Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1912-03-12
WASHINGTON MEMORIALS
National Museum Receives Rubbings
From Monuments in =.
England


| Washington, March 10.-The Nat.
ional Museum at Washington has
recently received a set of "rubbings''
from the monumental brasses of the
| Washington family in Sulgrave and
Brington, England, collected and pre-
scented by Mrs. A. T. Robertson Of this
city.
The fact that the history of the
family of George Washington is we'll
known and fully recorded in England,
is brought to notice by the brass men,
orials and Inscriptions still to be seen
in the old English church and manor
of Sulgrave and Brington England.
1t was in this village that Laurence
Washington and his family lived for
three generations, previous to their
removal to Brington.
The Washington house, originally
monastery, is now the manor house Of
the village of Sulgrave. 1t was grant
ed to Laurence Washington, the May
or of Northampton, by Henry VIII,
in the year 1888 upon the dissolution
of the monasteries. Over the en-
trance is carved the Washington coat
of arms, we'll known to every Ameri-
| can citizen.
The old church of st. Mary, where
the family worshipped for years, is
| nearby and forms point of consider
| able interest, containing, as it does,
| three monumental BASES, on the gray
| stone slab put down in memory of
| Laurence Washington and his fami-
ly.
The brasses consist of Lawrence
Washington's effigy, shield bearing
the Washington arms, and the follow
| ing inscription:
Here lyeth buried we dodys of
of Lawrence Washington, Gent,
& Anne his wyf by whom he had
issue iiij sons G. il daights we lau-
renee Dyed we. day. ano Is
-. Anne Deceased the vi Of Oct
ODER ano Dni 1864"
Apparently Laurence Washington
great-grcat great = grandfather of
George Washington, devised this mon
ument as a memorial to his wife,
leaving the date of his own demise
blank to be filled after his death. This
however, has never been done.
Other Records Known.
Two other records of Washington's
are found in the village of Brington.
In this little township, not far distant
from Northampton. stands the house
to which the family moved from Sui
grave. 1t was in this house that Rob-
ert Washington died in 1922, and in
the yard, engraved upon a sun-dlal
is found the Washington coat-of-arms.
In the church Of All Saints, near at
buried, an inscription reads as fol-
lows:
."Here lies inferred We bodies
elijah. Washington, widdowe, who
changed his life for immortalli-
tic we 10Th day of March, 1922.
AS also we body of Robert Wash
ington, Gent her late husband,
second some of Robert Washing
ton, of Solgravc, in ye county of
North. Esqr, who depted this life ye
10th of March, 1922, after they
lived lovingly together"
Lawrence Washington, grand son
of the Lawrence, of Sulgrave, died in
1916, and is also buried here. Two
of his sons, John and Lawrence, be-
came respectively, Sir John Washing
ton, knight of Trapston, and the Rev.
Lawrence Washington, rector of Pur-
leigh, Essex, whose eldest son, John
emigrated to America in 1867, and
was the great grand father of George
Washington the president.
1t is believed that the original de-
sign of the American flag came from
the stars and stripes of the Washing
ton arms, and in the flag, as in the or
iginal arms, the stars signify divine
influence, guiding the bearer in the
right way, while the bars denote one
who sets the bar of conscience against
the wicked temptations and evil de-
sires. The colors red and white,
seem to follow also; the red meaning
military bravery and fortitude; the
white peace and sincerity.
So it seems that the arms OF the
father of the country are Incorporated
in his country's flag.