, but may have been misinterpreted in multiple sources, perhaps arising from the online version of Manning's Index.

[6] It has been reported that mudla means" implement", giving rise to the translation "a forest where implements are obtained",[7] but in a newer publication (revised in 2012), Manning writes "Professor Tindale says that an alternative derivation is based on the word mudla meaning ‘nose’" (as in the Kaurna name for the Lefevre Peninsula, mudlanga.

[4] By September 1873, Wasleys had been fully laid out, and a local newspaper publicised the achievement in a short article about "Wasley Township" stating "There can be no question that this is an excellent locality for a township", going on to say that it "[had] been laid out for the proprietor (Mr. G. Thomson) by Mr. Warren, and is very conveniently situated on the north side of the Mallala and Templers road, [with] the Railway Station occupying the opposite or south side.

[4] On 12 April 1970, a bus collided with a passenger train on the road from Wasleys to Gawler, killing 17 people and injuring more than 40.

In 2015, the Pinery bushfire burned through the township of Wasleys, gutting the lawn bowls club and post office.