WashingtonAncestry

The name "WASHINGTON" is Anglo Saxon, from "HWAES" a Saxon Chieftain, "INGA" meaning "the family of - " and "TUN" an estate; - the Estate of the HWAES family.

1000 years after the first recorded history of the "Washingtons" in the region, the local football teams are still cheered on to the roar of

The family of "Washington" can trace their roots back to the ancient Kingdom of Northumbria, which stretched from Firth of Forth, in the north, to the River Tees in the south on the eastern side of the country, straddling the border between England and Scotland. It included the towns of Edinburgh (now in Scotland) Berwick, Newcastle, Durham and Hartlepool (now in England).

The "original" Washington, is situated on a tract of Land between the River Tyne and River Wear, a "Centre of Learning" and a "Cradle of Christianity" in 1000 A.D. It was here that the first ever book, other than the bible, was written in England, by Bede - "An Ecclesiastical History of the English Speaking Peoples". It was from here that the English language and Christianity was spread to the Americas and around the world.

And it was here that the Monks of St Cuthbert lived at Chester le Street, a few miles away from Washington for 100 years, protecting the remains of St Cuthbert and the Lindisfarne Gospels before they they fled from the Vikings in 995 A.D. then returned to Durham where they built Durham Cathedral where both St Cuthbert and St Bede.

The earliest "Washingtons" were descended from Conan the Thane, the King of the Cumbrians and the ancient Earls of Northumberland;

Before their arrival at Washington, Durham, England, the Washington Family's roots were firmly entrenched in Dunbar in Scotland and Northumberland in England.

The Washington Family had extensive estates in both North East and North West England, with family properties in Berwickshire (Scotland), Northumberland, Durham and Westmoreland (Cumbria) in England before William settled at WESSYNGTON - now known as WASHINGTON.

The first ancestor of George Washington, First President of the United States, to live at Washington England was William, originally known as William fitz Patric (William, son of Patric)

He moved to Hertburn (now known as Hartburn), near Stockton on the River Tees in the County of Durham where he became known as William de Hertburn (William of (from) Hertburn). Many surnames at that time, evolved from the places where people lived.

In 1183 A.D. he exchanged his lands in Hertburn on the River Tees with the Bishop of Durham, for lands on the north bank of the River Wear (20 miles north) known as Wessyngton where he became known as William de Wessyngton. His father already held Offerton across the river and it made sense to enlarge the estates on both banks of the River Wear at the expense of loosing lands on the banks of the River Tees.

Washington was only three miles upstream on the River Wear from Chester le Street where the Monks of St Cuthbert had lived with the remains of St Cuthbert for over 100 years until 995 A.D. They had built a small church and the pope had appointed Bishops of Chester le Street before Durham had come into existence. In 995 they fled to Ripon under the threat of further Viking invasions and returned to Durham, a natural defensive site on a bend of the river a few miles further upstream and began to build what became Durham Cathedral to house the remains of St Cuthbert. This area had become a "Centre of Learning" and a "Cradle of Christianity" in Western Europe.

By 1000 A.D. the Vikings had converted to Christianity and with the Hyltons of Hylton Castle defending the mouth of the River, and the Wessygntons defending both sides of the river at Offerton and Wessygnton, "Lamtun", the "estate of the lambs" where many of the desendents of monks of St Cuthbert lived with their families, Finchale Abbey , the new city of Durham were safe from invaders via the river. The people of Durham at that time considered their first responsibility to defend the Durham church and the relics of St Cuthbert even before king and country.

They could of course be attacked overland and were, after the invasion of William the Conquerer. He had laid waste to the area and then imposed his own Bishops on the people of Durham. They responded by killing the first Bishop for his part in the death of Lilulph, an anglo saxon nobleman, and founder of the Lumley family.

Durham at this time was a "Palatinate" ruled by the Bishops who had the vice regal status of a Prince with responsibilty for defending the Scottish borders.. The Bishops of Durham were known as the Prince Bishops. They were extremely powerful , and had their own army, coinage, courts etc.

At Wessyngton, William and his wife lived "next door" to the "Hyltons" of Hylton Castle on one side, and the "Lamtuns" and the "Lumleys" on the other side, all leading northern families before the invasion of William the Conquerer in 1066 A.D.

The manor house either built or taken over by William be Wessyngton circa 1180 A.D. stood on the south slope of a small hill, crowned by a church, where the present Jacobean mansion now stands and was surrounded by a moat for defensive purposes.

Washington became William's principal place of residence a little before 1180, and in 1182 he married the young twice widowed, Countess Margaret, his kinswoman and younger sister of William the Lion, King of Scotland. In 1184 she is recorded as holding unspecified lands in Westmoreland.

