Washington family#Roots in England

{{For|the painting by Edward Savage|The Washington Family{{!}}The Washington Family}}

{{Infobox family

| name = Washington

| coat_of_arms = COA George Washington.svg

| coat_of_arms_caption = Washington coat of arms

| image = Arms of Washington and pedigree of Washington LCCN2003662360.jpg

| image_size = 200px

| imagecaption= Pedigree and arms of the Washington line
until George Washington

| region = Colony of Virginia

| early_forms = de Washington; earlier, de Wessyington

| origin = Washington Old Hall, England

| founded = 12th century

| traditions = Anglicanism

| motto = {{native phrase|la|Exitus acta probat}}

| motto_trans = The outcome is the test of the act

| estate = Washington Old Hall, Mount Vernon, Abingdon (plantation), Arlington House, Beall-Air, Blakeley (West Virginia), Blenheim (Wakefield Corner, Virginia), Bushfield (Mount Holly, Virginia), Cedar Lawn, Claymont Court, Germantown White House, Fairfield (Berryville, Virginia), Ferry Farm, Harewood (West Virginia), Kenmore (Fredericksburg, Virginia), River Farm, Sulgrave Manor, Tudor Place, Washington Bottom Farm, George Washington Birthplace, Mary Ball Washington House, White House (plantation), Woodlawn (Alexandria, Virginia)

| meaning = Derives from Wessington (Washington) in County Durham

| footnotes =

}}

The Washington family is an American family of English origins that was part of both the British landed gentry and the American gentry. It was prominent in colonial America and rose to great economic and political eminence especially in the Colony of Virginia as part of the planter class, owning several highly valued plantations, mostly making their money in tobacco farming. Members of the family include the first president of the United States, George Washington (1732–1799), and his nephew, Bushrod Washington (1762–1829), who served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

The family's roots can be traced back to the 12th century in Washington, in the historic County Palatine of Durham in northern England, where their ancestral home was Washington Old Hall. In the 16th century, a branch settled at Sulgrave Manor in Northamptonshire. John Washington, born 1631 in Tring, Hertfordshire, England, arrived in the Colony of Virginia in 1657 after being shipwrecked.

Roots in Britain

The Washington family are descended from Crínán "the Thane" of Dunkeld (†1045), lay abbot and son-in-law of Malcolm II of Scotland.{{Cite book |last=Washington |first=George Sydney Horace Lee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OO1rAAAAMAAJ&q=%22washington%22+%22%22crinan+of+dunkeld%22 |title=The Earliest Washingtons and Their Anglo-Scottish Connections |date=1964 |publisher=privatley [sic] printed for the author |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Gustavus Hindman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyQ6AAAAMAAJ&dq=%22washington%22+%22%22crinan+of+dunkeld%22&pg=PA121 |title=The Millers of Millersburg and Their Descendants: With Kindred Families of Miller, McGee, Jameson, Read, Scott, Wyatt, Donnelly, White, Washington... |date=1923 |publisher=Brandon [P]rinting Company |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Montgomery-Massingberd |first=Hugh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D53PAAAAMAAJ&q=%22washington%22+%22%22crinan+of+dunkeld%22 |title=Burke's Presidential Families of the United States of America |date=1975 |publisher=Burke's Peerage |isbn=978-0-85011-017-3 |language=en |author-link=Hugh Massingberd}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=February 2025}} In 1183, his descendant Sir William de Hertburn (originally William Bayard){{Cite journal|last=Wells|first=William C.|date=1913|title=A Washington Token|url=https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1913_BNJ_10_21.pdf|journal=British Numismatic Journal|series=2|publisher=British Numismatic Society|volume=10|page=326}} traded his manor of Hertburn (modern-day Hartburn) for that of Wessyington in County Durham near the River Wear. According to post-Conquest noble custom, his family adopted the name of the estate as an Anglo-Norman surname, "de Wessyington", which later became "Washington".{{Cite book |last=Irving |first=Washington |author-link=Washington Irving |title=Oliver Goldsmith |publisher=Henry G. Bohn |year=1859 |pages=1–5}}{{Cite book |last=Irving |first=Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nOd7BgAAQBAJ&q=william+de+washington&pg=PT7 |title=The Student's Life of Washington; Con: For Young Persons and for the Use of Schools |date=January 8, 2015 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-63355-477-1 |language=en |author-link=Washington Irving}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aDcgh9mUXAAC&q=william+de+washington&pg=PA143|title=The English Illustrated Magazine|date=1891|publisher=Macmillan and Company|language=en}}{{cite web |last=Hardy |first=Rob, Ph.D. |title=Ancestry |url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/ancestry/ |website=mountvernon.org |location=Carleton College}} Wessyington was an Old English placename and probably refers to the estate of a man named Wassa.{{cite web |url= https://www.etymonline.com/word/Washington#etymonline_v_40116term=nasty|title=Washington etymology |access-date=February 1, 2009|last=Harper |first= Douglas |work= etymonline.com |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary |date=November 2001}} On this site were relics of Saint Cuthbert, transferred to Durham from its shrine at Lindisfarne, as a saint invoked in combat against the Scots (compare Kirkcudbrightshire), and a symbol of the importance, privileges, and feudal obligations of the illustrious Bishop of Durham and his vassals, including the Washingtons.

