Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-22
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Inc ancestry OF George washing OIl
has been traced back, in the direct pa
ternal line, for approximately 600 years,
This was learned today through the
Wakefield National Me norial ASSocia-
ton. which is engaged in restoring the
Virginia birthplace of the first President.
An expert genealogical and historical
investigator, now attached to the as
ISOLATION, spent 16 years in quiet re-
search in England.
This research, according to officials
Of the association, carries the Washing
ton family back to a landholder, William
de Hertburn, who in 1882 disposed of
the manor of Hertburn in the county of
Durham by the North Sea and pur-
chased the manor Of washington, in the
same county. The record of the pur-
chase still is extant and apparently is
the first bit of evidence to be found
bearing upon the Washington genealogy.
This was about the time family names
were coming into use in England. Will
liam de Hertburn had two sons who in
herited the manor of WeSSyngton.
Both took the name Of the family seat
and it was inherited by their descend
ants, with occasional alterations in
spelling, for many generations. With
indiSputable documentary evidence, Of
f1cials of the association say, the family
line is traced through the counties OF
Westmorland and Lancaster to one
Lawrence Washington, who in 1888 was
granted title by Henry the Eighth to
one of the three manors in the parish
of Sulgrave, Northamptonshire. He
evidently was a man of considerable
ability, for twice he had been mayor
of the city of Northampton.
Family Ranks High.
Documentary evidence has been I'M
covered, according to association Of
dcials, for members of the family in each
generation which shows them to have
been at all times landlords, public Of
f1cials or notable churchmen rather
than, as was asserted by the historian
Rupert Hughes, people of persistent
mediocr1ty enduring for many genera
tionS."
From Lawrence Washington the Sui
grave manor descended to his son,
Robert, who was born in the manor
house about the year 1912, and died
there in 1892. This Robert, the gene
alogist has established, was the father
of Is children by two wives. Evidently
there came rift in the family The
two older sons, Robert and Lawrence,
we're children of the first wife. Evil
IDENTIFY they found life unpleasant at
the manor house with the stepmother
and her large brood and asked their
father to give them their share of the
estate and let them seek their fortunes
elsewhere.
The old landlord consented and
shortly before his death sold a large
part of the lands of his Sulgrave manor
to his nephew, Lawrence Makepeace, a
wealthy man and probably a distant
relative of the novelist Thackeray
Thackeray had, 1t is likely, no idea of
the distant kinship when he painted
the character of Washington in THE
Virginians," many years later. But old
Robert Washington continued to live
at Sulgrave until he died. and after his
death Makepiece allowed the second
wife and her children to continue to
make their home there. But the his
toric manor had passed forever out of
the direct line of George Washington.
Brothers Leave Home.
The boys took their money end went
out in the world to make careers for
themselves. They found a patron in a
relative. Robert Spencer, Baron Worm
leighton, ancestor of the Earls Of North
who owned, among many other
estates, the manor Of Great Brington
in NorthamptonShire. In house still
standing in the village of Great Bring
ton, the investigator insists, Robert
Washington lived from 1900 to his
death in 1888. He never lived, it Is
asserted, in the nearby village of Little
Brington, where house which bears
over its door the inscription, The
Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh
Away" has been proclaimed as his
residence. This was established, asso-
citation officials say, through the cour-
tesy of the present Earl Spencer, who
permitted examination Of his family
papers.
The other brother, Lawrence Wash
ington, lived first. after leaving Sui
grave, at Wormleighton, in Warwick
shire. where child born to him died
in infancy and was buried in the church
attended by his brother at Great
Brington. The legend over the door
of the pseudo Washington house has
been associated with the loss of this
child and also with the less of Sui
grave, but the historian has proved
that there was no association between
it and these events.
Lawrence Washington, after leaving
Wormleighton, became general mana
ger of the Manor of Wyke Hamon, in
Northamptonshire, owned by Baron
Wormleighton. and died there in 1916.
He was brought to the church at Great
Brington for burial with the lost child
But he never had resided in that par
ish-an error, association officials say.
which has caused considerable difficulty
in tracing the Washington lineage.
Lawrence was married and had one
son before he left Sulgrave. This son.
also Lawrence Washington, entered
Brazenose College, oxford. and re-
manned there for IA years. He had the
degrees of bachelor of divinity and mas
ter OF arts, and served as lector, then
the highest educational Office at OK
ford, and for a time as proctor of the
university. This, the historian asserts,
is convincing evidence against some
pictures which have been presented of
the great-grandfather of George Wash
tngton as a good-for nothing country
minister.
WEEDS Amphilis Twiggen.
While at oxford he married Am
philis Twiggen. Under the rules of
the university no professor could hold
ONCE more than a year after marriage
So he resigned and obtained a living
that is, parish-at Purleigh. in Essex.
near London. That was in 1882. The
same year his son John, George Wash
ington's great-grandfather, was born.
another son, Lawrence, was born in
1885, while his mother was visiting her
home in another county.
The rectorship of Purleigh, the old
records show, was a very profitable
living" He and all his family re-
manned loyal to the crown during the
troubled days of the civil war ana sew
eral were given high ccmmi jsions in
the military and government service by
Charles the First Then came the bit
ter days OF Cromwell and the round
head" Parliament for the Loyalists
Charles lost his head. Lawrence
Washington lost his living and was for
hidden TO read from the book of COM
mon PRAYER or to teach religion in any
form The charges against him, the
historian as 5ertS, were false