They had four children, Walter, William, Marjory and Agnes. Their first home at Washington, stood on the south facing slope below the church, where the Old Hall stands today. To the south, stretching down to the River Wear, were woodlands, where the Washingtons were granted freedom to hunt game. The land belonged to the Bishop of Durham and William (and his descendents) held Washington, except for the church and it's lands, for an annual rent of £4. William probably moved there to help defend Durham and relics of St Cuthbert when needed..

He was required to attend the Bishop's great hunts with two hunting dogs, held in the autumn of each year to provide meat for the winter. From the very beginning, the Washingtons were attendant upon the Prince-Bishops as part of their entourage or court.

William's eldest son, Walter had succeeded him before c.1195. He had married Diana of Dilston before 1190 and his marriage settlement included lands in North Milbourne in Northumberland. The seal on the deed transferring the land shows the device of a lion passant, probably deriving from his descent from the Earls of Dunbar. He died relatively young and childless.

Walter's younger brother and heir, Sir William de Wessynton II married Alicia de Lexington, a ward of the Crown and the wealthy widow of a Nottinghamshire knight. It cost him two palfreys and 60 marks in 1211 A.D. - a large sum of money at the time. Other evidence also suggests he was a very wealthy man - his name, his father's and his grandfather's names appear among the benefactors of Durham Priory

Son and successor to Sir William de Wessington II, Sir Walter married into serious money. His wife was none other than Lady Joan, or Juliana de Ryal, sister and heiress of Roger of Whitchester, Keeper of the Rolls in Chancery and Canon of St Paul's. She brought to the Washington family, lands in both Durham and Northumberland. Her half uncle was the Cumberland magnate, William de Greystoke and later Washingtons held lands in the Greystoke barony. Sir Walter II was one of 85 knights who fought with Bishop Neville of Durham's forces on the Baron's side in the rebellion against King Henry III. The rebellion was led by Simon de Montfort. Sir Walter was possibly killed at the Battle of Lewes.

Walter's eldest son, William married Margaret de Morville, of Helton Fleckett in the Barony of Appleby back in Cumbria, further increasing the Cumbrian properties of the Washingtons. Their eldest son was named Walter, carrying on the family tradition of naming the eldest son after his grandfather. William died leaving Margaret a widow who, together with her sister, inherited the Morville estates. William the second son, became Keeper of the manor of Wark in Tynedale for the King in 1327. Another son, Robert 1 married Joan de Strickland, heiress of Carnforth in Lancashire. It was from Robert, that George Washington, First President of the United States was descended although family involvement in America started before the "Mayflower" sailed.

He succeeded Sir William de Wessyngton III to the property in 1287, and attended Bishop Bek and Bishop Kellaw at their episcopal castles and manors in Durham and Yorkshire. In 1304 King Edward I, "The Hammer of the Scots" stayed at Washington for several days on his return from the Scottish borders. For King Edward I to succeed in Scotland, getting the support of Sir William de Wessynton who had Royal Scots blood flowing through his veins would have been crucial. In 1305, William Wallace, (Braveheart) was captured and hung, drawn and quartered. In 1306. after the disasterous battle of Methven during which the Scots were routed, Sir Walter de Wessyngton III was commanded to accompany William Lamberton, the Bishop of St Andrews and two other clerics who had been involved in crowning Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland from Newcastle to Nottingham to start their imprisonment. Both the Bruce and the Lamberton families originated from Durham and no one knows what plans were made between Sir Walter de Wessygnton III and William Lamberton, the Bishop of St Andrews at that time. Suffice to say, that William Lamberton ended up back in Scotland as Bishop of St Andrews (see www.AncestryUK.com/LambertonAncestry.htm), and the Wessyngton family moved from Washington Durham to live at Warton in Lancashire beyond the reach of the Bishop of Durham. Sir Walter's first wife Alice died during his lifetime and he married again. He died in 1318 leaving a widow Dionysia, who was living in 1349. The Coat of Arms of Sir Walter de Wessyngton III, is preserved on one of his seals and also shown on Thomas Jenyn's Roll of Arms in the fourteenth century. It shows his sympathies for the Scottish cause and is a differenced version of the Dunbar lion; Argent, a lion rampant Gules, over all a bend compony Argent and Azure - the "bend compony Argent and Azure" representing the alliance of the Wessyngton family with their next door neighbours the Hyltons of Hylton Castle (see www.AncestryUK.com/HiltonAncestry.htm).

In all but name, they were Kings, a strong political force, designed to deter Scottish incursions into this part of England's border country. For many centuries, The Prince Bishops of Durham held ecclesiastical and political sovereignty over the Palatinate of Durham, the area of land between the River Tees and the Tyne, together with land in Northumberland and Yorkshire.

The Bishops were all powerful in the region, even the Doomsday Survey stopped short of the county boundary - it was later covered in the "Boldon Book".. They were a law unto themselves with their own armies, they coined their own money, levied their own taxes and had there own courts. They could create their own barons, award their own knighthoods, grant charters for fairs and negotiate truces with the Scots. Whatever the King of England could do outside the county, the Price Bishops could do within.