File:Washington Village Green (geograph 7320007).jpg green, the ancestral settlement of the Washingtons.]]

The Washington family held the manor house at Washington Old Hall from 1180 to 1613, as part of the landed gentry of the County Palatine of Durham.{{Cite book|last=Collins|first=Holdridge Ozro|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofE_AAAAYAAJ&q=william+de+hertburn&pg=PP7|title=Genealogy of the Washington Family|date=1900|publisher=Sons of the Rev. Calif.|language=en}}

File:Washington Old Hall - geograph.org.uk - 3005604.jpg

In the early 14th century, Robert de Washington, a descendant of William de Wessyngton, settled in Warton, Lancashire. Lawrence Washington, a descendant of Robert, moved from Warton to Northamptonshire in 1529, where he became a prosperous wool merchant. He acquired Sulgrave Manor, formerly owned by St Andrew's Priory, Northampton, during the dissolution of the monasteries and constructed a new manor house there.{{cite news |last=Balter |first=Michael |date=February 26, 1995 |title=George Washington's British Roots |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/travel/1995/02/26/george-washingtons-british-roots/855619e0-e01a-45b1-9ce3-8c386aef219b |access-date=February 2, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

File:Sulgrave Manor - geograph.org.uk - 412368.jpg the house built by Laurence Washington.]]

File:George Washington bust - geograph.org.uk - 3492834.jpg

Sulgrave Manor was completed in 1560 and remained in the Washington family until 1610.

Lawrence Washington's great-grandson, Lawrence Washington (1602–1652), was a rector. His brother Sir William Washington married the half-sister of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.{{cite web|url=http://www.newcastlegateshead.com/things-to-do/washington-old-hall-p23531|title=Washington Old Hall|publisher=Newcastle Gateshead|access-date=March 3, 2020}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yeWgvfDpwbwC&q=Huguenot+Nicholas+Martiau&pg=PA31 |title=Lewis of Warner Hall: The History of a Family, Including the Genealogy of Descendants in Both the Male and Female Lines, Biographical Sketches of Its Members, and Their Descent from Other Early Virginia Families |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Co. |year=1935 |isbn=978-0-8063-0831-9 |editor-last=Sorley |editor-first=Merrow Egerton |page=31 |access-date=June 6, 2020}} The Washington family supported the Royalists during the English Civil War and were dispossessed of their lands following their defeat. This may have motivated Lawrence's son, John Washington, to leave England and seek better prospects in America.

History in America

=First generation=

The Washington family arrived in the Colony of Virginia in 1657,{{cite web|title=George Washington Birthplace|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/hh/26/hh26c.htm|access-date=November 11, 2020|website=nps.gov}} when John Washington was shipwrecked. John sailed on the ship the Seahorse.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OexQCAAAQBAJ&q=Seahorse+of+London++john+washington&pg=PA1647|title=Washington|first=Jim|last=White|date=March 14, 2013|publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781257244782|access-date=June 14, 2020}}{{cite book |last=Grizzard |first=Frank E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RioTGCygpT8C&q=ancestry+of+george+washington+essex&pg=PA5 |title=George Washington: A Biographical Companion |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-57607-082-6 |page=5}} He was a planter, soldier, and politician in colonial Virginia in North America and a lieutenant colonel in the local militia. He settled in Westmoreland County, Virginia.

