Washington Family
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The 1st "Washington."
"William de Wessyngton"
"Washington" is the world's best known surname and derives from the village of "Washington" situated on the north bank of the River Wear, in what is now the North East of England. It was in Washington (then spelt "Wessyngton" - Norman French spelling) that William fitz (son of) Patric adopted the name of the parish in which he lived, as his surname in approx 1180 A.D. His ancestor's roots lay shrouded in the mists of time in the ancient Kingdom of Northumbria, which had stretched from Edinburgh in the north to the River Tees in the south, straddling the border between Scotland and England.
By 1180
A.D., Durham had become a Palatinate, ruled by
the Bishops of Durham, who had the authority of Princes;
"The Kings writ did not run in these domains, but the Bishop's; the King's peace was not kept or threatened there, but the Bishop's. He had his own Judges, his own Council and courts, his own army, his own vassals, his own mint. He had rights of Admiralty over his shores. Forfeitures for treason were paid to him, not to the Crown."
Whatever powers the King enjoyed in the rest of the country, the Bishops enjoyed within the Palatinate which stretched from the River Tyne to the River Tees and also included Norham in Northumberland on the Scottish borders.
The Bishops of Durham, exercised a three-fold role;
William's forebears may be traced back for many generations. His parents were, Sir Patric, 2nd son of Earl Gospatric III of Dunbar (d.1166) and his wife Cicely. They both appear, with William as benefactors of Durham Priory. The family had extensive estates in both the north-east and the north-west of England, and like other great medieval landed proprietors, they moved between their estates, living in different properties in turn whilst performing local duties and services, but known by the name of their principal residence.
Sir Patric, William's father held land from the Bishop at Offerton on the opposite bank of the river Wear from Washington He was of "Le Hirsell", a Scottish estate on the north bank of the River Tweed. When William grew up, he became a tenant of the Bishop of Durham in Hertburn, further south in County Durham where he became known as William de Hertburn, and was probably responsible for helping to defend the Palatinate to the South.
The Bishop of Durham was Hugh le Puiset (1153-95), a nephew of King Stephen who had ruled England from 1135-1154 A.D. During his reign there had been a civil war in England which lasted nearly 10 years during which the castles of the nobility and the clergy of the north of England were full of a "riotous, mercenary soldiery, who plundered whatever came to hand"
A state of anarchy had existed in the region "The land was left untilled, and the impliments of husbandry abandoned. Torture, murder, pillage, fire, slavery, were the weapons the fired soldiery fought with, and the castles were the homes of licensed robbers. Abbeys were converted into fortresses, and the soldiery, secure within their moats, set all law and justice at defiance"
King David of Scotland had invaded the region in 1138 A.D. and his soldiers had devastated Northumberland and Durham. "Quarter was given to none save young and beautiful women, who, after undergoing the most frightful indignities, were taken as slaves into Scotland*- Rev Proctor Swaby 1884.
Bishop Hugh of Le Puiset was an able administrator and great builder. He reorganised the Bishopric of Durham estates and developed new towns. At Stockton on the River Tees, he built a fortified manor house and wanted Hertburn to complete the development.
A little before 1180, William Fitz (son of) Patric, then known as William de Hertburn, exchanged Hertburn on the River Tees (now known as Hartburn) for Wessyngton (now known as Washington) on the north bank of the River Wear. His father Patric, held Offerton across the river, and William was heir to that property.
Washington Old Hall, Washington, England
Although rebuilt in 1623, the hall incorporates medieval masonary.
Durham and the vast riches of the church lay further upstream on the River Wear at Durham town where the monks had built the magnificent Durham Cathedral (now a World Heritage site), a prime target for Viking invaders and Scots alike at the time. No doubt William de Wessyngton's responsibilities were to prevent access to invaders sailing up the River Wear.
William's neighbours at the time a few miles downstream on the same riverbank were the Hyltons (Heltons, Hiltons) of Hylton at Monkwearmouth, one of the oldest recorded families in Durham.
Two years after moving to Wessyngton, William married the young, twice widowed Countess Margaret, his kinswoman and younger sister of William the Lion, King of Scotland. She had previously been married to Conan le Petit, Earl of Richmond and Duke of Brittany (in France) who died in 1171; and afterwards to Humphrey de Bohun who died in 1181. This marriage reflects the high standing of the Wessyngton family at the time. In 1184, Margaret is recorded as holding unspecified lands in Westmoreland.
William already had four children, evidently by an earlier marriage although the identity of his previous wife or wives is unknown. His children were; Walter, William, Marjory, and Agnes.
Their first home at Washington, now vanished, stood on the south facing slope below the church, where Washington Old Hall stands today. Like other dewllings of the period, it was probably fortified, with a pele-type tower and other buildings in a courtyard, surrounded by a moat or ditch fed by Washington Beck (stream). To the south, stretching down to the River Wear, lay woodlands, where the Washingtons were granted freedom to hunt game.
As a tenant of the Bishops of Durham, William (and his descendents) held Washington, except for the church and it's lands for an annual rent of £4. He was required to attend the bishop's great hunts with two hunting dogs, and had to give 1 mark to the Common Aid (an occasional tax), when demanded. The Great Hunt held each autumn in the bishop's park in Weardale was primarily intended to provide meat for the winter. The Washingtons were attendant upon the prince-bishops as part of their entourage or court.
In 1189 Richard I "Lionheart" became King of England and acknowledged the independence of Scotland. Bishop Hugh le Puiset assembled a fleet at Hartlepool, then one of the main ports on the east coast of England, to set sail for the Holy Land as part of the Crusades. King Richard I led the Crusade whilst Bishop Hugh le Puiset was appointed Justiciar of England and Regent of the North. He also became Earl of Northumberland and acquired the town of Newcastle.
In 1190 the Third Crusade began, and in 1192 Richard I was held for Ransom on his way back from the Crusade.
All we know for certain about William de Wessyngton, is that he had died before 1195 and had been succeeded by his son Walter who was to become known as Sir Walter de Wessyngton.