When Sir Walter de Wessygnton III succeeded to the property in 1287 Anthony Bek was the Bishop of Durham. Anthony Bek and King Edward I were buddies, he had accompanied the King on a Crusade when he was still Prince Edward. King Edward I imposed Anthony Bek on the nobility and the people of Durham. His court at Durham exhibited all of the appendages of Royalty; nobles had to address the Palatine Sovereign kneeling, and instead of menial servants, knights waited in his presence-chamber, and at his table, bareheaded and standing.

The Bishop Bek - "a new kid on the block" to the northern aristocracy, was obviously none too popular with the Wessyngtons, the Hyltons or any of the other local nobility who's history in Durham went back centuries.

Bek loved power and the splendour - and was more of a feudal baron than a churchman. The magnificence of his state and the arrogance of his manner led eventually to disputes between Bek and the Durham monks - and even to a break with the king himself. He was ready even to "take on" the pope - but fortunately for the Prince Bishop, fresh trouble broke out in Scotland and the king, needing Bek's help, patched up the quarrel. (Source; The Heraldry of Durham Cathedral - D.R.Orchard, Durham Joint Curriculum study group. 1967)

It would appear that throughout the centuries, that the people in the south, and Kings and Queens of England were only advised of what went on in Durham on a "need to know" basis. Queen Elizabeth I for example never traveled further north than Northampton and regarded Durham as part of "the inly working North" On the 26th January 1857, the Master of the Rolls submitted to the Treasury a proposal for the publication of materials for the "history of this country" from the invasion of the Romans to the reign of King Henry VIII; he states;

"The registers of the Bishops of Durham are, strange to say, as few and as jejune as those of their neighbours at Carlisle (on the opposite side of the country). There are in the British museum a few leaves of what seems to have been a register of bishop Anthony Bek but they merely contain the appointments of some of the lay officers of the court" (Source; Letter from Northern Registers)

What really went on in Durham at the time of the War of Scottish Independence is difficult to ascertain.

After Bannockburn, when Scotland won her independence, the Washingtons continued in the service of the Bishops of Durham although much of that service was conducted on the Borders.

By 1335 Sir William de Wessyngton IV had custody of various lands in Roxburghshire but now was using a new coat of arms based on the shield of the de Lancasters, Barons of Kendal. With lands and properties across the north of England, the Washingtons would have been entitled to use various coats of arms

providing they were descendents of that family. In 1390 their coat of arms is shown as "Gules, two bars and three molets in chief Argent". Soon afterward the tinctures were reversed to the now familiar; "Argent, two bars and three molets in chief gules". Sir William de Wessyngton was at the Battle of Neville's Cross, near Durham fighting against an invading Scottish army in October 1346. In 1348 he made a settlement of two thirds of Washington on his wife Katherine,who survived him when he died in 1367

Succeeded to his Father's estates in May 1367, and he bacame the last of the main line of the early Washington family. He served "beyond the seas" for a year from 21st June 1373 with Sir Henry de Percy. At the Battle of Otterburn on August 19th 1388 he was among the companions of the younger Sir Henry de Percy (Shakespeare's Harry Hotspur) continuing to fight valiantly after Percy's capture until he himself was taken prisoner by the Scots. He died in 1399 leaving Alina his wife, a widow. His heiress was his only child, Eleanor who married her kinsman Sir William Tempest of Studley Royal, Yorkshire.

The family continued to live at Washington until 1399, when, on the death without issue of another William, seventh in descent from William de Hertburn, Washington was devolved on a cousin, also called William, who was the last of that name to own the Manor. The manor continued in the possession of Washington descendents (Tempests, Mallorys and Blakestons) until it was sold in 1613 to the Bishop of Durham.

Robert de Wessyngton 1 (c1273-1324), was the son of Sir William de Wessyngton III. He married Joan de Strickland of Sizergh Castle near Kendal in 1292 and moved from Washington to Warton in Lancashire.

Robert de Wessyngton II succeeded his father who died in 1324. He married Agnes le Gentyl and had three sons, the eldest of whom was born in 1326. The direct line follows through two more Roberts, and then through the younger brother of a forth Robert named John who married an heiress named Joan Croft, and became the first of the family to live in Warton, a village in Lancashire about six miles north of Lancaster.

(Members of the Washington family continued to live at Warton until 1823 and George Washington's grandmother is buried in the cemetery at nearby Whitehaven in Cumbria)

The great grandson of John of Warton, who was one of the largest landowners in North Lancashire in the late fifteenth century, was Robert who left two sons, John and Robert and it is through Robert that we can trace the descent of the First President of the United States.