John Washington married Anne Pope in 1658 and had the following children: Lawrence Washington (the paternal grandfather of President George Washington), John Washington Jr. and Anne Washington. There were two additional children, names unknown, mentioned as deceased when he wrote his will on September 21, 1675.{{cite book|last=Whipple|first=Wayne|url=http://archive.org/details/storylifewashin00unkngoog |title=The story-life of Washington; a life-history in five hundred true stories|date=1911|publisher=Philadelphia, The John C. Winston company|others=University of Michigan |access-date=February 25, 2021}}{{cite web|url=http://www.kenmore.org/genealogy/washington/descendants.html|title=John Washington and His Descendants|website=kenmore.org|access-date=March 3, 2020|archive-date=November 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112002728/http://kenmore.org/genealogy/washington/descendants.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.com/genealogy/president-washington.html|title=Washington Genealogy - President George Washington Family History|website=www.archives.com|access-date=April 3, 2020}} Anne Pope was the daughter of Englishman Nathaniel Pope and Lucy Fox.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0qGWo_NGlAC&q=john+washington+ann+pope%2C+nathaniel&pg=PA25|title=George Washington reconsidered|first=Don|last=Higginbotham|year=2001|publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=9780813920061|access-date=June 14, 2020}}

=Second generation=

The family, especially Lawrence Washington, rose to great economic prominence, especially in regard to real estate, owning several plantations, mostly for tobacco cultivation. Lawrence married Mildred Warner in 1686 and had three children, John Washington III (1692–1746), Augustine (1694–1743) and Mildred (1698–1747).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=psCawzVzhAkC&q=lawrence+washington+mildred+warner+children&pg=PA328|title=George Washington and the American Revolution|first=Kim S.|last=Collier|year=1998|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com |isbn=9780806347752|access-date=August 4, 2020}} Mildred Warner (1671–1701) was a daughter of Augustine Warner Jr. and Mildred Reade. Her paternal grandparents were English settlers Augustine Warner Sr. and Mary Towneley.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tcM40zgdAZgC&q=augustine+warner+mary+townley&pg=PA510|title=Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5|isbn=9780806317632|access-date=August 14, 2020|last=Dorman|first=John Frederick|year=2004|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com }}

Lawrence died at age 38 in February 1698 at Warner Hall, Gloucester County, Colony of Virginia, in the same year his daughter was born.

Following his death, Mildred Warner Washington married George Gale, who moved the family to Whitehaven, England, where Mildred died in 1701 aged 30 following a difficult childbirth.{{cite web|url=http://www.kenmore.org/foundation/gene_washington.html|title="Washingtons" Genealogy|website=The George Washington Foundation|access-date=August 4, 2020|archive-date=January 1, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090101223223/http://www.kenmore.org/foundation/gene_washington.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/famousfolks/georgew/i0000005.htm#s3 |title="Washington Family: Third Generation"|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104082445/http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/famousfolks/georgew/i0000005.htm#s3 |archive-date=January 4, 2009 |website=Genealogy.com}}

=Third generation=

Augustine Washington was born at Bridges Creek plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1694, to Capt. Lawrence Washington and Mildred Warner. Augustine married twice; his second marriage in 1730 to Mary Ball produced the following six children: George (eldest and first president of the United States), Elizabeth "Betty", Samuel, John, Charles and Mildred Washington.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RioTGCygpT8C&q=augustine+washington+mary+ball+children&pg=PA335|title=George Washington: A Biographical Companion|first=Frank E.|last=Grizzard|year=2002|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9781576070826|access-date=August 4, 2020}}

{{image frame

| border = no

| content = {{image array|perrow=2|width=140|height=145

| image1 = Augustine Washington.jpg

| caption1 = Augustine Washington

| image2 = Mary Ball Washington(Pine).jpg

| caption2 = Mary Ball

}}}}

Mary Ball (born c. 1707) was raised in the family Epping Forest estate, the only child of Joseph Ball (1649–1711), an English justice, vestryman, lieutenant colonel and burgess in the Colony of Virginia, and Mary Johnson (1672–1721).{{Cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/ball-family/|title=Ball Family|website=Mount Vernon|access-date=August 4, 2020|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128085109/https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/ball-family/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16891446/mary-ball-ancestry-related-to-joseph/|title=Mary Ball ancestry related to Joseph Ball Estate Johnson Gilbert Bird Day|newspaper=Evening Star|date=July 19, 1908|page=22|access-date=August 4, 2020}}

The Washington family owned land (on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia) since the time of Augustine's grandfather John Washington in 1674. Around 1734, Augustine brought his second wife Mary and children to the plantation called Little Hunting Creek when George was about two years old. Augustine began on an expansion of the family home that continued under their son George, who began leasing the Mount Vernon estate in 1754, becoming its sole owner in 1761.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/the-mansion/expansion-of-mount-vernons-mansion/|title=Expansion of Mount Vernon's Mansion|website=George Washington's Mount Vernon|language=en|access-date=August 8, 2020}}

=Fourth generation=

File:Edward Savage - The Washington Family - Google Art Project.jpg (1789–1796) by Edward Savage]]