Robert's son John, married Margaret Kytson, sister of Thomas Kytson, a freeman of the Mercers Company who amassed great riches trading in Flanders. He was knighted and in 1533 became the Sheriff of London.

By now, after 500 years, descendents of the Washington family could be found throughout the north of England but our line was moving south!

John's son Lawrence, like his uncle Sir Thomas, engaged successfully in the wool trade and left Warton for Northampton about 1530. He became Mayor of Northampton and owner of estates ranging from Higham Ferrers to Sulgrave which he bought from the King in 1539. He died in 1584 and left Sulgrave to his son Robert.

Robert married Elizabeth Lyte in 1565, heiress of Walter Lyte of Radway Grange, Warwickshire, and a descendent of the Villiers family. They had fifteen children. His brother Lawrence Washington, married Mary Argall, mother of Sir Samuel Argall, who was to become Deputy Governor of Virginia between 1617-1619.

Sir Samuel Argall became the step-son of Lawrence Washington, when his widowed mother re-married. He became the first member of the Washington family to gain first hand experience of Virginia and early America.

In 1613, Captain Samuel Argall was sent out of Jamestown to trade with the Potomac when he found that Pocahontas was with them. He managed to kidnap her and bring her back with him to Jamestown. While in captivity, Pocahontas converted to Christianity. She married John Rolfe and in 1616, Rolfe and Pocahontas traveled to England where news of Pocahontas in London made her an instant celebrity. She created a big stir in England, and picked up a lot of support for the Virginia Company. On the way home to Virginia, from England, Pocahontas died of a pulmonary ailment. She was estimated to be 21 years old.

Between 1618 and 1622, the Virginia Company sent 4,500 colonists to Virginia but by 1621 the colony was faced with difficult times. The reason for these difficult times was that the mortality rate had gone up. Possibly the reason for this was the diseases being brought over by the new settlers but no sources really know.

The Washingtons had gained first hand knowledge of the opportunities America offered, but it was to be another 35 years before the family took up the challenge.

Lawrence married Margaret Butler in 1588. Margaret Butler was the daughter of a Sussex family who could trace it's descent from the Royal plantagenets, and their children collected a number of honours. William, their eldest child married a half sister of the Duke of Buckingham and was knighted. The second son was knighted as Sir John Washington of Thrapston by King Charles I and Thomas, the sixth son was a page to Prince Charles, later King Charles I.

The most important of their sons however, was the fifth son, Lawrence Washington born at Sulgrave in 1602.

The Reverend Lawrence Washington, M.A., B.D., was a Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford and Rector of Purleigh Essex from 1633-43. In 1643, during the English Civil war he was accused as a "Maglignant Royalist" and "oft drunk", and was ejected from his living as Rector of Purleigh and died in poverty.

His eldest son John Washington (1633-1677) was about 19 years of age when his father died, and two years later when his mother died he went to London, probably taking his brother Lawrence with him. The brothers saw the new opportunities in trade with the American colonies, and John, already married, sailed for Virginia in 1656 as mate and voyage partner of Edward Prescott, owner of the Sea Horse of London. His first wife died, and he re-married the daughter of an American planter, Lieutenant-Colonel Nathaniel Pope. Their wedding present was a 700 acre estate at Mattox Creek where their eldest son , Lawrence, was born in 1659 and the American line of the Washington Family was established..

Although, during their family history, the Washingtons moved to different places in England, their roots lie in the north, in the "Original" Washington in England and in Warton in Lancashire. George Washington. First President of the United States' grandmother lies peacefully at rest in Whitehaven, Cumbria.

1000 A.D.	1000 a.d.
CONAN THE THANE	BETHUNE
Abbott of Dunkeld	Heiress of Scotland

1040 A.D.	1040 A.D.
MALDRED (MORDRED)	EDITH
King of the Cumbrians, Brother of Duncan I, King of Scotland d.1045	Daughter of Earl Uctred, Earl of York and Northumberland, Granddaughter of King Ethlered II, King of England.

1074 A.D.	1074 A.D.
EARL GOSPATRIC I	N
Earl of Northumberland, First Earl of Dunbar or March

1138 A.D.	1138 A.D.
EARL GOSPATRIC II	N

1166 A.D.	1166 A.D.
EARL GOSPATRIC III	COUNTESS DIERDRIE
of Dunbar, Benefactor of Durham Priory.	Founder of the nunnery at Coldstream

1182 A.D.	1182 A.D.
SIR PATRIC	CICELY
of the Hirsal and Offerton, 2nd son of Earl Gospatric III

1180 A.D. SIR WILLIAM fitz Patric alias SIR WILLIAM de Hertburn alias SIR WILLIAM DE WESSYNGTON	1180 A.D. MARGARET widowed Countess of Richmond, Granddaughter of King David II of Scotland, sister of King MalcolmIV of Scotland and sister of William the Lion, King of Scotland.