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, at Popes Creek, Virginia, British America and the oldest of six children to Augustine and Mary Washington. He became an American political leader, military general and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Washington died December 14, 1799, age 67, at Mount Vernon, the family's estate in Virginia.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RioTGCygpT8C&q=augustine+washington+mary+ball+children&pg=PA335|title=George Washington: A Biographical Companion|first=Frank E.|last=Grizzard|year=2002|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9781576070826|access-date=August 8, 2020}} Washington had no biological children. His wife Martha Dandridge had four children from her first marriage to Daniel Parke Custis (1711–1757). These stepchildren were Daniel Custis (1751–1754), Frances Custis (1753–1757), John "Jacky" Parke Custis (1754–1781) and Martha "Patsy" Parke Custis (1756–1773).{{cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/family/|title=Washington family|access-date=August 16, 2020}}

File:Betty Washington Lewis - John Wollaston.jpg|Betty Washington

File:Samuel Washington (1734-1781).jpg |Samuel Washington

File:Charles Washington (1738-1799).jpg|Charles Washington

Elizabeth "Betty" Washington (1733–1797), younger sister of George Washington, was the only sister to live to adulthood. She was born in Westmoreland County, Colony of Virginia.
Samuel Washington (1734–1781) was a colonial American officer and politician in Popes Creek (Virginia).
John Augustine Washington (1736–1787) married Hannah Bushrod (1735–1801) in 1756 and had six children including Bushrod Washington.{{cite book|first=John Walter |last=Wayland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=psCawzVzhAkC&pg=PA125 |title=The Washingtons and Their Homes |page=125 |year=1944 |location=Baltimore, Maryland |publisher=Clearfield |isbn=0806347759 |oclc=39055916 |via=Google Books}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/hannah-bushrod_9054481|title=Hannah Bushrod|website=Ancestry.com|access-date=August 16, 2020}}
Charles Washington (1738–1799) was the youngest brother.
Mildred Washington (1739–1740) youngest daughter and child

=Fifth generation=

Bushrod Washington (1762–1829), son of John Augustine Washington and Hannah Bushrod, was a politician and nephew of George Washington.

File:BushrodWashington.jpg|Bushrod Washington

=Sixth generation=

Susannah Sarah Washington (1816–1890), wife of William Alexander Graham, served as First Lady of North Carolina from 1845 to 1849

Susannah Sarah Washington Graham.jpg|Susannah Sarah Washington

=Modern era=

Some of the closest-living relatives of George Washington are Paul Emory Washington (1926–2014) and his children Richard Washington, Bill Washington, Julianne Washington, and Jack Washington{{Cite web |date=2008-10-08 |title=Texan is George Washington's closest kin |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna27075856 |access-date=2023-12-26 |website=NBC News |language=en}} who lived in San Antonio, Texas.{{cite web | url=https://www.porterloring.com/obituaries/Paul-Emery-Washington?obId=18154105 | title=Obituary information for Paul Emery Washington }} Julianne Washington had two children, Shelly Coons and Robert Coons. They are among 8,000 other living relatives of George Washington through his younger brothers, Samuel Washington (1734–1781) and John Augustine Washington (1736–1787).{{Cite web |date=2008-10-08 |title=Texan is George Washington's closest kin |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna27075856 |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=NBC News |language=en}}

Many descendants of George Washington's immediate family and cousins are members of the National Society of Washington Family Descendants. There are currently over 500 members who have submitted documentation to prove their legal descent.{{| url=https://www.washingtonfamilydescendants.org/ | access-date=2024-11-13 |language=en}}

U.S. Army General George S. Patton was a descendant of George Washington's grandfather Lawrence Washington.{{Cite web |title=Family relationship of General George S. Patton and George Washington via Lawrence Washington. |url=https://famouskin.com/famous-kin-chart.php?name=10565+george+s+patton&kin=3647+george+washington&via=3651+lawrence+washington |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=famouskin.com}}

Heraldry

{{Infobox COA wide|image=File:Coat of Arms of George Washington.svg|year_adopted=by 14th century, by the Washington who had possession of Washington Old Hall, County Durham, England.|escutcheon=Argent two bars Gules, in chief three mullets of the second.Bolton's American Armory. Boston: F. W. Faxon Co, 1927|notes=The design (three red stars over two horizontal red bars on a white field) has been used since 1938 as the basis for the coat of arms and flag of the District of Columbia. It is also found on the Purple Heart.|crest=From a crest coronet, a raven rising wings elevated and addorsed proper.|motto=Exitus acta probat (The outcome is the test of the act)|name=the Washington family}}{{clear}}